Evening of One Act Plays.

This group of talented players continue to produce work of the highest quality. Three plays were performed this particular evening, all diverse in content. Play One “ The boy comes home” set after World War One is the story of a young man returning from the trenches, living with his uncle and finding it hard to adjust to his new life. Daniel Haresnape played Philip, John Smith played Uncle James. Both had problems settling back into normal everyday life but resolved their differences with help and support from family. They were supported by Ann Dennis, Hannah Billington and Nicola Hindley. A strong and interesting play.

The second play “ With all my love I hate you” is a two handed affair between Julia (Lesley Southworth) and Clare (Sarah Howden) set in Julia’s flat. Clare arrives to confront Julia who for a number of years has been haing an affair with her husband. A lengthy discussion takes place during which Clare informs Julia that she intends to kill herself. During the time spent together Clare produces a gun and the mood takes a more sinister level. Julia tries to take the gun from Clare and a tussle ensues and the gun goes off. Clare falls to the floor. Two very convincing performances.

The third play “A little box of oblivion” is a lovely comic piece. The curtain opened with just a park bench on stage with a young man sitting reading a newspaper. Suddenly a young woman, Sarah Howden, dashes on stage and places a box on the bench, telling the young man, not to touch it, lift it or tilt it. Various characters arrive in the park, Neurotic (Chris Hill), Doom Merchant (Hannah Billington) and an Amateur Sleuth ( John Nickson, all with theories about what might be in the box but the Cool Guy (Ollie Booth) steadfastly refuses to let anyone touch the box. The girl then appears to collect the box, only to see, that in his exasperation, the young man has picked the box up. She tells them what is actually in the box and that is the tag line that makes this a comedy. It would be churlish of me to discuss this in case any other groups would like to perform this piece. Thanks to everyone at Longton Players for a most entertaining and enjoyable evening and for the warm welcome and hospitality.

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