Horncastle Theatre company win at prestigious Play Festival

Over the weekend of July 19-21 a group from Horncastle Theatre Company took two scenes from Visiting Hour by Richard Harriss to the Hunstanton One act play festival.

Competition was stiff with 13 productions being performed over three days with an award ceremony on the Sunday evening.

Entries came from groups based in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire and consisted of both adult and youth groups performing a mix of original and established pieces, with the standard of competition being very high.

The rules of the competition state that a company has 50 minutes to set the stage, perform and then clear the stage for the next performance, which means that the whole thing has to be extremely slick with the timing spot on, as a production would be penalised if they exceeded the time allowed.

On the Saturday afternoon, with much hilarity, members prepared elements of the set in an adjoining car park allowing extra time for the technical rehearsal.

Saturday night saw the cast performing Keeping Mum and Plaster, Horncastle actress Cheryl Valley opening with Keeping Mum, a 25 minute monologue which was an ideal vehicle for her to showcase what a fine actress she is, next up were David Allerton and Adele Simpson who reprised their comedic two-hander Plaster. All three actors had been rehearsing for the previous three months in order to ensure a polished, professional performance.

Directed by Jonathan Cooke these scenes were first brought to Horncastle’s stage as part of last summer’s Hospitals and Hospitality production.

No show is possible without an excellent back stage team which in this case consisted of Stage Manager Alex Alder, sound and lighting Russell Alder with Alison Bourn and Anna Maria Vesey as extras, make-up and costume.

Director Jonathan said a hugely enjoyable weekend was had by all, attending a festival for the first time in 15 years with the high point being Cheryl Valley winning a well deserved Best Actress trophy.