Last Night of the Plays

 There was a lot of laughter from the audience at the sometimes risqué dialogue

By Margaret Sheard….

I recently attended the first dress rehearsal of the 2 comedies to be performed by KADS at the Girne Culture Centre and was very impressed with what I saw.  I booked 2 tickets for the last performance on 30^th June and took my sister to see the production and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the two comedies again, especially this time with an audience.   

The first comedy “Joining the Club” was set in the living room of a house in an affluent area where the wife (Jenny) has done a pregnancy test which seemed to be positive and the husband (Tom) arrived home to break the news that he had quit his job.  Of course there follows a conversation between the two of them as to how they will manage which was very funny especially the blaming of each other for the situation they were faced with.  This play was about 30 minutes long and the two performers – Rezan Şekerzade and Stephen Everett did a great job.

There was a 30 minute interval between the two plays so the audience were able to move out to the roof terrace for a cool drink, although it had been a hot day and the evening was still very warm, the theatre was air-conditioned so it was very comfortable.

The second comedy “Last Tango in Kyrenia” takes place in a local public hall and was about a group of thespians on the verge of disbanding who decide to have one last fling at a production to pay off their debts.  The play was based on the local area and this brought a lot of laughter and cheering from the audience when places we were all aware of were mentioned in the dialogue.  There were 4 players in this comedy – Phil Lucock (Gordon), Caroline Attwood (Joyce), Don Attwood (Bernard) and Wyn Harrison (Margaret) and again they all performed extremely well.

There was a lot of laughter from the audience at the sometimes risqué dialogue in both performances and this gave so much atmosphere to the whole evening and I am sure must have given all of the players a lot of encouragement and satisfaction.

All three of the performances were well attended and I was told there were 79 in the audience on the first night, 58 on the second night and 84 on the last night.   The players had all worked hard to bring these two plays to the stage, having rehearsed twice a week since last February and I am sure they were pleased with the attendances over the 3 nights.  Of course it would have been great if the theatre, which seats about 150 people, had been full to capacity but I think that when word gets around to those people who missed an excellent evening’s entertainment maybe the next performance by KADS will have even bigger audiences.   

The profit from the entrance fee is to be divided between 2 charities – KAR and SOS.  So not only was it a really good night’s entertainment, it also benefitted two charities as well.

Well done to Lawrie Oxley, the director,  to all of the performers, and not forgetting the behind scenes people ; Claudia Hanna – Assistant Director, Hal Crompton – Lighting, Erol Zyla – Sound and June Lucock – Stage Manager & Props. Beverley Westbrook was Front of House.

My sister had not been to this theatre before and she was very impressed with both the performances and the theatre itself.  This is what she had to say:-

“On Saturday June 30th I attended, with my sister, a KADS production of two comedies at the Girne Culture Centre Theatre and thoroughly enjoyed the evening’s entertainment. It was the first time I had visited this lovely theatre and was most impressed by this little gem. The seating is comfortable, it is air-conditioned and has a lovely atmosphere, in addition the theatre is easily accessible with more than adequate parking..

I am just surprised that it isn’t promoted more effectively as there is a large roof terrace with great views which I’m sure could be utilised for various purposes. My sister suggested it could be opened up on market days, somewhere for tourists to sit and enjoy a cool drink and take in the views, which I think is a great idea.

Hopefully we won’t lose this great facility for lack of use and I, for one, intend supporting future events here and recommend others do too.”

For anyone who may be interested in being part of an amateur theatrical group (both onstage and backstage) contact Lawrie Oxley on 0533 848 9839 or email: lawrieoxley@hotmail.com or telephone Beverley Westbrook on 0533 832 8121