20 March: The Welkin

 

CANCELLED

My apologies.  We will do the Welkin on 24 April

 

 

Firstly, some very belated photos of our little trip to see Witness for the Prosecution in January.  I think we all really enjoyed it!  We had lunch beforehand and then had time to enjoy the beautiful architecture inside the old County Hall - I grew up in London under the LCC and yet had never been inside County Hall before, so I did, I'm afraid, find it quite exciting.  Anyway, the Council Chamber was an excellent setting for this play, the actors were very good and the stage well used!  What more can you want?

But back to the Brussels based activity!  Thank you again for agreeing to meet on 20th March!  We will read a play that might require some reader-gymnastics as there are so many characters, but let's just do it and enjoy it!

The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood

 

 

Lucy Kirkwood is a young contemporary writer of some acclaim, and The Welkin was performed at The National in 2020.  Just before .... During Covid I watched another of her plays, Mosquitoes, via NT at Home which I am sure I have mentioned in the past (https://www.ntathome.com/)

The Welkin

I was attracted to the play mainly because of Maxine Peake, who was in the NT production, and who I trust to only be in good plays!  I do hope that you agree with this way of choosing plays!  

The year is 1759 and the country awaits the anticipated arrival of Halley’s Comet. The daughter of Lady Wax has been murdered and the residents of this rural town are out for blood. Sally Poppy has been found guilty of the crime, along with her lover who has already been hanged. Sally’s journey to the noose is dependent on whether she is really pregnant, as she claims, or openly lying. If she is pregnant, she will be transported and her life will be saved. Sally’s fate lies in the hands of twelve women, gathered together to make a unanimous decision one way or the other. Some of the women have reasons for being part of the jury, others cannot wait until their duty is over. Their status, age, and class is varied; one is in the first flush of marriage, another is in her eighties. One of the women is barren, another has had twenty one children. Amidst their bickering and teasing, one woman understands the importance of their presence in the jury room. The midwife, Lizzy, knows that, despite the mob baying for blood outside the window, the twelve women have the chance to make an important, life-changing decision in a world governed by men. However, there is a devil in their midst and the women must wrestle with their consciences to come to a decision.

 

 

 

28 February: Wife After Death

Firstly, many thanks to Rina for providing the wonderful Galette des Rois, they really were fabulous.

And my thanks to you all for bearing with me as this year is going to be a bit of a bumpy ride for dates!

I'm putting this up in the hope that we can meet on 28th February!

Wife After Death 

by Eric Chappell

Comedian and national treasure Dave Thursby has died, and on the day of his funeral, friends and colleagues gather beside his coffin to pay their last respects. There's Harvey, who wrote Dave's material; Vi, Harvey's wife; Kevin, Dave's agent, and Kevin's wife Jane. Dave's glamorous widow Laura has arranged a funeral to remember, complete with a horse-drawn hearse and an attendant dog. An unfamiliar woman in flamboyant mourning clothes turns out to be Kay, Dave's ex-wife from before he was famous, and a series of revelations end with Kevin throwing a drink into the coffin and all the guests asking themselves if they ever knew the "real" Dave.

 

 Eric Chappell 

Chappell wrote the play The Banana Box, which was given a staged reading at the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1970. A production ran in Leicester in 1971, with Wilfrid Brambell in the role of the landlord, and was later produced in the West End in 1973, with Leonard Rossiter in the role.  This play later became the basis for sitcom Rising Damp, which aired from 1974 to 1978 and won the 1978 BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy.