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Life at The Little Theatre column: The show must go on

Read the latest updates from Southport's Little Theatre.

Zainab Noor

InYourArea Community, Zainab Noor

— 3 min read
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Life at The Little Theatre column: The show must go on

Hound of the Baskervilles

By Jennifer Corcoran and Andrew Sloman

Whilst members continue to busy themselves with preparation to reopen, outside of the theatre there have been adaptations and responses to new virus variants.

Urgent requests for aid often bring out the best in people and the theatre is no different. Through many trials, the dedication and generosity of members and patrons has seen us through trials. This can range from raising monies to restore the building following fire, to gala nights for numerous causes, to donating to charity in exchange for Richard Curtis scripts.

Sometimes the call is for last minute volunteers. This is challenging, but often achieved in the various roles backstage, front of house and on our servery and bar. More challenging still is when we need a performer at the eleventh hour!

The show must go on, wherever possible, and invariably everybody lends a hand to get their new team mate up to speed.

Last year we delighted in a shared memory from the first play of 1969, Boeing Boeing, courtesy of Margaret Mann. She portrayed a glamorous air hostess in the show and recalled how cast member Fred Harding collapsed during a rehearsal and was hospitalised, thus too ill to continue. Not only did the crew adapt to a new performer (Don Anderson), but the trio of trolley dollies donned their costumes to visit and cheer their fallen friend and caused quite the stir!

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In 2001 when one of the cocktail waitresses from Shakers Restirred had to bow out, we mixed things up with a last minute cast change a couple of weeks before curtain up. On this occasion, Jennifer Corcoran making up the numbers.

In 2015 we had to find a real life Shaker because our very own bar guru, Kevin Spofforth, was drafted in to take a role in Hound of the Baskervilles. The show had lost not one, but two players on the cusp of show week. To add to the pressure, it was a three hander to begin with and the director (Les Gomersall) had already had to step into one of the roles!

As with Shakers Restirred, the small cast played a range of parts; this adaptation of Conan Doyle’s work required three actors played a total of eighteen characters and engaged in a heady whirl of scene changes, slapstick and props.

Shakers Restirred

Adrian Miles-Roberts also stepped into the breech and the show was saved. Bar volunteers flocked to cover the downstairs role and the regular patrons were delighted to see more of Mr Spofforth (although not quite as much as when he had last been released from the bar for the 2008 closer, The Full Monty!)

More recently, in September 2019, we secured the talents of Liam Rabbette as the lead in One Man, Two Guvnors when our original Francis had to bow out. This was another fast paced show, but he rose to the challenge ably and all was well that ended well!

Hopefully things will run rather more smoothly as we emerge anew. However, you can be sure we will adapt as necessary and keep our lovely theatre going for all of us.

One Man, Two Guvnors

Don’t forget, you can head to our website now and book tickets for Andrew Lancel in Swan Song on Monday, July 5 as well as following our social media for confirmation of booking tickets for Fame the Musical running August 24-28.

To keep up to date with news and plans for the Little Theatre in Southport, Merseyside and find out the latest information on when we may be able to open click here or follow on Facebook and Instagram.

You can also see some special lockdown performances and a virtual theatre tour on our new YouTube Channel – search for Southport Little Theatre.

Southport Little Theatre is at Hoghton Street, Southport, Merseyside

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