Boundary Players |
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Next production
We’ll Bring the House Down, 24th to 27th April
Boundary Players are delighted to announce that they will be premiering a brand-new play. Set in the House of Commons, the play is set in 2015 and details the journey of the fictional MP for Crystal Palace South Royce Owen as he comes to terms with the new Jeremy Corbyn leadership.
Written by Mike Brook and Steve Schollar, both of whom have acted with Boundary Players, the play explores one man’s dealings with the worlds of politics, family, and friendships
Actor Neil Padgen, who plays the MP Royce Owen explains, “Royce is a man who increasingly finds himself adrift in a sea he doesn’t quite understand and with few, if any, moorings.”
Director and writer Steve Schollar elaborates, “This is not a play with a political message; it is a play about a man who is lost in a political environment where political people say and do political things. The question is: will Royce find himself in time?”
Where
The William Penney Theatre, Tadley RG7 4PR, inside AWE at Aldermaston. Click here for a map. The entrance to the theatre can be found on the A340 Basingstoke to Newbury road, just before the Heath End Roundabout at Tadley. There is ample free car parking next to the theatre.
Box office
07756 141734, or via the web site.
Review of A Christmas Carol
15th to 18th November 2023
Review from the Newbury Wekly News.
Dickens on the airwaves
Boundary players have some fun with the classic A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens loved Christmas and always celebrated it lavishly. His story about the transformation of the miserly Scrooge into a kind old chap, anxious to redeem himself, is arguably the finest Christmas story of them all.
Boundary players chose to perform the play as a radio presentation in the truncated version, written by Joe Landry with music by Kevin Connors.
This was not a bad idea choosing to put a fresh spin on an old favourite, always popular at this time of the year. It also has bonuses for amateur societies by utilising a minimum of scenery and giving the actors the only legitimate excuse for holding and reading directly from their scripts.
Alice Grundy had fun acting as the studio announcer and sound effects technician, ringing bells, clattering wood blocks for sound effects and holding up a board requesting applause at key moments. So, we never had to think about applause – we were instructed when to do it!
Presented as a radio show for a New York US radio station it came complete with commercials, even one for Olde London Fairy fruit cake... oh yes... and performed vigorously by the 11-strong cast.
Freddie Filmore made a good Scrooge, delivering his lines accurately, although he could perhaps have made the old miser a bit more crotchety and nasty in the opening scenes. Charle Dickens did in his writing.
The ensemble cast, headed by Andrew Smith, Jake Laurents, Sally Applewhite, Clare Webb and Richard Mier, and the rest, had great fun playing all the parts between them – what the BBC Radio people always describe as “other parts played by...”
However, the little boy voices could have done with a little extra coaxing by the director Mary Robinson.
This is the second adapted radio play staged by Boundary and there’s another one coming up by Kintbury Players this week.
DEREK ANSELL
Previous productions
Murder in the Theatre, 9th December 2023
A Christmas Carol, 15th to 18th November 2023
Murder Mystery Evening, 28th July 2023
Cuthbert Masterstroke, 17th to 22nd April 2023
Murder Mystery Evening, 24th February 2023
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, 3rd December 2022
Personal Call and Butter in a Lordly Dish, 12th to 15th October 2022. See the review in the archive.
A Party to Murder, 27th to 30th November 2019. See the review in the archive.
Ladies Day, 27th to 30th November 2019. See the review in the archive.
Men of the World, 28th November to 1st December 2018. See the review in the archive.
Murder by the Book, 9th to 12th May 2018. See the review in the archive.
Vintage Hitchcock, 15th to 18th November 2017. See the review in the archive.
Murder on the Nile, 10th to 13th May 2017
The Titfield Thunderbolt, 8th to 11th February 2017. See the review in the archive.
Two and Two Make Sex, 26th to 29th October 2016. See the review in the archive.
The Vicar of Dibley, 4th to 7th May 2016. See the review in the archive.
Happy Jack and September in the Rain, 3rd to 6th February 2016
Tartuffe, 21st to 24th October 2015
The Importance of Being Earnest, 5th to 9th May 2015. See the review in the archive.
Just the Ticket, 3rd to 7th February 2015
Copenhagen, 21st to 25th October 2014. See the review in the archive.
Mort The Play, 6th to 10th May 2014. See the review in the archive.
Hay Fever, 4th to 8th February 2014. See the review in the archive.
Talking Heads, 22nd to 26th October 2013. See the review in the archive.
Summer End, 14th to 18th May 2013. See the review in the archive.
Improbable Fiction, 12th to 16th February 2013. See the review in the archive.
Bazaar and Rummage, 23rd to 27th October 2012. See the review in the archive.
The Farndale (FAHETGDS) Murder Mystery, 8th to 12th May 2012. See the review in the archive.
Daisy Pulls It Off, 7th to 11th February 2012
Stepping Out, 18th to 22nd October 2011
Tons of Money, 10th to 14th May 2011. See the review in the archive.
Dangerous Corner, 8th to 12th February 2011. See the review in the archive.
The Maintenance Man, 19th to 23rd October 2010. See the review in the archive.
Songs from the Shows, 20th and 24th September 2010
An Evening of Coarse Acting, 11th to 15th May 2010. See the review in the archive.
Silhouette, 9th to 13th February 2010. See the review in the archive.
Party Piece, 20th to 24th October 2009
Going Postal, 12th to 16th May 2009
Rebecca, 10th to 14th February 2009
The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of Macbeth,
21st to 25th October 2008. See the review in the archive.
Murder at the Manor, 10th November 2007
An Inspector Calls, 16th to 20th October 2007. See the
review in the archive.
Noises Off, 15th to 19th May 2007. See the
review in the archive.
Deadly Nightcap, 23rd to 27th January 2007
Alarms and Excursions, 17th to 21st October 2006. See the
review in the archive.
Outside Edge, 9th to 13th May 2006.
See the review in the archive.
Jekyll and Hyde, 7th to 11th February 2006. See the
review in the archive.
The Weekend, 9th to 12th November 2005. See the
review in the archive.
The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of A Christmas Carol, 26th to 30th April 2005. See the
review in the archive.
A Touch of Danger, 25th to 29th January 2005.
Lettice and Lovage, 19th to 23rd October 2004. See the
review in the archive.
Out of Sight, Out of Murder, 27th April to 1st May 2004. See the
review in the archive.
Bedroom Farce, 27th to 31st January 2004. See the
review in the archive.
Deckchairs, 21st to 25th October 2003. See the
review in the archive.
The Happiest Days of Your Life, 29th April to 3rd May 2003. See the
review in the
archive.
How the Other Half Loves, 4th to 8th February 2003. See the
review in the
archive.
Bonaventure, 22nd to 26th October 2002. See the
review in the
archive.
Look Who's Talking, 14th to 18th May 2002. See the
review
in the archive.
The Joyride, by Georgina Reid. 5th to 9th February 2002. See the
review
in the archive.
84 Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff. 6th to 10th November 2001. See the
review
in the archive.
They Came from Mars and Landed Outside the Farndale Avenue Church Hall in Time for the Townswomen's Guild's Coffee Morning,
by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr. 15th to 19th May 2001. See the
review
in the archive.
House Guest, by Francis Durbridge. 6th to 10th February 2001. See the
review
in the Archive.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, by Oscar Wilde. 7th to 11th November 2000.
Here's the review.
Look No Hans, by John
Chapman and Michael Pertwee. 9th to 13th May 2000. Here's the
review.