9Jan 18
Auditions for May Play 17th Jan
Our May play will be ‘A Bunch of Amateurs’ by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. Auditions will take place on 17th January, Kingsley Community Centre, 7.30pm.
Malcolm Barker explains: I am back directing at Kingsley after a gap of three years and despite the fact I chose the play ‘How the Other Half Loves’ by Alan Ayckbourn 2 years ago, it has been bagged for professional performances ever since and is currently licensed to Kenwright Productions who have just finished their tour. Unfortunately they say they might do another tour so despite my persistence, in this instance it has not paid off. So we go to the next one on my list, A Bunch of Amateurs, which is what I plan to do, depending on who we have. Some of you may know it from the film of a few years ago starring Burt Reynolds, but subsequently the writers adapted the script for a stage play.
The plot runs on the mixture of simplicity and implausibility that fuels all farce. Facing the loss of their community theatre, an amateur dramatic group from the Suffolk village of Stratford St John decides that their only hope is to cast a celebrity in their final production. To their astonishment, ageing Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steel accepts the role of King Lear. But when the great man arrives, it turns out that his agent has confused Stratford St John with the other Stratford. Jefferson thinks he will be treading the boards at the RSC and is peeved, to put it mildly, when his list of demands is briskly nixed by his director, Dorothy, who produces a mobility scooter in place of the requested limo. Tantrums, huffs and sexual imbroglios abound, complicated by the arrival of Jefferson’s estranged daughter, Jessica, whose presence provides a Lear-ish sub-plot and a two-hanky finale.
If you are interested but cannot make the auditions, then please contact Malcolm either by phone or text on 07740 103254 or by email malcolmbarker@btinternet.com.