WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (Abridged)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (Abridged) a play performed by CADOS on Saturday, 25th March, 2023 at ‘The Studio’, Chorley Theatre, Dole Lane, Chorley.

Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England… an ancient manuscript that proved to be the long-lost first play written by none other than the seventeen-year-old William Shakespeare from Stratford. “We are totally, not completely, making this up” ... William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play is the literary Holy Grail… an actual manuscript, in Shakespeare’s own hand, showing all his most famous characters and familiar speeches in a brand-new story contained within that long-lost masterpiece!  

Because of its length, (one hundred hours long, containing multiple unwieldy storylines) CADOS decided, as a public service, to (abridge) the storyline down to a brief and palatable one hundred minutes (which included an interval and time set aside to dry yourself off and remove those issued ‘waterproof ponchos’)!  NO… this is not a misprint ‘waterproof ponchos’ were issued to everyone who attended!  Imagine walking into a theatre and being advised by the ‘front of house staff’ that it would be advisable (not essential, wink wink!) to wear a ‘waterproof poncho’ throughout the whole of Act One because the ‘Met Office’ had issued an ‘Amber Warning’ for ‘very wet and windy weather conditions’… in fact a ‘Tempest’ was forecast to hit ‘The Studio’ just before the interval!  Worried…. for sure!

Production Team … Sean Duxbury (Director) was the man at the helm of this latest CADOS production. Fresh from his success at the District 6 NODA Awards Dinner where he had won ‘Best Director’ for the play ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’ (which also won Best Drama and Best Ensemble), this was another play, Sean directed in the round in ‘The Studio here at Chorley Theatre. It was obvious from the start, from the smiles on the faces of the actors, to the applause and laughter throughout from the ‘full house’ audience that this was another successful production appreciated by everyone present!  I had the pleasure to meet, speak and congratulate Sean on his recent success and on his latest venture or should I say ‘adventure’ with ‘William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged).  I suggested to Sean that ‘playing this in the round’ must have been a challenge to which he concurred, stating that the challenge had been readily accepted by both cast and crew all of whom should be congratulated on their commitment and effort! Having now seen
the production, I can only suggest that the results of all that effort were tangible, you could not only see but feel the enjoyment from both cast, crew and audience alike…. well done, Sean, be ever so proud everyone!

The Cast…. ‘To be or not to be - that is the question’; one of Shakespeare’s most famous quotations taken from ‘Hamlet’...but my lesser-known quotation ......‘To start or where to start – that is MY question’ a question that I’m asking myself right now!  As most will know… this is where I usually stick MY neck out and start suggesting ‘show stealers’, favourite characters, etc… well, again, I find myself thinking, this was less about an individual and more about the whole!  A cast of three males… Andrew Kidd, Steven Catterall and Steve Unsworth played the plethora of roles… the chemistry, the stage presence, the boundless energy, the spot-on comic timing and their ability to change guises, accents, characters in an instant was amazing!  To ensure that this play worked… the pace had to be right and it was… fast/furious, the interactions with the audience, which were continuous, were effortless and real… all this and more just added to the whole and gave it such an authentic feel!  The ‘storyline’ running throughout the play pits an ancient grudge between ‘Puck’ (‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’) played ever so well by Steve Unsworth and ‘Ariel’ (‘The Tempest’ or perhaps, in this case… ‘Ariel’ from Disney’s ‘Little Mermaid) played ever so well by Steven Catterall… (OMG… when Steven came on dressed as Disney’s ‘Ariel’… it brought the house down!).  Andrew Kidd opened the show with a superbly delivered ‘speech’ which set just the right tone for the evening to follow!   Not being a great follower of ‘The Bard’, it was somewhat of a daunting challenge trying to ‘navigate’ this production… but what I didn’t realise, until the plot began to unfold, was just how many ‘Shakespearean characters and quotes’ I did actually know… but after saying that, I do believe the success and the enjoyment of this play wasn’t down to your knowledge of Shakespeare (although it would definitely help), it’s down to the ability and energy of the actor(s) to create believable, recognisable, individual characters and to give those characters life (some of whom have no connection to Shakespeare at all).  So, who played what…. Andrew Kidd played Antipholus, Holofernes, Hamlet, Falstaff, Valentine, Juliet, Richard III, Oberon, Pericles, Prospero, Cleopatra and Shakespeare… Steven Catterall played Ariel, Dromio, Mistress Quickly, Beatrice, Viola, Pompey, Malvoliago, Caesar and Caliban (Not to be confused with the Taliban) – another OMG moment!  Steve Unsworth took on the roles of ‘Puck’, Lady Macbeth, Proteus, Bottom, Cardenio, King Lear, Kate, Petrucio, Henry V and Henry VIII.  All the characters came with different costumes, different accents, delivering many ‘belly laughing’ quotations along the way… I didn’t have time to note them all, but we had: ‘Everyone loves a nice ass’ … ‘My Kingdom for a whore’ …  ‘I’ve been de-humped’ … ‘Aren’t thou a fairy’ … ‘A Puck is what I don’t give’ and ‘Don’t all women give birth down below’ … hilarious quotes!  We also had ‘mistaken identities’… ‘ghosts’, ‘magical spells’, ‘terrible tempests’, ‘men dressed as women’ and ‘twins, twins and more twins’… amazing…well done guys outstanding job!

Set/Staging/Tech/Sound/Lighting… this play is designed to be played to a ‘blank stage’ with little or no set.  We had three exit/entry points located around ‘The Studio’ giving access to basically three changing areas, where the magical transformations took place!  Behind the exit/entry point was a ‘team of dressers’ who worked their socks off to ensure that the changes were quick and seamless … those involved included Amber Tabiner, Ellie Brown, Steph Threlfall, Robert Walsh, Kath Townsend, Lynda Lawrence and Ronnie Webb.  Overseeing all things ‘Tech’ related we had the ever so talented Paul Carr another recipient of an award at the recent NODA Awards evening… a ‘NODA Special Achievement Award’ for his services to all things CADOS.  Everyone involved should be congratulated on a job well done… be proud!

Costumes/Props were ‘spot on’ adding much to the overall production… i/c ‘costumes’ we had Sandra Dickinson and Kath Townsend… well done ladies’ great job!

We had a capacity audience in ‘The Studio’ that evening and a completely ‘sold out’ run. We had ‘belly hugging laughter’ throughout, and major applause at the end and if the comments I ‘earwigged’ as I left the studio was anything to go by… then this had been another major success here at Chorley Theatre…be proud to everyone involved, great job, great play!

Thank you so much for the invite and thanks to Sean Duxbury and the cast for spending a little time with me at the end… great to meet you all… thoroughly enjoyed the evening, hope to see you all again soon!

Stay Safe, Keep well
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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