Intimate Exchanges: Affairs in a Tent by Alan Ayckbourn
Thurs 23 to Tues 28 July - Weds 19 to Tues 25 Aug
7.30pm. Matinee at 2.30pm on 28th July and 25th August
SUMMER REP 2009
A bored headmaster's wife, a school sports day, and a mislaid bag of mixed veg add up to a recipe for disaster in the latest offering in Sheringham Little Theatre's popular summer repertory season.
One of the comedies in Alan Ayckbourn's classic Intimate Exchanges 8-play series, Affairs in a Tent tells the tale of Celia, who, dissatisfied with her life as the long-suffering wife of prep school head Toby Teesdale, decides to set up her own catering business.
Her husband and friends are sceptical, but she has already been booked to provide the refreshments for the school sports day's VIP tent, which should be a piece of cake.
But, with dubiously-qualified "master baker" Lionel in charge of the food - and a mislaid bag of frozen vegetables wreaking havoc in the mothers' race - the spiralling chaos inside the tent looks set to push neurotic Celia right over the edge.
Starring Simon Stanhope and Christine Lawrence, the play is directed by stage and screen star Nicky Henson, who returns to Sheringham after directing the Ayckbourn comedy Bedroom Farce last year.
As well as appearing in more than 30 films - ranging from Mike Leigh’s tearjerker Vera Drake, to the 2005 Stephen Gaghan thriller Syriana - Mr Henson has enjoyed a 45-year career in theatre, working in the West End and on Broadway with directing greats Sir Peter Hall, Roland Joffé and Jonathan Miller.
His TV credits include Inspector Morse, Coronation Street, and 50 episodes of EastEnders, in which he played Barbara Windsor’s love interest Jack Edwards.
Affairs in a Tent follows the success of the Little Theatre's early repertory season in February, which saw Christine and Simon portray all six characters in the Intimate Exchanges play, A One Man Protest.
Christine, who recently appeared in the West End in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, has worked at theatres all over the country, as well as performing comedy, sketch and improvisation in London, and at Edinburgh Festival Fringe's iconic Gilded Balloon venue.
Simon's extensive theatre experience includes working with the British Shakespeare Company, and with 4 x 4 Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Fringe. He has also appeared in a number of short, independent films and worked in radio and audio book narration.
The pair, who formed their Two by Two Theatre Company after appearing together in the Sheringham's summer rep season in 2007, are looking forward to bringing another of Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges classics to the Little Theatre, and to again facing the challenge of portraying six characters in one play.
Intimate Exchanges: Affairs in a Tent, directed by Nicky Henson, runs at Sheringham Little Theatre at 7.30pm from July 23-28 and from August 19-25 (matinees July 28 and August 25).
Tickets, priced £13 (£10 matinees, £8 under 18s), are available from the box office on 01263 822347.