AUDITIONS - Darling Buds of May

We are holding open auditions for 'Darling Buds of May' by H.E.Bates at the Bouverie Hall on 22nd Jan at 5pm.

If you are interested please contact Nettie Powell for further information click here

Synopsis:- The lovable, irrepressible Larkin family live a happy chaotic life in rural England and have beguiled audiences both on stage and screen since the novel, Darling Buds of May, was written in 1957.

Pop Larkin, who makes a fortune from a variety of deals but has never paid income tax, lives in rural idyllic bliss with generous hearted Ma and their six children. When a young earnest tax official, Mr Charlton, turns up one hot May afternoon to investigate, he is bewitched immediately by eldest daughter Mariette and it isn’t long before he succumbs to the boisterous Larkin family charm and largesse.

Main Characters:-

Pop Larkin – fortyish, perky with an air of boisterous, breezy, happy confidence in all he says and    does: a likeable, warm hearted, irrepressible, shrewd infectious spiv

Ma Larkin – late 30’s, a larger than life character who laughs like a jelly but remains calm amidst all the chaos- a real motherly figure full of fun and life

Mariette 17 – very pretty, dreamy at times, played with a certain innocence but aware of the powerful effect she has on Charley

Mr Charlton (Charley) - mid 20’s, spectacled, earnest and rather shy tax inspector who falls completely under the spell of Mariette and during the play loses his inhibitions and embraces the lifestyle of the Larkins

Montgomery 15, Primrose 13, Petunia 11 and Zinnia 11, Victoria 9 – the Larkin’s children – chaotic and lively. The twins have most lines (and need not both be girls) and I will scribe some ad libbing for the others but nevertheless a good opportunity for some of our youth actors.

Smaller roles – with some interesting characterisations:-

Miss Edith Pilchester – 45ish, local gymkhana organiser, sallow, heavy featured, rather hearty but nervous around Pop probably due to his well intended amorous embraces – ‘to make her sleep better’ (with Ma’s  encouragement)!!

Pauline Jackson – late teens/early 20’s, confident, dresses provocatively, chavvy – arrives for a date with Charley buts ends up losing in a fight with Mariette

Angela Snow – tall, aristocratic, slim, attractive and languid

The Brigadier – 60/70ish, tall, straight as a straw, ex army type fallen on hard times, speaks in cryptic tones, not without humour

Sir George Bluff-Gore – 60+ humourless, funereal

Lady Bluff-Gore – 60+, aristocratic, resigned, innocent

Tax Inspector – middle aged, well dressed professional man, slightly stiff but taken in by Pop’s charm

More YOUTH DRAMA DAYS at Salisbury Playhouse!

Last year Alix Ward took several of our youth members down to Salisbury Playhouse for a National Youth Theatre workshop - everyone learnt new techniques and had fun. There are more dates coming up on Saturday 21st April . Book the date in your diary and let me know if you are interested.

They also have other youth theatre activities  on their website :-http://www.salisburyplayhouse.com/page/theatre-for-young-people 

Review: Simply Theatre 4 by Nick Mitchell Briggs 30/10/11

Last night was another wonderful PVADS success, and it is comforting to know that we have such incredible talent, still pushing through! The plays were an absolute delight, and so funny and entertaining.

The showcase period with Becky, Lucy and Abbi, singing their songs, and in Becky's case one she had written herself was superb, and this of course against the background of them suffering from sore throats and bugs. Well done, and wonderful talent.

The magic was so funny, and delivered like professionals.!

You should all be on cloud nine with another great PVADS Theatre production.

Simply Theatre 4 – review

Another great success for Pewsey Vale Amateur Dramatics Society with their ‘Simply Theatre’ production last week. The audience enjoyed much laughter with the 2 comedy plays and were then treated to some really amazing singing from PVADS members Lucy Brown, Cherry Mawby, Abi James and singer/song writer Becky Kinghorn as well as entertainment from an up and coming comedy duo – Dan Eyles and Ryan Hughes.

The first play, A Modern Twist,  was written and directed by Nettie Powell and depicts the continuous barrage of information and quickfire communications available to the youth today. In the course of an evenings’ homework, teenager Ellie chats with friends on ‘Myface’, ‘Spyke’ and ‘Tweet tweet’ whilst researching Romeo and Juliet on the web at the same time. 4 ‘Windows’ simultaneously opened to reveal students at PVADA school of Drama being extremely funny in their serious application of drama techniques, 3 fantastic dance numbers, comedy sketches on ‘Ourtube’, singing from West Side Story, Mime classes, Puppetry and ‘adverts’ delivered with such panache – they became as funny as the whole.

PVADS Youth Theatre goes from strength to strength – not only do they have the talent and technical support to have won the Harold Joliffe One Act Play festival 6 years in succession – the actors are now experienced enough to deliver the complex format of this play with real professionalism. They are a credit to the society, their parents, themselves and of course their director!

The final part of the evening was a hilarious comedy ‘All Around My Pole’ directed by Martin Clifton – about pole dancing classes for the over 50’s! A group of very different ladies converge on a local village hall for varying personal reasons including posh Ruth (Emma Preuss) who has come for Polish dancing, recently cuckolded Dilys (Nettie Powell) and brassy Bren (Esta Kinghorn) who wants to give her husband the best 60^th birthday present! Unexpected friendships evolve as the ladies overcome problems with embroderie anglaise thongs, an incoherent caretaker(Steve Clements), a heavily pregnant dance teacher(Vicky Underwood) and disapproving WI Chairwoman (Beryl Birch). The play, having had the audience in stitches – has a heartrendingly sad moment with the sudden death of Bren’s husband.  At the funeral service conducted by a singing Elvis vicar (Steve Clements) Bren and the girls give her husband (and the audience) a colourful send off which left the audience crying with tears of laughter and the Youth Theatre rather shocked at what their director gets up when she’s on stage!!

Review: Oliver Twist

An amazing piece of theatre.....PVADS production of Oliver Twist is the talk of the town.

Nettie Powell, director, managed once again to put together an emotive, visually exciting, and very professional piece of theatre. Full house audiences were mesmerised by the very effective lighting and music score which together with a composite set of varying levels against a backdrop of the streets of London, provided a platform for a remarkable show.

The atmospheric portrayal of the dark Dickensian classic showcased some very strong performances:- Andy Vowles as Fagin, who  made the character completely unique, Kate Powell as Nancy who captured the audiences emotions expertly with her intuitive characterisation , newcomer Ffinlo Costain gave Bill Sikes the necessary tension to make the violent scenes very believable.

Poppy Jermaine and Steve Clements worked very well together as the darkly comic workhouse masters. Fritha Costain put in a strong comic performance as Mrs Sowerberry, and Paul Hughes’ debut performance as the undertaker and Mr Brownlow was well rehearsed and convincing.

Ryan Hughes as Oliver Twist was inspirational, a very accomplished 12 year old actor, he became Oliver – vulnerable, feisty, despairing and was the catalyst for some strong performances from the other youth actors particularly Michael Rice as the Dodger and Evey Winters as Charley Bates.

One of the most effective aspects of the production was the seamless transitions between the well choreographed street scenes, to a lively Fagin’s gang, the heart rending death of Nancy,  the workhouse, a solitary Oliver and back to threatening crowds baying for Sikes blood.