CONFUSIONS by Alan Ayckbourn
25th-27th March 2004 - Crowthorne Parish Hall
Ayckbourn's series of plays for 4-5
actors typify his black comedies of human behaviour. The plays are alternately
naturalistic, stylised and farcical, but underlying each is the problem of
loneliness. The Mother Figure shows a mother unable to escape from baby talk;
in The Drinking Companion an absentee husband attempts seduction without
success; in Between Mouthfuls, a waiter oversees a fraught dinner encounter. A
garden party gets out of hand in Gosforth's Fete whilst A Talk in the Park is a
revue style curtain call piece for the five actors.
Whether the
comedies concern marital conflict, infidelity or motherhood and take place on a
park bench or at a village fete, the characters are familiar and their cries
for help instantly recognisable.
Scene from Between
Mouthfuls |
 |
Cast
Mother Figure
| Lucy |
|
Lynn Gosden |
| Rosemary |
|
Sarah Hill |
| Terry |
|
Malcolm Winslade |
|
Gosforth's Fête
| Mrs Pearce |
|
Caroline Prince-Wright |
| Milly |
|
Jo Heffer |
| Gosforth |
|
Nigel Willetts |
| Vicar |
|
Rowland Needham |
| Stewart |
|
John Taylor |
|
Drinking Companion
| Harry |
|
Ian Maclachlan |
| Paula |
|
Jane Higgins |
| Bernice |
|
Louise Sinnett |
| Waiter |
|
Stuart Durrant |
|
A Talk in the Park
| Arthur |
|
Lawre Doyle |
| Beryl |
|
Angela Stone |
| Charles |
|
Nick Skinner |
| Doreen |
|
Angie Chitty |
| Ernest |
|
Ian Maclachlan |
|
Between Mouthfuls
| Waitress |
|
Sophie Taylor |
| Mr Pearce |
|
Lawre Doyle |
| Mrs Pearce |
|
Caroline Price-Wright |
| Martin |
|
Nick Skinner |
| Polly |
|
Vicky Sorrell |
|
|
Crew
| Director & Producer |
Jon Keen |
| Co-directors |
Maureen Cowley (Mother Figure) |
| |
Lynn Gosden (Drinking Companion) |
| |
Angela Stone (Between Mouthfuls) |
| |
Sophie Taylor (A Talk in the Park) |
| Production Assistant |
Caroline Jones |
| Stage Manager |
Caroline Jones |
| Assistant Stage Manager |
Pete Gosden |
| Prompt |
Rebecca Dobie |
| Publicity |
Jackie Ross |
| Properties |
Julie Sandes |
| Costumes |
Louise Sinnett |
| Lighting |
Tim Doyle |
| Sound |
Geraint Morris |
| Set Design |
John & Sophie Taylor |
| Box Office |
Jon Keen |
| Poster |
John Taylor |
| Programme |
John Taylor |
Press Cuttings |