The Play:
The story, told in three acts, is a frothy nothing, but treated as only
Coward can. It provides a continuously amusing two hours, highlighted
by recurring moments of insane hilarity. The plot revolves around Julia
and Jane, best friends and both happily married to Fred and Willy respectively
for five years, but before their marriages, both had brief affairs in
Italy with Maurice, a Frenchman and great charmer. Now Maurice is visiting
London and has asked to see them both. Luckily both husbands are away
for the day playing golf, and Julia and Jane nervously await Maurice's
call. How they reminisce, quarrel, make up, get high on champagne and
quarrel again, what happens when Maurice finally arrives very late, and
the unexpected return of the husbands are some of the threads of the plot.
All is witnessed by Saunders, Julia's new maid, seemingly prim and proper
but has been positively everywhere and done absolutely everything.
FALLEN ANGELS was nearly refused its licence as "brightly written,
but extremely dubious" and that "the women's obvious willingness
to go wrong, and about their pre nuptial going wrong, would cause too
great a scandal". But Lord Cromer passed it, with only a few dialogue
changes, because he saw it as "so much unreal farcical comedy".
In 1925 the play shocked, but audiences queued for seats. The play no
longer shocks but it still provides great amusement and entertainment.
THE CHARACTERS:
Julia Sterrol and Jane Banbury are virtual twins, as are their husbands
Fred and Willy. Julia's life is essentially identical to Jane's, Fred's
to Willy's. Both women have settled down to respectable middle class lives
with dull but decent men. Both Fred and Willy love golf, perhaps a bit
more than their wives. Both marriages have reached a similar pass: We're
awfully happy", as Jane says, "and there's a lovely firm basis
of comradeship and affection and all that, but the real 'being in love'
part is dead!" The new maid Saunders has had a full, rich life and
nothing surprises her, while Maurice is an Englishman's version of a Frenchman.
He is without repressions and is all suave and self-indulgent.
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The Fallen Angels.... |
...with Saunders |
Fred and Willy |
Julia and Saunders |
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Willy and Julia |
Jane, Maurice and Julia |
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Final bow |
Maurice Duclos |
The cast and all important crew. |
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Drunken rivals left audience captivated.
Audiences at this "amoral and disgusting" play will find
little to offend in the 21st century, but delicious frissons of
sexual anticipation were gloriously maintained in this production.
Despite two married friends' shared goal of rekindling passion
with their mutual ex-lover Maurice, they were given distinctive
individual personalities.
Anne Hancox made Julia largely confident and serene, while Samantha
Grant's Jane was highly strung and mildly hysterical.
Of the supporting roles, Jim Ackhurst played Julia's husband Fred
with gentle reasonableness; and Andreas Lowson as Willy (Jane's
husband) reflected the suavity of Coward himself.
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 and Jill Ackhurst's
expressive facial and body language conveyed every nuance of the
maid Saunders' contempt for the gentry.
Derek Standing's early
modernist set, Susanna Gerken's delightful costumes and Pip
Piacentino's skilled direction all contributed to a stunning
production.
But the greatest acclaim belongs to Hancox and Grant for their
outstanding performances as the two ladies whose transformation
from sophisticated wives to hilariously drunken rivals so captivated
everybody.
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| Noel Coward's
"Fallen Angels"
performed by The Canterbury Players
at Whitstable Playhouse
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Reviewed by:
Delia Dengeon.
Kentish Gazette.
Thursday March27, 2008. |
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OUR SPONSORS FOR "FALLEN ANGELS" WERE:.
Jesters.com
PH Accountancy.
Director:
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Pip Piacentino
Actor: Play It Again Sam;
Performance Director: The
Accrington Pals, Fallen
Angels
Pip fell in love with Britain when stationed here with the US Navy and
decided to make it his home. His links with Kent, especially Deal, stretch
back to 1964.
Pip first appeared on stage in New York when his father brought the
three-year old Pip on stage to liven up his act. He is equally at home
as an actor, director or playwright. A member of the South London Theatre
Centre, he directed many plays for them including Peter Whelan’s
"The Accrington
Pals" which he also directed in April 2007 with Canterbury Players.
Pip is to direct Canterbury Players in "Fallen
Angels" by Noel Coward. |
The cast:
As Julia
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Anne Hancox
Committee Member
Actor: Arabella in Ayckbourn's "RolePlay";
Linda in Woody Allen's "Play
It Again, Sam"; Julia in "Fallen
Angels" by Noel Coward.
Anne's early performances were all in music theatre. Later came a shift
to straight drama.
Her involvement with Canterbury's long-established amateur theatre group
Playcraft for 21 years and now, with The Canterbury Players has provided
a wealth of acting opportunities.
She has enjoyed numerous leading roles ranging from Nora in
Ibsen's "A Doll's House", Katharine in Shakespeare's
"The Taming of the Shrew"; the drunken and shameless Arabella
in Ayckbourn's "RolePlay"
and Julia in "Fallen
Angels" by Noel Coward. |
As Jane
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Sam Grant
Actor,Singer: "Fallen Angels".
Sam started in Am Dram as a teenager with Deal Dramatic Society, then
took a long break to travel and work abroad.
She is a member of Ramsgate Operatic Society and Broadstairs Dickens
Players, for both of which she is also a committee member.
Lead roles of a musical nature include Sally Smith in ‘Me and my
Girl’, ‘Prince Orlofsky in ‘Die Fledermaus’ and
Carrie Snow in ‘Carousel’. ‘Straight’ roles include
Jean in Ray Cooney’s ‘Funny Money’ and the dual role
of Ann and Sybil in Terence Rattigan’s ‘Separate Tables’.
Sam's day job is Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). She lives
in Margate with husband, Paul.
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As Willy
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Andreas Lowson
Actor: La Ronde; Play
It Again Sam; Fallen Angels
Andreas is descending the ladder of nobility. In La Ronde, he was only
a count whereas the previous year he was a duke (Twelfth Night) and before
that a prince (Caucasian Chalk Circle). He has, however, deigned to play
mere commoners in such roles as a dotty priest (Gosforth’s Fete),
a burglar, an inspector (Disposing of the Body), a solicitor, a boss and
an eccentric puppeteer uncle and now, a husband, for Noel Coward's "Fallen
Angels". |
As Fred
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Jim Akhurst
Actor, singer of comedy songs, mime artist etc. etc
Jim and his wife, Jill, moved from London to Whitstable three years ago.
Before joining the Canterbury Players, Jim was a member of several amateur
drama groups in East London. He joined the Lindley Players in Whitstable
and played the part of Ronald in their production of Absurd Person Singular
in 2005 and he also had several parts in the Canterbury Festival community
opera Promised Land in 2006.
He has played some major roles in comedies, but has also done his share
of spear carrying in Shakespearean history plays. Jim was pleased to be
given several parts in the Canterbury Festival community opera Promised
Land last year (2006).
In contrast to the righteous, religious character Arthur Boggis which
he played in "The
Accrington Pals", his first performance with the Canterbury Players,
Jim decided to turn his hand to a few comic songs for the performance,
"Palace of Varieties"
and will be appearing in "Fallen
Angels" by Noel Coward.
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As Saunders
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Jill Akhurst
Director – "Palace of Varieties".
Singer of saucy songs; Director's Assistant (The
Accrington Pals)
Actor - Jill will be appearing as Saunders in "Fallen
Angels" by Noel Coward.
Jill is no stranger to amateur theatre, being quite well known in the
London Boroughs of Redbridge and Waltham Forest for her performances in
many plays. A retired drama teacher, she has acted in and directed more
plays than she cares to remember. In 2006 she acquired some notoriety
playing the pub landlady in Promised Land at the Marlowe Theatre for the
Canterbury Festival. She lives in Whitstable with husband Jim.
"Palace of Varieties"
will be her second production with the Canterbury Players in which she
is battling (against all odds) to get a non-musical group to
In at the deep end comes to mind – good job she can swim! |
As Maurice Duclos
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Mark Charles Smith
Actor: Gosforth's Fete;
La Ronde; Fallen
Angels; The Accrington
Pals (For Canterbury Players);
Seasons Greetings (For Chilham Players)
Mark joined the RAF in 1974 and left in 1987. He performed his first stage
piece - in a wind-blown tent in the Falkland Islands - in 1982. This was
as one of the Three Degrees song trio, miming to a recording and dressed
in chiffon - a dangerous thing to do with several hundred other airmen
removed from their wives and girlfriends for some months. He is now a
director of the succesful online marketing company, Internet
Marketing Kent Ltd.
Mark has appeared in end of year short films at universities in Canterbury
and Hastings and also as a film extra for various productions filmed in
Kent including "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "Wild Child".
Mark is looking for more extra work to get him out of the office once
in a while.
See his profile pages on Extras.co.uk
or Universal
Extras.
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Stagecraft:
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Derek Standing
Set Design & Construction
Some 42 years ago, Derek responded to an urgent advert from Canterbury
Dramatic Society and although only 18 he got a job and even survived giving
the cast a nightmare on his first set because he did not know that one
has to add size glue to the powder paint.
Recent productions: RolePlay;
The Birthday Party; The
Accrington Pals; Play It
Again Sam; Fallen Angels |
Stage Management
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Liz Findlay
Actor: Play It Again Sam
Stage Manager (The Birthday
Party, La Ronde, The
Accrington Pals, Gosforth's
Fete, Play It Again Sam,
Fallen Angels, Blue
Remembered Hills.)
Liz joined the players in 2005 as prompt for Roleplay, rose to the position
of chief of teapot bearing and has been stage managing since then in Pinter's
"Birthday Party",
Ayckbourne's "Gosforth’s
Fete", Schnitzlers "La
Ronde", Whelan's "
The Accrington Pals" and Woody Allen's Play
It Again Sam in which she also took the part of Vanessa.
Liz is trained in Fine Art and has exhibited locally. She designed the
posters for Fallen Angels
and Blue Remembered Hills.
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Prompt
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Louise Gibbins
Actor: Play It Again Sam;
Gosforth’s Fete;
The Accrington Pals;
La Ronde
Louise joined the Players in 2006 & has been involved in 4 productions.
The first was Harold Pinter’s ‘The
Birthday Party’ where she was the official teapot bearer between
Acts II & III. Following the success of teapot placement, she was
cast as Councillor Mrs Pearce in Alan Ayckborne’s ‘Gosforth’s
Fete’. Louise proved herself to be a massive hit when Charlie
Jubber (Gosforth) omitted to catch her as she fell off the podium backwards.
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In Schnitzler's ‘La
Ronde’, she played a prostitute which was lucky as Louise was
concerned about being typecast! Louise also appeared in the production,
"The Accrington
Pals" by Peter Whelan. Here, she played Sarah, a hardworking
but fun loving mother in her late twenties.This is very far removed from
her own existence as a single, grumpy trainee mortgage advisor in Canterbury!!
Louise is seeking film extra work, her public profiles on casting websites
can be found HERE
and HERE.
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Costumes
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Susanna Gerken
Costumes.
Susanna first trained as a teacher and then studied languages and drama
in Italy. She lived abroad for many years and has performed in different
amateur groups.
Since coming to live in Canterbury she has joined the Players and designed
the costumes for "The
Birthday Party"; La Ronde";
"Play It Again Sam"
and "Fallen Angels".
Susanna is a very welcome addition to the Players.
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