Quartet - performed January 2015
By Ronald Harwood Performed with the kind permission of Samuel French Director - John Roberts Having previously directed ‘Rebecca’ and ‘The Heiress’, this is the third full length play I have directed at the Manifest. As always it has been a very enjoyable experience; not only have I been lucky enough to have a wonderful and very committed cast to perform my play but I have also had a marvellous team of ‘back room’ boys and girls to help build and create my set; provide props; costumes; sound; lighting and all the 101 other things that go into putting a production on for your entertainment. It really is a team effort where everyone is equally important and I hope that we have managed to provide you all with a good enjoyable evening of entertainment. Our members are very important to us and we hope that when you leave tonight you will all have had such a great time that you cannot wait to come back and see the next show! John Roberts Cast (in order of appearance) Reginald Mike Brown Wilfred Nigel Lister Cecily Gloria Streames Jean Kerry King
Production Team John Roberts, Nigel Rowe, Andy Terry, Derek Butcher, Jude Hussey, Bruce Emeny, George Sykes, Derek Butcher, Gloria Streames, Ben Graham, Alan & June Wheeler, Yvonne Cobbold, Chris Feather, Patience Ling, Viv Wheatley, Amanda & Nigel Rowe, Steve Sadler and other volunteers not mentioned. Awards & Nominations The Play Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred reside in a home for retired opera singers in Kent, England. Each year, on the tenth of October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on in this funny and poignant play by the author of Another Time, The Dresser and Interperters that premiered at the Albery Theatre, London. Reviews Four outstanding performances marked the Manifest Theatre Group's latest production. Quartet, written by multi-award winner Ronald Harwood, was staged over four nights at Manningtree's Manifest Theatre last week. The two-act drama directed by John Roberts, told the story of three ageing opera singers, all somewhat eccentric characters, who are joined by a fourth at their retirement home to the consternation of one. The roles were filled by three of the group's longest-serving and most talented members, Gloria Streames, Kerry King and Nigel Lister. The fourth was Mike Brown, a newcomer to the area and on this showing seems likely to be an asset to the Manifest. All four were on stage for most of the four scenes and while there were a few prompts on the opening night, they all gave remarkable performances. Their finale, miming to a piece of opera, could not be faulted and something that must have taken a great deal of practice and how brave, as they prepared for the highlight, to get down to their underwear on stage! As with all productions at the Manifest, it was well presented, the set was bright and attractive and scene changes made with the minimum of fuss. The only criticism would be that at times the plot seemed to lose its way and could have been shortened. Leslie Pallett Photo Shoot Kerry, Nigel, Gloria, Mike photos from this production to appear shortly (click on an image below to view a larger photo - arrow keys navigate through the set) Production Index