Many Faces Written by Various Authors

AuthorsVarious Authors

Phoebe Rees

Phoebe M Rees has written 23 plays. The Phoebe Rees competition is administered by the Somerset Fellowship of Drama and is a competition for full-length plays, which runs from September to August each year.

Edward Albee (b 1928)

Edward Franklin Albee III is best known for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Zoo Story, A Delicate Balance and Three Tall Women. His works are considered well-crafted, often unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanisation of the Theatre of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett, and Eugene Ionesco.

Eugene Ionesco (1909 - 1994)

Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict in a tangible way the solitude and insignificance of human existence.

John Bowen (b 1926)

Bowen was born in Calcutta and is a not only a playwright but a novelist, screenwriter and writer for radio. He has written 29 plays and 12 novels, but he is more recently well-known as the co-author with David Cook of the 'Hetty Wainthrop Investigates' TV series.

Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)

Beckett was an avant garde Irish writer and dramatist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.

Tim Lille

Tim Lille was a Havant teacher and an early member of Theatre Union. Here he directed his own play at the Bench Theatre.

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PlaysMany Faces

Idols - by Phoebe Rees

Set in Paris in the Spring of 1794, France is harassed by invading armies and torn by civil war. Traitors are quickly sent to the scaffold and Charlotte fears for her son... 'Idols' tells the story of Charlotte Moreau, a woman jealous of her daughter-in-law and who tries to send her to the guillotine. Charlotte is inconsolable when her plan back-fires and it is her beloved son who is executed. This popular play has won numerous awards.

The Sandbox - by Edward Albee

The Sandbox was written in 1959 and the first performance was staged in 1960 in the Jazz Gallery in New York City. The play is approximately 15 minutes long and involves direct address by the actors to the audience, their acknowledgement that they are performers in a play, and the offering of cues to the musician. A man in a spotlight, clad in swimming trunks, is doing his exercises silently. A couple appears to remark, dryly, "Well, here we are; this is the beach." The woman orders a clarinetist out onto the stage and commands him to play. The couple exits, then returns carrying the woman's eighty-six-year-old mother and dumps her in a sandbox. Grandma begins to weave her history between the cool, indifferent patter of the people and the equally cool, but somehow more sympathetic, sounds from the clarinet. As Grandma covers herself with sand, it begins to dawn that the mysterious, cryptic athlete is much more than local color, and his conversation with Grandma is, in fact, prelude to his purpose. He is "after all, the Angel of Death." The play received an almost universally negative reception at its premiere, as critics attacked the confusing, absurdist plot.

The Bald Prima Donna - by Ionesco

La Cantatrice Chauve - translated from the French as 'The Bald Soprano' or 'The Bald Prima Donna' - is the first play written by Franco-Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco. Since 1957 it has been in permanent showing at the Theatre de la Huchette, and with a record number of interpretations, it has become one of the most performed plays in France. The Smiths are a traditional couple from London, who have invited another couple, the Martins, over for a visit. They are joined later by the Smiths' maid, Mary, and the local fire brigade captain, who is also Mary's lover. The two families engage in meaningless banter, telling stories and relating nonsensical poems. Mrs. Martin at one point converses with her husband as if he were a stranger she just met. As the fire brigade captain turns to leave, he mentions "the bald soprano" in passing, which has a very unsettling effect on the others. Mrs Smith replies that "she always wears her hair in the same style." After the fire brigade captain's exit, the play devolves into a series of complete non sequiturs, with no resemblance to normal conversation. It ends with the two couples shouting in unison "It's not over there. It's over here!"

Trevor - by John Bowen

In this play, one of two girls who live together and who are both in their late twenties, is faced with a visit from her parents. She invites an actor to tea to play the role of the fiance they think she ought to have. Unfortunately both girls sets of parents descend simultaneously and 'Trevor' finds himself playing a double role.

The Radioactive Nude - By Tim Lille

This play is a dramatic attempt to make a statement concerning: a) The power of artistic images, b) The growing monolithic power of international business organisations and c) The search for a greater consciousness beyond the sexual orgasm. The basis of the play's conception is the 'masque'. That and the poetic imagery owes its inspiration to the poetry of W B Yeats.

Krapp's Last Tape - by Samuel Beckett

This is a one-hander originally written for actor Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee Monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's experience of listening to Magee reading extracts from 'Molloy' and 'From an Abandoned Work' on the BBC Third Programme in December 1957. It centres around the life of an elderly lonely man, who has kept an oral journal of his life. Each year on his birthday, he records an annual tape of the events of the previous year and listens to a previous year's recording. In the play we both listen to the recording of when he was 39 and hear him record this, his last tape.

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The Bench Production

These plays were staged under Bench Theatre's original company name of Theatre Union, at their theatre in West Street. It was actually the building in West Street, Havant where most of the Company's early plays were staged, which was called the Bench Theatre (after its prior use as a magistrates' court). The company's name was changed gradually by word of mouth and general usage between the years 1973 - 1977 when reviewers, and then members themselves, gradually stopped referring to Theatre Union and started calling the company of players 'Bench Theatre'. The new Company name of Bench Theatre was adopted in to all the promotional literature after they moved from the old theatre (which had been their home for nearly 7 years) in to the Old Town Hall building in East Street.

Three plays were staged each night, with the repertoire alternating each night as follows:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
Idols,
The Sandbox,
The Bald Prima Donna
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday:
Trevor,
The Radioactive Nude,
Krapp's Last Tape

Cast

Idols

Charlotte Moreau, a widow	Tessa Daines
Sophie, her married sister	Joan Harrison
Louise, her widowed sister	Joan Jevons
Yvonne, her daughter in law	Cindy Prowse
Citizen Jourdan, a neighbour	June Jaques
Catherine Jourdan, her granddaughter	Virginia Randall
Director	Noella Mills

The Sandbox

Young Man	Spokey Wheeler
Mommy	Jen Jones
Daddy	Brian Montefiore
Musician	Tim Mahoney
Grandma	Julie Morgan
Director	Spokey Wheeler

The Bald Prima Donna

Mrs Smith	Sharon Rose
Mr Smith	Peter Duncan
Mrs Martin	Jill Morris
Mrs Martin	David Anderson
Captain of the Fire Brigade	Peter Holding
The Maid	Jill Duncan
Director	Ingrid Caddy

Trevor

Jane Kempton	Ingrid Caddy
Sara Lawrence	Christina Purcell
Trevor	David Anderson
Mrs Lawrence	Mo Burness
Mr Lawrence	Derek Cusdin
Mrs Kempton	Benita Oakley
Mr Kempton	David Spackman
Mr Hudson	Tim Lille
Director	Peter Corrigan

The Radioactive Nude

The Radioactive Nude	Christina Purcell
Byron Code	Ray Osborne
Jordan, his mistress	Mo Burness
Clarkus	Tony Starr
Chorus	Jan Lille Jill Morris Brian Sweatman
Handmaidens	Jan Lille Jill Morris
Director	Tim Lille

Krapp's Last Tape

Krapp	Peter Corrigan
Director	John Hadley

Crew

Producer	Tim Mahoney
Stage Manager	Eddie Sawyer
Assistant Stage Managers	John Scadding Penny Bridle
Lighting	Mike Kibby Will Palmer
Sound Effects	Peter Orford
Tape Recording	Peter Orford
Settings	Jim Jevons
Posters and Tickets	David Lings
Front of House	Sheila Spackman

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Reviews

The NewsF W

Treble scores at Havant Theatre

Before going to see the series of one-act plays at Havant's Bench Theatre this week, be warned: You are in for one of the best evening's entertainments this group has ever put on. The first-night audience saw the first three of the six plays and the clear favourite was The Bald Prima Donna" by Ionesco. Witty and fast-moving, every word and action counted, with the audience completely involved with the six remarkable characters on stage. It was the first time I have seen Sharon Rose, and this girl's zest for humour with her stunning acting talent will make her a firm favourite with regular visitors to The Bench. Sharon took the part of Mrs. Smith, a terribly refined upper middle class woman. She was the perfect partner for Peter Duncan, who played her husband. David Anderson and Jill Morris played Mr and Mrs Martin, who break up the Smith's quiet evening at home. It was remarkable that in the few short weeks the cast had for rehearsing, these four managed to become so involved in their characters that their lines ricocheted from one to the other, with the zany dialogue being bandied between them like a mixed-doubles tennis match. Several people in the audience were almost crying with laughter at the antics of Jill Duncan as the maid and Peter Holding as the captain of the Fire Brigade - an over keen fireman searching for fires to put out. Visual and lighting effects were used to the full in the amazing last few minutes of the play. A pin could have been heard to drop when the lights went out in that few seconds before the applause started. The only criticism was that "The Bald Prima Donna" was the middle play.

It should have been the last, because try as they might, the cast in 'Sandbox' could not totally involve the audience whose minds were still on the previous play.

'Idols' by Phoebe Rees was the first play. This was the grisly tale of Paris under the rule of Madam Guillotine. Tessa Daines played the part of Charlotte Moreau. who plots to denounce her daughter-in-law as an enemy of the republic and is grief stricken when her plan misfires and she discovers she has sent her son to the guillotine instead. June Jaques and Virginia Randall gave gruesome performances as the two women whose minds have turned with the continuous atrocities of the revolution. These plays will be repeated on Wednesday and Friday. Three different plays will be shown tonight Thursday and Saturday.

The News, 9th July 1974

The NewsF W

'Engaging' play at Havant

Havant's Bench Theatre side-stepped the well-trodden path of plays and chose three starkly contrasting one-act dramas. Last night saw the first showing of the second of three in a series of six one-act plays being staged at the theatre this week. First there was the story of two single girls, both in their late twenties, who share a flat in Chelsea. Jane, played by Ingrid Caddy, faces with gloom the prospect of her annual visit from her parents. They cannot understand who she is still single, and to keep them quiet Jane invents a fiancee, engaging a young actor to play the part for £5. Then comes the crunch, the parents of flat mate Sara, played by Christina Purcell, decide to arrive. She too, has invented a boyfriend, and the actor, played by David Anderson, finds himself hopping from room to room to keep both sets of parents happy. To tell what happens next would spoil a moving and unexpected end to the play, which was subtly done.

One lone actor took the stage for the second play, Krapp's Last Tape, by Samuel Beckett. Peter Corrigan, normally cast as a debonair young man, was superbly made up for his solo performance as an old man. He probably spoke no more that five sentences throughout, but his expressions, croaks and pained laugh, while he listened to the tape recordings he made as a young man, were enough.

The third play was the first performance of 'The Radio Active Nude' written and produced by Tim Lille, a Havant teacher. Ray Osborne played the central character who created a super woman, and Mo Burness played the mistress who knew his secret failings. These plays continue on Thursday and Saturday.

The News, 10th July 1974

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