The Bandwagon - performed May 1988
By Terence Frisby Performed with the kind permission of Director -dennis Murfitt Cast (in order of appearance) Mrs Botterill Val Taylor Mr Botterill Dennis Murfitt Lorraine Roach Cathy O'Neill Bernard Roach Bernie Brindley Leslie Botterill Christopher Mason Aurora Botterill Tracy Amoss Piers Cramp Oliver Smith Winifred Godd Viv Wheatley Roger Digby Bert Yeates Camera man Duncan Steel Lighting Technician Paul Koval Sound Technician Bill Embly Heather Debi Koval Tony Dave Turrell Interviewer Allan Breckells P.A. Girl Allison Hawkins Corporal Keith Follett Adrian Bolton Photographer Duncan Steel Vicar Duncan Breckells Nurses Lesley Butcher Hilda Breckells
Production Team Val Taylor, Viv Wheatley, Jude Hussey, Jenny Rollings, Greg Garrad, Dennis Murfitt, Bruce Emeny, Maurice Barber, Alison Brett, Jenny Glayzer, Patience Ling, Viv Wheatley, and other volunteers not mentioned. The Play The Bandwagon by Terrence Frisby, an hilarious comedy set in the 1960s, revolved around the trials and tribulations of family life. Reviews When Aurora Botterill finds herself expecting quins and attracts the attention of the media, the Bandwagon of the title starts to roll – with everyone trying to climb aboard the gravy train. Terence Frisby’s no-holds-barred comedy is by way of being a prototype for TV’s Till Death Us Do Part. It is rude, crude and in Dennis Murfitt’s uproarious production, screamingly funny. Significantly, it is the women in the audience who are gripped in the biggest convulsion of mirth but despite one of two dull patches, the action generally bubbles along with the small stage for once working in favour of some hilarious overcrowding. All the family are first-rate. Tracy Amoss plays the naïve, withdrawn Aurora with deft detail that finds touching expression in her duologue with Viv Wheatley’s gushing, false-faced agony-aunt. Cathy O’Neill, graduated with innumerable honours from Harwich Youth Theatre, is a splendid contrast as her equally pregnant married sister Lorraine, a voice that set the teeth on edge. Val Taylor’s timing as the similarly heavy-with-child Mother demonstrates vividly just why she is one of the foremost actresses in the area. Dennis Murfitt’s Father, plagued with the back trouble that is a constant source of knowing giggles, makes the most of all his coarse-grained opportunities and Bernie Brindley’s son-in-law works as effectively off the focus as when he is the centre of attention. Jimmy James Photo Shoot If you have any photos from this production, then please let us know. Back