|
The Admirable Crichton by Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) has a social message, delivered with his own mild humour. He is probably best known by children for the play Peter Pan:
|
“When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.” |
Yoy may have memories of Lewis Gilbert’s delightful 1957 film of The Admirable Crichton starring Kenneth More as Crichton, the butler. Of Crichton, all we can quote is Barrie:
|
“Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes.” |
| The Hon. Ernest Woolley | Sean Tyler |
| Crichton | Geoff Westgarth |
| Lady Agatha | Gill Smith |
| Lady Catherine | Edwina Cole |
| Lady Mary | Janet Harrington |
| Mr Treherne | Mike Vaughan |
| Lord Loam | John Reynolds |
| Lord Brocklehurst | Paul Pridmore |
| Tweeny | Bethan Vaughan |
| Lady Brocklehurst | Sarah O’Connor |
A butler (Crichton) who believes strongly in social Darwinism is marooned on a desert island along with his buffoonish betters, and leadership lines are neatly reversed until the castaways are rescued. Crichton holds the fate of British gentility in his hands upon the company’s return to London; he may choose to reveal his role as king-of-the-island or remain mute. What is his choice?
| Producer/Director | Tim Smith |
| Lighting and Sound | Sue Vaughan Lin Howard The Players’ families |
| Set Building | Peter Hurley Tony Norton Malcolm Harrington The Players |
| Special Props | Brian Malyon |
| Stage Crew & Props | Alex Westgarth Rob Burt |
| Prompt | Gill James Barbara Langrish |
| Box Office | Hilary Wiseman |
| Poster/Programme | Alex Westgarth Geoff Westgarth |
| Publicity | Sean Tyler |
| Make Up/Dresser | Hilary Wiseman |
|