Oldbury Repertory Players present their 63rd season of productions for 2002/03.
The Secret Life of Sherlock Holmes
Written by the creator of the acclaimed television series starring
Jeremy Brett as the great detective, this play explores the relationship
between Dr. Watson and Holmes and the mystery of the Reichenbach
Falls. Where Holmes confronted his arch enemy Moriarty.
What was their secret and why did Holmes allow Watson his closest
friend to believe he was dead for three years?
21 - 28 September
Time of My Life
Gerry Stratton has organised a family dinner with his two sons at his favourite restaurant to celebrate his wife Laura;s fifty fourth birthday. This happy event soon degenerates into an evening of recrimination as the family skeletons emerge from the closet, in Ackbourn's intriguing comedy.
9 - 16 November
Cinderella
Will Cinderella to to the ball?
Oh no she won't if the ugly sisters have their way.
Join us for this seasons sparkling Panto and discover if Cinders
does go to the ball and just how ugly those sisters are.
Will Buttons ever find true love, Prince Charming, his Princess
and will Cinders be happy ever after?
10 - 25 January
Studio Production: Miss Juile
Bored with her sheltered existence in her father's mansion, Miss Julie tempts the attentions of the footman, Jean, during the midsummer's eve party. However, she experiences far more than she bargained for in this classic drama.
8 - 15 February
The Edge of Darkness
Missing for several years and discovered
in hospital by her parents. Emma Cranwell's miraculous homecoming
should be a cause of great celebration.
However her happiness changes to confusion as she is haunted by
ghosts of the past. Somewhere inside Emma's damaged memory lies
an astonishing secret.
A mystery thriller from the creator of the Avengers with plenty
of surprises in store!
15 - 22 March
Studio Production: Teechers
Fast moving inventive and highly entertaining, teechers evokes
life at a modern comprehensive, using the end of term play to sketch
a drama teechers progresses through two terms of unruly classes,
cynical colleagues and demonic caretakers.
By the author of Bouncers and Shakers
19 - 26 April
Dancing at Lughnasa
It is 1936 and harvest time in County Donegal in a farmhouse just
outside Ballybeg live the five impoverished Mundy sisters and their
two brothers.
Brian Friel's depiction of the events of that summer are both humorous
and poignant in this multi award winning drama.
17 -24 May
Wind in the Willows
Join Ratty, Badger and of course the irrepressible Toad, in this
enchanting version of Kenneth Graheme's timeless classic story.
A riverbank adventure for all the family in our spectacular end
of season production.
11 - 19 July
Richard Thompson
A popular and talented figure in amateur theatre in the Birmingham
area, has died after a short illness. He was 69 and had been a member
of Oldbury Repertory Players, for whom he had written, acted and directed,
for about 20 years. He did several adaptations for the group, the last
being The Canterville Ghost in 2001, and was also involved in
contributing sections to several ORP pantomimes.
He was also linked with the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, Dudley Little
Theatre, M & B Drama Group, Stourbridge Theatre company and the
former New Pilgrim Players.
He was a mine of information about theatre and the history of theatre,
with which he first became involved in the 1950s as a member of the
Revenue Players and the Telephone House Dramatic Society, two groups
that staged their productions at the old Theatre Centre in Islington
Row.
Alan Wood, for Oldbury Rep Said: "Richard was a very modest man
- sometimes infuriatingly so, because he never liked to take praise,
even if he deserved it. He was a good, reliable person to have on stage
and he always raised the profile of any production he was in.
"He was a very classical style of actor. Probably his outstanding
production was One Night in Zagreb, in which he had the role
of the circus master. It went to the All England Theatre Festival final
at Buxton and got the critics' award"
He was divorced, with two grown-up children and once shared the ORP
stage at the Barlow Theatre with his daughter Alison, in the production
of the musical Tess. He also appeared at Birmingham Repertory
Theatre, as an extra in Hamlet and A Christmas Carol -
something that gave Richard Thompson, luminary of the amateur stage,
a special thrill.
He will be greatly missed.
Taken from John Slim's Column in the Birmingham Post and Mail
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