|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The uncut X-Beacon files March 1999
Wardrobe Mistress Bares All In PaDS Mid-May Mystery Drama!Here I am, scribbling away at the PaDS Beacon article, preparing to congratulate Pauline Foreman et al on a memorable St Valentine’s Day Love-in and about to dispel the mystery surrounding the next not-to-be-missed PaDS production at the Institute (May 14th and 15th), when I am momentarily distracted by a maidenly cry of distress: "Alas and Alack! I am without clothes!" Something in these words causes me to glance up in anticipation. I espy our comely Wardrobe Mistress. But what of this barely imaginable claim of being abroad in… well, the altogether? "Sir," quoth Mistress Gibson (for ‘tis she) "I have the dubious honour of being appointed Wardrobe Mistress, yet my Wardrobe is bare! Thus far have I muddled through by hiring and jumbling but now I need to build a collection of costumes, particularly pieces that have a strong period feel." My mind begins to wander, trying to picture Mistress Gibson jumbling her period feeling pieces… "For example," she continues, ignoring my glazed look, "Seasons' Greetings had everyone clamouring for polyester flares and platform shoes! Do you know how difficult it is to find people willing to admit to ever wearing platform shoes?" I shuffle my feet uneasily and thrust them as far under the desk as possible, all the time trying to look coolly unpolyestered. "And the May production – Agatha Crispie by Cenarth Fox - is set in the early 1920s! I desperately need to find generous folk willing to donate or lend suitable clothes to PaDS for their moment of fame on the Institute stage!" So, there you have it: if you have some spare clobber and you don’t want to see Lynne Gibson without clothes, please give her a call on 812380. If, on the other hand… Meanwhile, you will see that my carefully crafted opening to this article has been ruined. I had intended building up the suspense over a couple of paragraphs before finally revealing the title of our mysterious May production. But now you already know that we shall be presenting Agatha Crispie by Cenarth Fox at the Institute on May 14th and 15th. This will, in fact, be the UK premiere of this murderously funny play, which should not be confused with any other similar sounding drama, such as Aga Fire Crisply (the scorching saga of hot lust, murder and burnt muffins) or Agfa Christie (the photo-journalistic docu-drama which finally reveals exactly what Linford’s Famed Lunchbox really looks like). Agatha Crispie is set in the archetypal English Country House and tells of a budding murder mystery writer – later to write such classics as The Mouth Trap and Murder on the Orpington Express - as she battles against a surfeit of sleuths, corpses and unlikely plot-lines to get her first novel written. I was fortunate to get an exclusive Beacon interview with director Kevin Parker at a recent rehearsal. "It’s a great play, full of surprises, mystery, drama and humour." he commented, as the bodies piled up around him. "All in all, everything’s going very well! .At least," he quipped "no-one’s tried to murder me yet!" A spine-chilling chuckle was heard in the wings… Jack Burgess PaDS |
|
|
|
