Compton Players |
The Compton Players web site is at www.comptonplayers.co.uk. Facebook. Twitter: @ComptonPlayers.
At the Abingdon Drama Festival on 18/06/2022, Helen Saxton won the Original Playwriting Award for In Her Defence.
Next production
Happy Acres, 26th to 29th October
By H Connolly.
It may be advertised as
“A Quality Establishment”
but Happy Acres health
farm is far from that. The
domineering Mrs Comley
and her sidekick Sam,
the old odd job man, are
in charge of the worn out
and tired buildings. Sam
is running a moonshine
whisky still from the
garden shed. They both
spend their time trying to
relieve the clientele of
pounds, not from their
waists but from their
wallets. Mrs Comley, in
cahoots with Madame O, the struck-off hypnotist,
allow the inmates to indulge in a spot of
“harmless hypnotics”. That is until all the booking
forms get muddled up and the punters become
not quite what they expected! A fast paced, very
funny comedy that all the family can enjoy.
We presented the premiere of this play 28 years
ago in Compton Village Hall, and three of the
original cast (as well as the author) are in it
again this time! The Newbury Weekly News
review of the 1994 production said, “a hilarious
farce with unexpected consequences... a very
enjoyable evening and a genuinely welcoming
group”.
Where
At the Village Hall, Compton (10 miles north of Newbury). Click here for a map.
Box office
Online via the web site (no booking fee), or 07554 842207.
About Compton Players
Compton Players have been producing plays every year since 1947. We always welcome new members, and we are looking not only for people who want to act, but also those who can construct scenery, or would like to learn how, those who can make or sew costumes, those with a knowledge of electrics and/or electronics, and those who would like to help with publicity, box-office and front of house. We normally rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and for most productions there are twelve weeks of rehearsals. It doesn't matter if you've had any previous experience or not.
Contact Compton Players
Our chairman is Mary Warrington - contact her by .
Reviews of In Her Defence
14th July 2022
Review from NODA.
In Her Defence by Helen Saxton was originally a play called Evil Will Come with a larger cast than this performance, slightly tweaked for the reduced cast due to the constraints of taking this preview version to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is a short but enormously smart and subtle play. It's not a whodunnit or a whydunnit but the premise is: will she get away with it? Told in various scenes, this very clever crime drama moves between before the murder at a flat, to the trial at the Old Bailey. There is a surprise end with a twist I didn’t see coming.
The set was minimal. Due to its transfer to Edinburgh the basic set – a living room that doubled as the Old Bailey, worked well. The absence of a full set kept the audience concentration on the action. The props were good with attention to detail such as labels on the murder weapon, 1940s black telephone and authentic looking cigarette case.
Helen Saxton (writer and actor) and Pete Watt (director and actor) should be enormously proud of this very polished production designed and performed with professionalism and class. The audience were totally absorbed throughout and everything about In Her Defence was totally believable. It was an intelligent telling of the age-old story of the saying ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ and deserves a wider audience which would be achieved through publication of this canny and original thriller.
CHRIS HORTON
Previous productions
In Her Defence, 14th July 2022
Evil Will Come, 18th to 20th November 2021. See the review in the archive.
Bothered and Bewildered, 20th to 23rd November 2019. See the review in the archive.
The Ladykillers, 10th to 13th April 2019. See the reviews here.
The Promise and Murdering at the Vicarage, 14th to 17th November 2018. See the review in the archive.
Perfect Wedding, 25th to 28th April 2018. See the review in the archive.
Richard III, 12th to 14th October and 19th to 21st October 2017. See the review in the archive.
Bracken Moor, 9th to 12th November 2016. See the review in the archive.
Blue Remembered Hills, 20th to 23rd April 2016. See the review in the archive.
Seal Cove, 11th to 14th November 2015. See the review in the archive.
A Tomb With a View, 22nd to 25th April 2015. See the review in the archive.
Scaramouche Jones, 6th December 2014
Poppy Field and Spare the Rod, 19th to 22nd November 2014. See the review in the archive.
The Invisible Man, 14th to 17th May 2014. See the review in the archive.
Season's Greetings, 27th to 30th November 2013. See the review in the archive.
Murdered to Death, 24th to 27th April 2013. See the review in the archive.
The Happiest Days of Your Life, 28th November to 1st December 2012. See the review in the archive.
Dangerous Corner, 28th to 31st March 2012
Bobby Shaftoe, 10th to 12th November 2011
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 11th to 14th May 2011
Three Short Comedies, 14th to 16th October 2010
What the Butler Saw, 21st to 24th April 2010
Halloween Murder Mystery, (October 2009)
The Unexpected Guest (October 2009)
Laying the Ghost (April 2009)
A Dog's Life and Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (November 2008)
Puppy Love (May 2008)
Macbeth (November 2007)
Shakers Re-Stirred (May 2007)
Nobody's Perfect (November 2006)
The Entertainer (May 2006)
Dad's Army (November 2005)
Don't Dress for Dinner (November 2004)
The Eighth Dwarf (February 2004)
Three One-Act Plays (April 2003)
Under Milk Wood (November 2002)
'Allo 'Allo (April 2002)
Katherine Howard (November 2001)
It Could Be Any One of Us (April 2001)
Dead Funny (November 2000)
Klondike Kalamity (April 2000)