Season 76 Play 3 – When We Are Married by J.B. Priestley
Directed by
Cast
Gerald Forbes – Adam Drinkall
Mrs Northrop – Deborah Mouat
Nancy Holmes – Hannah Wilkinson
Fred Dyson – Sam Bailey
Henry Ormonroyd – Stephen C. Brown
Alderman Joseph Helliwell – Glenn Boldy
Maria Helliwell – Julie Boldy
Councillor Albert Parker – Alan Stockdill
Herbert Soppitt – David Templeton
Clara Soppitt – Yvonne Templeton
Annie Parker – Gilly Wilkinson Rogers
Lottie Grady – Nicola Brook
Rev. Clement Mercer – Maurice Claypole
Synopsis
In a town very like old Bingley, in the golden Edwardian era, a group of three couples, old friends and all married on the same day in the same chapel, gathers at the Helliwells’ home to celebrate their silver anniversary. When they discover that they are not legally married, each couple initially reacts with proper Victorian horror – what will the neighbours think? – and all three couples find themselves reevaluating their marriages; hovering closely over the proceedings is the Yorkshire Argus’ alcohol-soaked photographer, keen to record the evening’s events for posterity, and a wickedly destructive housekeeper who is hoping to use the couples’ mortification to her own advantage.
This little story then plays out in a clever and hilarious demolition of pompous Victorian morality.
Directors Notes
WHEN WE ARE MARRIED… so good we’re doing it for the fifth time!
Bingley Little Theatre’s first ever production was in 1943 and it was this wonderful play. And to celebrate our diamond anniversary, we are proud to produce it once again.
I was delighted to be asked to direct, because J B Priestley is, in my humble opinion, one of the great figures of the twentieth century, a thinker and a first-class playwright whose works will live on. And he was from Bradford! We have had great fun rehearsing, and laughing out loud on so many occasions as the words, the characters written nearly a century ago, spring fresh from the page. The types we see before us tonight are as old as the hills, and as fresh as a daisy – and they are all Yorkshire!
The story is simple – “absurd” said the author!
In a town which could well be Bingley, in the Edwardian Golden early years of the Twentieth Century, three town worthies and their worthy wives are celebrating their Silver Weddings. Full of port and pomp, they discover to their horror – “what will respectable folk say!” that they are not legally married. What ensues is a farcical comedy of manners and characters as, aided – or hindered – by a range of interesting characters, they come to terms with their dilemma.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Robin Martin (who was in the 1979 production as the young Fred Dyson!)
