Barefoot In The Park
 
Presented at the Playhouse Theatre,
Whitstable on:
October 27th 28th & 29th October 2011
Synopsis: The hit Broadway play by Neil Simon, “Barefoot
In The Park” follows the lives of newlyweds Paul and Corrie Bratter
as they adjust to married life in a tiny Greenwich Village apartment.
Paul is a buttoned-down, “Straight as an Arrow” lawyer, who's
wound a little too tight, while Corrie is an effervescent free spirit
who won't let anything disturb her romantic bliss.
Besides the fiveflight climb to reach their apartment, and the hole
in their skylight, the Bratters also contend with an eccentric upstairs
neighbour Victor Velasco who needs to go through their apartment to get
to his. Corrie hatches a plot to get her straight laced Mother together
with Mr. Velasco, but the entire evening goes awry and even casts doubt
on the viability of the Bratters' own marriage, as Corrie tries unsuccessfully
to loosen Paul up in this delightful light domestic comedy.
Director:
Ian Burroughs, Honorary Secretary, performance director and actor.
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Ian Burroughs.
Secretary.
Actor: Much Ado About
Nothing, Dark of the Moon
Performance director: Seasons
Greetings; The Birthday
Party; Gosforth's Fete;
Play It Again, Sam ; Arsenic
And Old Lace, Barefoot in the Park.
Ian is one of the major stalwarts of the Canterbury Players, working
hard behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly: organising
sponsorship; publicity; ticket sales; venues; taking part in the choice
of performances and a great deal more besides.
His first production, as a director with the Players, was Alan Ayckbourn's
"Seasons Greetings".
This was a joint production between Playcraft and Canterbury Dramatics
Society, before their merger into The Canterbury Players. Since then,
he since been involved in one way or another with virtually every - if
not all - productions. This includes directing "When we are
Married" in November 2004; Harold Pinter's "The
Birthday Party" and later, Alan Ayckbourn's "Gosforth's
Fete", here giving a few of the newer members the opportunity
to take their first tentative steps on stage - after which they have never
looked back. |
IAN BURROUGHS' REVIEWS:
"PINTER is a challenging undertaking for any company; this cast of the The
Birthday Party met it confidently from the outset on a drab, late-50s set."
"Pinter's characteristically empty dialogue between the frumpish, middle-aged
seaside couple played convincingly by Patrick Folkard and Sarah Gooch."
"All-in-all this was a thoughtful, successful production."
(The Birthday Party reviewed by Elaine
Godden, Kentish Gazette.)
"....... colourful, hilarious and undoubted success of this production."
(Play It Again Sam reviewed by Elaine
Godden, Kentish Gazette.)
".....distinguished director and actor Ian Burroughs gave a few giggles
as the bewildered Mr Leafy."
Dark of the Moon reviewed by Nerissa Blower.
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
Huw Jones
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Huw Jones
Director: Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Assistant Director: Barefoot in the
Park.
Huw is an experienced theatre professional who has directed over 200
productions, many with non-professionals.
Trained at Central School of Speech and Drama, he has taught drama in
schools and colleges, been Portsmouth’s drama advisory teacher,
and for 15 years was Director of Portsmouth Arts Centre.
Before moving to Kent, he ran his own company, Mansel Productions, undertaking
a variety of projects in Hampshire and abroad, in Warsaw, Poland. Currently
Head of Drama at Kent College, Canterbury.
Huw has recently joined the Players, becoming Assistant Director for
Barefoot in the Park. He will
be directing Lady Chatterley’s
Lover in Spring 2012
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HUW JONES' REVIEWS.
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic
qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted
by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
Cast (in order of appearance):
Corrie Bratter
Sally Parker. Actor.
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Sally Parker
Actor: Bazaar and Rummage; Roleplay;
La Ronde, Two;
The Vortex, Night
Must Fall, Barefoot in the Park.
Sally made her stage debut as Noddy at FHODS Little Theatre at the age
of ten, and on leaving school played Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf". She made connections with CDS while acting in "Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight" and was immediately cast as the prompt for
"Dr Faustus". She went on to play Pattie in "Season's Greetings",
Dr Scott in "Who's Life is it Anyway", Olivia in "Twelfth
Night", Julie-Ann in "Roleplay", Ilsa in "La Ronde",
Bell-Bell in "Bazaar and Rummage",
the Landlady in "Two" and Olivia in Night Must Fall.
Sally is currently a full-time mother.
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SALLY PARKER'S REVIEWS:
"Sadly there is not space to mention everyone but this was a powerful drama in which the whole cast rose to this difficult challenge."
(The Vortex reviewed by Sian Napier )
"Ayckbourn's drama (RolePlay) is typically, more than a riotous comedy. An
unerring psychological insight which works alongside the crazy actions of his
dysfunctional characters and this production was hugely successful in provoking
thought as well as providing entertainment."
"Sally Parker must have subdued a large chunk of herself to play the neurotic
frump Julie-Ann so convincingly, yet at the same time win sympathy in her futile
psychological battle against Paige, the hard faced tart."
(RolePlay, reviewed by Elaine
Godden, Kentish Gazette.)
"Foremost was Sally Parker as Ilse, the Sweet Girl."
(La Ronde, reviewed by Elaine Godden,
Kentish Gazette.)
"After the sour bickering of the two proprietors between the appearance
of their clients, a small boy enters, the catalyst who reveals the cause of their
disharmony. The unveiling of the suppressed misery of losing their young son was
the heartbreaking climax of the play and both Geoff Dale and
Sally Parker were utterly believable in their desolation."
(TWO, reviewed by Diane Ogleden.)
"Their tempestous row was performed impressively and followed by chilling silences, and Corrie's devastation when Paul leaves was compellingly conveyed when she seeks her mother's advice"
"Sally Parker, as Corrie, however, was oblivious of all the apartment's imperfections, a hyperactive unexploded - as yet - bomb."
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
Telephone Man
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Mark Charles Smith
Actor: For Canterbury Players Gosforth's
Fete; La Ronde; Fallen
Angels; The Accrington
Pals; Much Ado
About Nothing; Arsenic And Old
Lace; Dark of the Moon, Night
Must Fall; The Importance
of Being Earnest, Barefoot in
the Park.
Sound Engineer for Blue Remembered
Hills.
For Chilham Players: Seasons Greetings
For Kent Shakespeare Company: Twelfth Night.
A monologue orator for The
Penis Monologues for the theatre company, Unfinished
Business
Mark has appeared in a number of Canterbury Players productions, as
well as end of year short films at universities in Canterbury and Hastings,
as a film extra for various productions filmed in Kent including "The
Other Boleyn Girl", "Wild Child", the 2011 production of
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", as a player in a Chris Tarrant
TV programme, as a major player in a KETV
production called 'The Sea Shall Have Them' and recently took part in
a pilot for a new sitcom aimed at getting onto the UK terrestrial channels.
Mark is looking for more TV and film work to get him out of the office
once in a while.
My Facebook page.
Links to recent videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY9qcWjPomk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwE-cdMAu88 |
MARK SMITH'S REVIEWS:
"Other members of the cast were only slightly less convincing in their roles
and each had credible qualities: ...... Mark Smith's Soldier's
callous but sexy disregard."
This was Mark's second acting experience, the first being Gosforth's
Fete.
(La Ronde, reviewed by Elaine Godden,
Kentish Gazette.)
"In Ralph's last letter from the Somme, to his lover Eva, Mark Smith demonstrated spiritual and physical agony."
(The
Accrington Pals reviewed by Elaine Godden, Kentish Gazette.)
Mark Smith as Maurice, tantalizingly appearing only in the final scene, gave
the ex-lover all the Gallic charm needed for empathy with the besotted ladies.
(Fallen Angels, reviewed by Delia
Dengeon, Kentish Gazette.)
"All the actors demonstrated the hilarity of Kesselring's marvellous
play."
(Arsenic And Old Lace, reviewed by Nina Del
Gedoe, Kentish Gazette.)
"The acting skills of ........ Mark Smith ............
were revealed when each one was convincingly near to collapse after climbing innumerable
flights of stairs to get there."
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
A review of a short film made in 2009:
"It was an intriguing short film and maintained my interest throughout.
Your performance was excellent. You can certainly can act for the camera. Not
everyone can. Every thing about your performance was right. I especially liked
your little turns to the girl every now and then and your look of despair (or
resignation) at something the girl said. You photograph well and have a most
interesting face. Your performance was solid and just what the role called for.
Well done."
Reveiwed by Pip Piacentino, Director
of, and actor in, a number of Canterbury Players performances.
Review of "The Penis Monologues" written by Danny Lee Pegg of Unfinished Business Theatre Company.
Delivery Man
Hugh Elsom. Actor.
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Hugh Elsom
Actor: Arsenic And Old Lace,
Barefoot in the Park.
To quote the bard “One man in his time plays many parts”. That can be said of the characters I have played over the last 50 years. They range from a Knight on murderous intent to the front half of a pantomime horse. However I have always wanted to act in “Arsenic and old Lace” and the character of Dr. Harper is just right for me in the twilight of my career.
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HUGH ELSOM'S REVIEWS:
"All the actors demonstrated the hilarity of Kesselring's marvellous
play."
(Arsenic And Old Lace, reviewed by Nina Del
Gedoe, Kentish Gazette.)
The acting skills of ........Hugh Elsom (despite Hugh having
a non speaking role) ........, were revealed when each one was convincingly near
to collapse after climbing innumerable flights of stairs to get there.
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic qualities
in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
Paul Bratter
Stephen Lamyman
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Stephen Lamyman
Production and stage manager: Lady
Chatterley's Lover.
Actor: Pint Sized Henry V, Barefoot
in the Park.
Stephen has been with the Players for just over a year having joined
initially as a social member. He has thoroughly enjoyed his acting experience
in Pint Sized Henry V and is very
much looking forward to a new challenge in Barefoot
in the Park. He has felt very welcome from everyone he has met through
the Canterbury Players and has enjoyed the Social and Work side of the
group. Stephen, as ever will put as much energy and vigour into his performance
as possible, and hopes that even without the 3 course dinner supplied
with Pint Sized Henry V; people will still enjoy watching it.
The only review we could find of Stephen comes from Mr Shorrock; a Year 7 History teacher who states “Stephen is an excellent pupil who unfortunately distracts others, perhaps more time studying and less time talking would prove him well.” What this says about his acting credentials we are unsure, but serves to know the man none the less. |
STEPHEN LAMYMAN'S REVIEWS:
"The acting skills of ........... Stephen Lamyman
..............., were revealed when each one was convincingly near to collapse
after climbing innumerable flights of stairs to get there."
"Their tempestous row was performed impressively and followed by chilling
silences...."
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic
qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
Mrs. Banks
TESSA TAYLOR'S REVIEWS:
"The acting skills of ........ Tessa Taylor ..........,
were revealed when each one was convincingly near to collapse after climbing innumerable
flights of stairs to get there. "
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic qualities
in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
Victor Valasco
TONY JOHNSON'S REVIEWS:
"Tony Johnson played the languid and camp Pawney to perfection, having many of the typically witty Coward lines."
(The Vortex reviewed by Sian Napier )
"Tony Johnson and Irene Marley were hilarious as Julie-Ann's
parents; two provincial bigots ultimately succeeding in conducting their daughter's
life."
(RolePlay, reviewed by Elaine
Godden, Kentish Gazette.)
"Tony Johnson's Leonato was a less dramatic
part but was also consistently sympathetic and convincing."
(Much Ado About Nothing reviewed by Annie
De Lodge, Kentish Gazette.)
"Tony Johnson in this role was outstanding...."
(Arsenic And Old Lace, reviewed by Nina Del
Gedoe, Kentish Gazette.)
"Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones."
(Barefoot In the Park.)
"Barefoot In The Park "
Our 2011 Autumn Production was Neil Simon's: "Barefoot In The Park".
The play was directed by Ian Burroughs, assisted by Huw Jones and presented at The Whitstable
Playhouse, 27, 28 & 29 November, 2011.
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Corrie and her new husband, Paul are opposites in temperament; she is impulsive and enthusiastic about the possibilities that all circumstances have to offer; he 'sensible and logical', patient and, up to a point, resigned.
The opening scene is their empty flat, inventively designed by
Derek Standing, both before
and after their furnishings arrive.
The acting skills of Mark Smith,
Hugh Elsom (despite Hugh having a non speaking role), Tessa
Taylor and Stephen Lamyman, were revealed
when each one was convincingly near to collapse after climbing innumerable
flights of stairs to get there. Sally Parker, as
Corrie, however, was oblivious of all the apartment's imperfections,
a hyperactive unexploded - as yet - bomb.
This was a light hearted romantic comedy in which nevertheless,
serious issues arise. Corrie's hair-brained schemes have to be resolved,
and Paul, for all his loving devotion, is not always able to cope
with them. She attempts, for example, to organise a relationship
between her somewhat neurotic mother, played hilariously by Tessa
Taylor, and eccentric neighbour, Victor Velasco, played
by Tony Johnson. This farcical situation, which
involves Velasco clambering between the apartment building's storeys
by way of exterior ledges, is the background to the couple's threatened
break up.
Their tempestous row was performed impressively and followed by chilling silences, and Corrie's devastation when Paul leaves was compellingly conveyed when she seeks her mother's advice, especially so as Mrs Banks ironically displays the success of her daughter's plot by rushing off the scene to be with Velasco.
Every actor in this production demonstrated both comedic and dramatic
qualities in a play impeccably directed by Ian Burroughs,
assisted by Huw Jones. |
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