Season 68 Kaleidoscope – Nil Desperandum by Edwards & Gaul

Nil Desperandum
10th – 12th March 2016

Directed by

Sally Edwards

Cast

Izzy – LIBBY JONES
Bert – JUDE CONNOLLY
Marianne – ROSA MONTAGUE-VAUGHAN
Josh – BEN PEARSON
The Voice – MATTHEW PERKINS
Dusty – ALYSSA KEENE
Maggie – MOLLY INGHAM
Head Teacher – JACOB LEEMING
Policeman – SAM BROWN
Mother – EMILY HART
Father – JAMES HUNTINGTON
Bus Driver – SAM PERKINS
Nikki – BETH LOW
Mrs Clark – EMILY WALTON
Doctor 1 – ELLIOT MAWSON
Doctor 2 – MAYA GEORGE
Mrs Green – HANNAH WILKINSON
Mrs Walsh – NANCY WILSON
Wm Shakespeare – JAMIE TSE
Shakespeare Snr – MATTHEW PERKINS
Mistress Quickly – SARAH-JANE AKERS
Burbage – OWEN WRAY
Anne Hathaway – SOPHIE TANKARD
Aubrey – ISAAC HARRISON
Hathaway Brothers – THOM ARMSTRONG & OLIVER WINDER
Guards – ALEX FARQUHAR & HARRY SHARP
Hedda Hopper – DAISY SMITH
Louella Parsons – SARAH PALEY
Vincente Minnelli – THEO CONNOLLY
Judy Garland – MARTHA EDWARDS
Laurence Olivier – GABE BOWDEN
Vivien Leigh – LYDIA AITKEN
Darryl Zanuck – HARRY LONGBOTTOM
Marilyn Monroe – JESSICA CHEWINS
Press – MAYA GEORGE
Interviewer – JACK BECKETT-MEEGAN
Speaker – LAURA KNOWLES

Synopsis

A play about the pressures on today’s teenager with flashbacks to the past and lessons we can learn from it . This play was written by Sally Edwards with original music by Katy Gaul, in response to discussions with our young actors about collaborating on an original piece for Kaleidoscope that would provide parts for over fifty teenagers.

Teenager, Lizzy is not in a good place. Adopted as a small child, she feels rejected by her birth parents and smothered by her adopted ones. School is a disaster, she has boyfriend troubles and the only person she can talk to is a ninety-year-old nursing home resident called Bert who is fond of using aphorisms and throwing Latin phrases into everyday conversation.

As Lizzy complains to Bert of her various woes, he points out that people have failed spectacularly since the beginning of time and it is what kind of person you are and what you learn along the way that counts. Bert gives advice to his young friend using incidents of failure in the past (accompanied by songs) to show Lizzy that everyone has something to offer and that there is no need for despair.

Directors Notes

In order to give our Kaleidoscope members a chance to appear in a variety of genres we wanted a comedy drama for the 2016 production after the more serious classic adaptation, A Tale of Two Cities, of last year. With a huge cast, the task of finding a suitable script has become a perennial problem and this year we have produced an original, collaborative piece which has been very exciting. The cast have been wonderful; they have really invested in this production and have we have had a great time in rehearsal. It is once again my privilege to be working closely with Katy Gaul on this production. Her talents as a composer are a huge asset to any production and I would like to thank her for her hard work in bringing the production together and adding so much to the experience of the young performers. Huge thanks to Amanda Miers for Stage Managing and to Louise Potter, Sarah Wilson, Liz Keogh and Julie Magson for all their hard work on props. I would also like to thank Anna Leach, a former Kaleidoscope member, who is ASM and has helped enormously at our sessions throughout the year. We are very lucky to have such a great set building team in Jason Perkins, Terry Robertson and Dennis Keogh. Thanks to Phill Smith and all the lighting team and to David Pedrick and Matthew Norwood on sound/effects. Thanks to Roy Dixon and Bruce Grainger for photography and to Tom Connor for his original designs for the poster and programme. Thanks to Daisy Benson, one of our Advance group, for her help with movement. I am very grateful to Debbie Linton for all her support throughout the production and for the massive amount of work she has put into the costumes and tuition. Costume and make-up have also had the great help of Hilary Keene and Mabel Wilson – thanks to you both. Thanks so much to Amanda Miers for her work both as a tutor and backstage and to Lynn George, Karen McCreesh, Nadine Bowman, Rosemary Grainger, Rebecca Ingham and all the chaperones who willingly give of their free time to help us backstage. Finally, I would like to thank the parents of our cast who have supported their offspring throughout the rehearsal period and the cast themselves for being so fantastic to work with. I hope you all enjoy the play.