Season 49 Play 4 – Celebration by Keith Waterhouse & Willis Hall
Directed by
Cast
Rhoda Lucas – Her Mother – Freda Denbigh
Edgar Lucas – Her Father – Gordon Sugden
Jack Lucas – Her Brother – Kevin Moore
Irene Howes – Her Cousin – Nicky Finn
Lilian Howes – Her Aunt – Margaret Marsden
Frank Broadbent – Her Uncle – Donald Clough
Arthur Broadbent – Her Great Uncle – Frank Breen
Stan Dyson – Irene’s Fiance – Nick Goodwin
Bernard Fuller – The Groom – David Templeton
Edna Fuller – His Mother – Patricia Clough
Alice Fuller – His Aunt – June Driver
Lionel Fuller – His Cousin – Paul Dargan
Margo Fuller – His Cousin’s Wife – Glenyce Spear
May Becket – Marilyn Baines
Sergeant-Major Tommy Lodge – Arthur Grice
Synopsis
‘Celebration’ is written in two parts. ‘The Wedding’ is set in a rather dingy ‘function-room’ above a public house in an industrial town in the North of England; “The Funeral’ in the living room of a terrace house with about six square feet of garden at the front. The same people (with one exception!) attend both occasions. A warm, humorous play that invites you to share its many recognisable moments.
Directors Notes
In a world that is increasingly sophisticated and somewhat turbulent it may seem somewhat surprising how much we all reach back in our memories into a time when things were less complicated and pleasures simpler. From the many plays and films, enjoying a successful return to the public arena and of simular calibre; it would appear that many endorse this view.
Tonight’s play, last seen on the Bingley Little Theatre stage in 1962, is one such indicator. It is unashamedly of a time when familles had a very strong pecking order and values appeared to be strongly upheld even in the most ordinary homes. That we can still chuckle
at their exploits suggests that there is perhaps nothing new under the sun.
Two family events presented tonight by a very talented cast of old and new actor members will, I hope, make you smile and perhaps yearn for a time before the Internet and computer shopping; a time when 11/6 paid the rent and not a newspaper plopping through the door.
