The Whitby Rebels

The Whitby Rebels by Bea Roberts was an entirely new play to me, but it suited the unusual stage space at Pateley Bridge Playhouse very well. It really felt as though we were looking down upon a small boat. So, first congratulations go to everyone involved in making such a wonderful set and second to the committee who selected the show.

The play was an excellent showcase for six actors, five at sea and one on land. Sally Smith was brilliant in all her shore-based roles, with some amazing quick changes and moves of location. There was Sunny, the outgoing but efficient caravan park owner, the Captain from the Department of Transport with a very convincing Scottish accent and the Norwegian scientist who brought loads of laughs from the audience. The writer had also added an elderly widow who reminded us of the reality of the sea and all its dangers. Foolhardy trips seem heroic but this expedition really was an unnecessary risk to life and limb.

Onboard the crew were led by the enigma which was Captain Jack. Hugh Cawley really looked the part in his fisherman’s smock, his beard and his pipe. I’m sure he is just as unflappable as the director as he was in character. Michael Thorne played a down and out, Lewis, with a high level of nautical expertise; but we never really found out why. Ruth Dodsworth was charmingly naïve as Edna the pensioner who hoped her life would change as a result of the trip. And it did, but maybe not in the way she had anticipated. Andrew Forsyth was very convincing as a vicar in his role as Reverend Paul, and Carol Bailey brought a touch of the Margot Leadbetter to the stage- a fitting tribute in the week when Penelope Keith had died. Like Margot, Pat was portrayed as a raging snob who deep down is a very capable, caring person, and maybe a lonely one.

The characters all needed these layers and nuances to hold the audience’s attention through their journey to the Arctic circle, when nothing very much happened. But entertain us they did. We were all rooting for them to get off the boat on Jan Marten and then return safely to port in Whitby. And what a relief that they (mostly) got away without a prison sentence. And all the actors deserved a medal for performing in their Arctic woolly sweaters on what must have been the hottest night of the year.

The lighting was effective, the projections worked well and there were a fair number of very suitable recordings too. Lighting by Cory Juras and Steve Hunt, Audio visuals by Tom Barber and Sue Hickson. Congratulations to Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society for continuing to provide high quality theatre in Nidderdale. I look forward to your next production, Yarn Bombers.

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