Cast

Synopsis

A newspaper headline might read – ‘Shipwrecked on a deserted island on…. DERWENT WATER?? The writer of the play describes it as “A comedy in a thick fog’. Four men, of very differing personalities, each a Departmental Manager, and all from the same company, are on a ‘Team Building Weekend’ at Business Outbound Ltd, in the Lake District. Three days of rigorous alfresco living test their tenacity, determination and reactions to situations for which they are ill prepared. Above all it is a test of leadership and management ability – with hilarious results and including one of the funniest play openings imaginable.

Directors Notes

Neville’s island was first produced at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, scarborough, in May 1992. It is the story of four out of condition businessmen shipwrecked on a cold, wet, miserably foggy island on Derwent water in the Lake District. They are, Gordon, Angus, Roy and Neville: respectfully, a sarcastic bully, a wet wimp, a religious madman and a peaceful family man As night falls on this 5th of November Plot night, strange things happen out in the wilds. What should have been a pleasent team building exercise turns into a muddy, bloody fight for survival. Neville’s Island, a Comedy in Thick Fog, by Tim Firth is by far the funniest play script I have read, it did and still does cause me to cry with laughter, the cast and production team were no better. At times rehearsals stopped for minutes on end as grown men rolled around on their backs in fits of laughter, sniggering and snorting into play books, unable to speak or string a few coherent grunts together. This behaviour continued with monotonous regularity throughout rehearsals, I won’t tell tales and say who was the worst culprit. If you enjoy tonight’s production half as much as we have enjoyed rehearsing then you are in for a good night and if you should hear strange unexplained noises. .. fear not, it’s probably a member of the team, stifling a giggle somewhere.