A nearly 40 year run

Will this be their last outing of Cox and Box?

The cast for the GWOS production of Princess Ida in 1986, included Jane Dodd as the Lady Psyche and Mike Faulkner as Prince Hilarion. Each of them introduced a friend to the society: Jane's sister, Judi, who was cast as Melissa, and Mike's friend Ian Walton, cast as Florian. Just as Melissa and Florian fall in love in the show, so life imitated art and Judi and Ian were soon married.

As the show approached, the usual issue arose of the nature of the entertainment at the after-show party. The problem was solved when Mike, Ian and Paul Thompson offered to perform Cox and Box at the party. At that time, the society’s home was the Village Hall at Holt Heath, and those who remember it will find it hard to believe that the tiny stage there could have accommodated three men and the various props – bed, fireplace, window, hatstand, table and chairs – which the show requires.

Although this performance was intended to be a one-off, we were soon persuaded to enter the next Worcestershire Festival of One-Act Plays. Although we didn't win, we brought back one trophy.

The show's next outing was at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, as part of a GWOS double bill with The Sorcerer. To attempt some measure of professionalism, we invited Judi Walton to direct the show, which she did in a discreet and efficient fashion, to the great benefit of our performances.

The disadvantage of the Worcestershire Festival, which is the first round of a national competition, is that one cannot enter again within five years. Until the pandemic, we made sure to enter every five years and won this first round several times.

In the meantime, we responded to invitations to perform elsewhere, including at the Norbury Theatre in Droitwich, at Tanworth-in-Arden and at the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, where we gave the show three times: in one year at the Festival Club at the end of the evening, the next year in the small Paxton Theatre and finally in the Opera House itself, with a full orchestra, conducted by James Newby.

This, and the Swan Theatre production mentioned previously, are the only times we have performed with an orchestra. Our piano accompanist has most often been Joy Reeve who has been wonderfully generous with her time and skill at a wide variety of venues.

We entered the Worcestershire Festival, as usual, in 2015. In this first round, we swept the board bringing home five trophies. The next round, in Ledbury, was less successful: we felt the adjudicatrix wasn't expecting a musical show and probably felt herself underqualified to judge it. However, the adjudicator who had given us the palm in the first round pulled strings and we were invited to perform at the "All-Winners Festival", of whose existence we hadn't known: it is for shows which have won their first rounds but have then been knocked out. This took place at Woking, the furthest we had ever travelled. We received a glowing written report and the Audience Appreciation prize, which we felt was worth more than any other prize.

The pandemic and illness in the cast imposed a temporary pause on our activities, but we returned to give two performances for Opera Worcester at the Coach House Theatre in Malvern in June 2025. Since the average age of the cast is now seventy-seven, we suspect no-one will want to see it again - we are content with a run of nearly forty years.

Paul Thompson