Carlton Dramatic Society

The official website for 'Fred and Madge' has now been updated with a huge gallery of photos from Simon Harris, and all the background information and blurb from the programme.

The Carlton's fame is spreading far and wide, and news of 'Fred and Madge' has hit Broadway (and I don't mean Wimbledon Broadway!)!. Click here or on the New York Times logo to read their listing for of Fred and Madge.

Like comedy? Like surreal comedy? Like surreal black humour comedy?

If the answer's 'yes' to any of the above, then you MUST see Carlton's new production of Joe Orton's 'Fred and Madge' - it'll make 'Green Wing' look boring. Like previous Carlton productions it's bound to be a sell-out, so book NOW to ensure you don't miss out. Why not get a group along to help support your fellow thesps? Here's the important stuff:

• When: Tues 5th June - Sat 9th June, 7.45pm (3.00pm Sat matinee)
• Where: New Wimbledon Studio Theatre, The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1QG
• How much: £8.50 - £12.00
• To buy tickets: ring Box Office 0870 060 6646, or online here.

With a sparkling cast, masterly directed by Carlton veteran Val Foskett, it's going to be a production to remember - so ring that Box Office.

We are urgently looking for a volunteer to help Simon Harris with the lights during the Fred and Madge production. This involves:

• Being available for dress and technical rehearsals on Sunday 3 June and Monday 4 June
• Being available for performances from Tues 5 June to Saturday 9 June (including the Saturday matinee)
• Talking through what's involved with Simon between now and then - if you've never done lighting before don't worry

Advantages: An automatic invitation to the aftershow celebrations and (if you're new) a chance to get to know other people in the group.

If you're able to help, or want to know more info, please e-mail the committee!

Jeff Graves, our King of Farce with such notable successes as 'Habeas Corpus' and 'Trivial Pursuits' to name but a few, is soon to be directing ANOTHER! Jeff's choice of play this time is 'It Runs In The Family' by Ray Cooney. See below for play and character information.

But firstly check the calendar for audition and rehearsal dates.

Play Synopsis

Dr David Mortimore is about to address a neurologists convention, when old flame Jane Tate arrives and announces that their liaison years ago resulted in a child. Frantic to hide the truth from his wife and the hospital authorities, David is forced to invent not one but two non-existent husbands for Jane, and enlist the help of his colleagues. Events are further complicated by the presence of a police sergeant, a wandering senile patient, an assortment of matrons and costumes from the hospital pantomime!

This hilarious farce in the true Cooney tradition, enjoyed a spectacular success at the Playhouse Theatre, London.

Characters

Male - 7 (or 6)* Female - 5 (or 6)*

• Dr David Mortimore - Male - Age from mid 40's
• Dr Mike Connolly - Male - Age from Mid 20's
• Dr Hubert Bonney - Male - Age from mid 40's
• Rosemary Moritmore - Female - Age Mid 40's
• Matron - Female - Age from 30's
• Jane Tate - Female age 40's
• *Leslie - Male (or Female) 18 ( can be played by someone older, but looks young!)
• Bill - Male - Age from 60
• Sister - Female - Age 20's
• Mother - Female - Age 70's
• Sir Willoughby Drake - Male - Age from 60's
• Police Sergeant - Male - Age 30's

See you there!

Thanks to the photography skills of our very own Kristen McGorry, we have a wonderful gallery of photos of the 80th Party to help remind us of the great night we all had.

Head on over here to view them! Prints are available - just contact Kristen.

Jeremy Wray writes:

Apologies for the short notice but I discovered yesterday that tickets for the extra Showcase performance (coming Saturday 28th April) are selling fast and they don't think there'll be many (if any) available on the door on the night. So, if you're sure you want to come you're best getting a ticket, you can either sort this out yourself (details following) or I'd suggest that I buy a bunch of them and you pay me on the night for them. Let me know and I'll get them, please though be sure as they're £10 a pop.

Those taking part don't need tickets - and I think this goes for Neil also as writer but will check. Finally if anyone knows where the sack, rope and cloak came from I'd like to get hold of them again, any help appreciated.

Thanks all!

Show details here.

... or was that a Charleston?

Chairperson Kathie Arundell wrote:

What a magical night on Saturday! It was a terrific evening and it was clear that everyone - current members, former members and guests of members - thoroughly enjoyed themselves. What a reunion!

From start to finish, the organising Committee could not have asked for anything more - it was perfect!

The absolute icing on the cake was to be made a Lifetime member of the Carlton - I was, as I said, struck dumb (there's a switch!) and was completely overwhelmed. It was a tremendous honour which will be treasured always. As Chair of the Carlton and as an individual I was so proud.

Thank you so much to the Carlton Committee and to you the membership for making my evening one I will never forget.

More details of the evening coming soon...

Review - 'Showcase LXXX', 23-24 February 2007, reviewed by Matthew Petty

Click on the link above for details on all the directors, cast and crew

After the crowds had been herded and goaded to their seats, after the usual frantic sparking of tea-lights and popping of corks, after the rustling of packets and the popping of Pringles™, the lights dimmed, or perhaps my eyes are going.

James Grayston opened the evening with a piece called, 'The Night I Appeared As Macbeth', a poignant reminder that The Bard can be a harsh mistress, especially with a tough crowd.

Next up was another well crafted slice of murderous misogyny from Neil Kelly, 'Praying Mantis', a short play about a woman whose many husbands have popped their clogs in suspicious circumstances. But will this one suffer the same fate? Probably.

'The Waitress' is a classic Victoria Wood sketch about a slow and decrepit member of the restaurant staff having trouble taking an order for soup. Tori Heggs played the character with the correct vim and gumption the part demanded. Even her tortured shuffling across the stage caused some belly laughs. How cruel those punters can be.

For a bit of a break from all that acting, Jason treated us to one of his self-penned and self-strummed songs, 'The Writing's On The Wall', and then it was straight into an excerpt from 'Billy Liar', with Jason playing the eponymous Billy, beset by mutiple demanding fiances.

Andrew Candish then appeared on the stage, coughing, swigging from a hip flask, and dressed head to foot in rags. After checking the (wonderfully well-designed) programme, I realised Andrew had done this deliberately to more closely resemble his character in a monologue from Edward Bond's 'The Sea', in which a beach-living tramp considers life on other planets, and whether it's as vicious out there as it is down here.

To lighten the mood somewhat, Mike Norman-Smith's 'Shark-infested Waters' gave us a vignette of the power struggles and politics of the playpool. Ruth showed that kids grow up so fast these days, as did Mike's beard.

The resulting resounding applause gave way to the interval, wherein your correspondent ran to Sainsbury's to buy milk for the half-time cuppas, which caused him to work up a terrible thirst. Luckily some Merlot was on hand for the quenching.

During the interval, Showcase producer Kristen McGorry did the honours by drawing the raffle tickets so that noone suspected it was all a con. She was assisted in this onerous task by freshly quenched correspondent. And very fresh he was too.

Then back to the business of the evening. The first item after the noise died down was a Beatles song lyric performed as a short sketch by Carlton newcomer Alun Goodman and Carlton vet Ruth Brooks. Most amusing, but I was disappointed that they didn't choose to do 'I Am The Walrus'.

Another Mike Norman-Smith joint, 'Holiday Acquaintances', put forward the possibility that Saint Nick likes to travel to sunnier climes when not making his naughty/nice list. Mike looked the part of course, and was joined on stage by another Carlton newcomer, Michael Mangroo, whose description of chocolate sponge with custard had your correspondent's mouth watering.

The back to the Victoria Wood archive for a wonderfully callous piece, 'The Reporter', in which a local news hack and her thuggish photog barge in and stamp all over a recent widow's grief. I laughed and laughed.

'There are Smiles' was a real highlight of the evening. At the risk of overusing the word 'poignant', this was very poignant. Packed with Carlton newcomers - it must be the tea that attracts them - Brian Aris, Sara Erne, Alun Goodman and in her first Carlton acting role, Jo Forest-Jones, this story of the way a smile can bring light into the most mundane lives. Of course, with light comes shade, and the ending of this tale was a truly sad moment. Excellent performances all round, including the always-wonderful Netty Piper - this was my favourite piece of the evening. I particularly liked the car.

'Teechers'-tomboy Naomi Nicholson played a frustrated Elizabethan housewife getting off on writing dirty letters, and good luck to her. A very funny monologue, packed with well-crafted looks and reactions.

To round off the evening in the traditional manner, with some no-nonsense comedy, we called on Neil Kelly once again to give us another Boy's Own style tale of skullduggery, this time involving a helpless damsel and some railway tracks. Can Henwy - sorry - Henry save Miwwanda - sorry - Miranda from the eveil clutches of Sir Percy (another Carlton newcomer, Jeremy Wray?)? More to the point, can he be bothered?

All in all, it was a great show, and congratulations are due to all involved, cast, crew, directors, and of course the producer who held it all together while coming apart herself, Kristen McGorry.

Showcase LXXX was just the ticket to kick off the Carlton's 80th Year. Let's hope we can surpass this high standard throughout 2007!

The Carlton's next main production, Joe Orton's 'Fred and Madge' has now been cast! Head over to the official show page for the details.

Congratulations to the whole cast, which is a subtle blend of veteran Carlton talent and fresh new blood. It looks like being another Carlton cracker.

As part of the fantastic 80th Birthday Celebrations, we're trying to gather as much information as possible about the history of the group. Neil 'Scoop' Kelly will be circulating at the party itself to get peoples thoughts and memories about their involvement. We also need any programmes, flyers, posters, news cuttings, or any other materials to put together a good history.

All materials will be scanned and returned to their owner, so no worries there. If you have any of these, and can help, please contact the committee.

Director Val Foskett writes:

So you think 'Green Wing' style comedy is a new thing? The apparently stereotypical scene where, suddenly, the dialogue takes a surrealistic turn, the black humour, the switch from cliché to pure fantasy, Joe Orton was writing this way in 1959! 'Fred & Madge' was his first play, written before 'Entertaining Mr Sloane' and 'Loot' which became West End hits, and 'What the Butler Saw', which the Carlton did in 2001.

The title characters appear to be a typical bored couple with routine jobs, but these turn out to be rather unusual after all...

Also, as the action is interrupted by a director-like figure, they seem to be inhabiting a play about themselves – one of Fred's jobs is to change the scenery! Over the course of the play, they part, each plans to remarry, but are thrown together again when each of the new weddings is accidentally prevented. Gradually things become more chaotic as modern buildings are destroyed by laughter and suburban garden plants run wild and turn into impenetrable jungle. Finally the whole cast decides to leave for India – the exotic and unknown other world! Along the way, most of the late 50's establishment and its attitudes are sent up. To quote:

Webber: Do you want to ruin society and civilisation with your laughter?
Madge: Yes, oh yes!

There are ten parts, 5 male, 4 female and one who could be either. The parts are:

• Fred and Madge
• Queenie, Madge's sister
• Gladys, their workmate
• Webber, the director
• Sykes, a member of the audience
• Dr Petrie and Miss Oldbourne, a professional insultor and insultrix
• Old Man, actually Madge's father
• Small Part Player, who acts as a reporter and newsreader among other things

Readthrough is set for Monday 26th February and Auditions are Thursday 1st March and Monday 5th March at the WCC - 8:00 pm Rooms C&D.