A Night of Laughter

I don’t really know how to write this show report. I’ve agonised over it for over a month and every time I’ve tried, it has been almost too hard to start writing.

On Saturday 24th August, I was blessed to be in the audience for Kirkham Fourth Wall Theatre Company’s inaugural performance, ‘A Night of Laughter’, and in my thirty years of experience in and around theatre productions, I’ve never had a more emotional evening.

I’ll start by going back in time to the beginning of August, when I was invited by the team at Fourth Wall to attend one of their Sunday afternoon rehearsals. As a brand new organisation, embarking on their debut, their leader Stuart Jepson asked if I might come along, watch them rehearse and offer some feedback before their performance. I spent a lovely afternoon meeting the group, watching their work and giving some constructive feedback. I immediately warmed to them and became a huge supporter of their mission to give young people from a wide range of backgrounds the opportunity to engage with theatre. After a few hours, I bid them farewell and told them I was looking forward to seeing the finished product three weeks later.

The evening before the show, I received a devastating email from Stuart Jepson, telling me that he was having to withdraw from the performance because his wife of over four decades, Lynda, had been given a terminal diagnosis in hospital and that he would be by her bedside. He told me that the performance was going to go ahead and that the cast were going to spend show-day restructuring the piece and salvaging what they could. ‘The show must go on’ has rarely been a more fitting phrase…

I arrived at the Cre8iv Little Theatre the following evening not knowing what to expect but what I really didn’t expect to see was Stuart himself, dressed to the nines and welcoming audience members to the show. We had a moment to speak and he told me that tragically, Lynda had in fact passed away a few hours after he reached out to tell me about her diagnosis. Fewer than twenty-four hours after the death of his beloved wife, Stuart somehow found the strength to be at the theatre, in support of his cast. In the auditorium, there was a seat ready for Lynda, adorned with flowers and a portrait of her in happier times. I cried before the show even began.

The members of Kirkham Fourth Wall Theatre Company arrived at the theatre just after breakfast that day, after some of them had been at the hospital supporting their leader in his darkest hour until late the night before. They set about the task of rebuilding their show and worked like Trojans all day to ensure that their audience still had ‘A Night of Laughter’. This was a vastly reimagined, highly emotional show which was almost entirely different to what I had seen a few weeks earlier. Amazingly, Stuart was able to find the strength to join the cast on stage a few times during the variety show, dedicating his performance to his beloved Lynda.

Kirkham Fourth Wall Theatre Company are Alexandra Aleksejeva, Jodie Cooper, Megan Gardner, Katie Glover, Stuart Jepson, Tamia Hall Tudor, Bonnie-Marie Ward, Scarlett-Marie Ward and Robert Wilkinson. Collectively, they showed true strength on that night, getting up and performing their show in the midst of near-crippling grief. Much of the programme was changed and the show was significantly shorter than originally envisioned but every last member of the company gave their absolute all in tribute to Lynda’s memory. 

They opened the show with a version of ‘Razzle Dazzle’ and it was a statement of intent - they were going to fight through everything and give us an evening of entertainment.Robert Wilkinson’s confident vocal performance of the song was supported by stylish and well-polished dancing by Megan Gardner and Tamia Hall Tudor. This opening performance told the audience that although the cast were in the most raw phase of grief, they were determined to do their best in Lynda’s memory. What followed was a selection of songs, comedy sketches and celebrations of life. Notable performances included a hilarious interpretation of the Monty Python classic, ‘The Dead Parrot’, which was delivered with devilishly good comic timing by Bonnie-Marie Ward and Robert Wilkinson. There was a lovely interpretation of ‘It’s A Hard Knock Life’ from ‘Annie’ by the collected cast of younger performers, which was an engaging injection of energy on stage.

The finale on the night was a performance of ‘From Now On’ from ‘The Greatest Showman’, and I don’t know that there could have been a more fitting way in which to bring proceedings to a close. Stuart joined the cast on stage, to sing the lead vocal, looking resplendent in his ringmaster’s outfit. Emotion took over, quite understandably but Kirkham Fourth Wall Theatre Company pushed through and finished the show in style. The audience were in pieces.

It was my privilege to join the company backstage as the curtain fell and it was phenomenal to see the performers surrounding their leader and overwhelming him with their love and support. I reminded them that theatre is a family, and this had never been a truer statement than it was on that night. They had achieved something that the vast majority of people wouldn’t have had the strength to do, and this is a show that I’ll remember for years to come.

As was the show itself, this report is written in tribute to Lynda Jepson - may she rest in peace.

 

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