BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE PLAY
When the Harris Public Library and Art Gallery opened in 1893 there was a minor controversy concerning one of the statues which had been obtained from the South Kensington Museum [Now the V&A]: a full-sized plaster cast of Michelangelo’s David. All 20 feet of him, completely naked… Victorian sensibilities were not all impressed: it caused a furore, and got into the national press.
This is all true and partly what the play’s about, but it’s not really the heart of it. That’s the story [completely fictional] of a young working class woman who happens to draw well and is interested in Art, her relationship with the Harris architect, and where that all leads. Sort of Pygmalionish
Performance dates: Wed 15th to Sat 18th of April
The Cast [6f, 6m]*
Alice: 20s Lancs working class. Aspirational and artistic. Organised. Forthright.
Albert: 20s: Mill worker also with desire to ‘better himself’ but within the accepted parameters of the day. Probably in love with Alice.
John Grimshaw[JG] 40-60s Mayor. Pompous, self made successful business man.
Dr Nathan Carter [Dr] 30-50s Educated, confident, superior but easy natured, droll wit,
cynical.
Rev Arthur McCrum: [Rev] 50-60+ Staid, conservative, correct, dry.
James Hibbert [JH] 30-50 Intense, occasionally abstracted, enthusiastic, classicist.
Mrs Forshaw: [Mrs F] Alice’s mother. 40-50+ Widow. Upright but not illiberal. Housekeeper to JH.
George Hodge; 50-70s Ex army now Harris watchman. Very upright in posture and morality. A regular caller on Mrs F.
Mrs Elizaberth Grimshaw [Lizzie] 40-60s More educated than her husband and quite independently minded. Playful sense of humour.
Mrs Jane McCrum 40-60s Quiet, unassuming, somewhat naive
Mrs Edith Carter 30-50s Not unlike her husband. Confident, liberal and light-hearted.
Nelly 40-60s Lancashire working class woman with a taste for gossip
* you don't have to be a member to come to the reading but if cast in a role, you would need to have a Full PDC Membership.
AND ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT…RICHARD CATMORE
I’m not a novice though this is the first play that I’ve written in recent years and since becoming involved with the Preston Drama Club and Playhouse.
Other works include:
SISTERS: A play about the Suffragette movement and the clash of personalities between the Pankhurst sisters, Sylvia and Christabel. Performed at various locations
around Manchester and Cheshire; at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the showpiece at the Pankhurst Festival at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester in the early 80s
LESSONS: A play about a student uprising in a comprehensive school. Played in and around Manchester and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
MAKING IT: A play about a group of young adults setting out against the backdrop of
Thatcherite Britain. Played around Manchester and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
DROPPING ONE: A satirical, darkly humorous play about the threat and aftermath of
nuclear war, set in a bunker under a public convenience… Played around Manchester, the Buxton Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
MARY BARTON: An adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic and radical Victorian novel about Manchester Life. Played around Manchester, Buxton Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
All the above with Mike Harris and The Gorton Workshop [later: GW Theatre], a Theatre group for young adults set up in 1980 by Mike and myself.
THE VISITOR: An epic tale about a famous lifeboat rescue off the coast of Robin Hood’s Bay in 1861. Performed in Lytham and, by invitation of the RNLI, in Whitby
ELDERS AND BETTERS: A village fights to save its community centre from developers; finding a lost Shakespearean Sonnet helps… Performed in Lytham
THE OTHER HALF: A play about the unfolding chaos after the double booking at an outward bound centre of two quite socially distinct groups of young adults and their hapless teachers. Performed in Lytham
KEEPING TIME: A time-travel story of a band of musicians escaping the plague in 16th century London and meeting with a minibus full of dancers going to a gig… Also performed in Lytham.
I adapted and directed The Pirates of Penzance and Kiss Me Kate, both for Lytham Operatic Society.
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