This page gves a quick snapshot from each of the four decades of the Bench's activity, including the winning play from the last playwriting competition in 1986.
'6 Characters In Search Of An Author' was Bench Theatre's first production when the company was known as the 'Theatre Union'
The realism of much of "Six Characters in Search of an Author" at Havant last night was so great that THE NEWS was read on stage ....
Pirandello's play is the first major production of Theatre Union. In the interval, which constitutes the rehearsal of a rather second-rate theatrical company, the actors stay on stage chatting, drinking coffee, and reading the papers.
This sort of realism must have been an easy enough achievement for director Keith Milner. So must the almost frightening contrast in the
entrances of the "six characters" and of Madam Pace. The great achievement of the production is its success in constrasting not only the naturalism of the stage company with the stylization of the "characters", but also the unreal illusory world of the company with the brutal reality of the characters' world.
FINAL GUN-SHOT
Death comes as the climax of a subtly mounting insistence on this reality, and the final gun-shot leaves the superficiality of the stage company stripped to the bone. Most thoroughly shattered of all is the company's producer, played by Ray Osborne. He catches every nuance of this rather likeable, rather stupid, ineffectual bully. He is that rare thing - an actor who can play the actor.
Special mentions must go to Derek Cusdin, in the abominably difficult part of the father, and to Eileen Baatz, who makes every broken sob speak. And above all Jane Henderson, Mrs. Baatz's daughter in life as on stage, belied her 15 years with a show of huge poise and maturity. She aims to become a professional actress. She has the subtlety, the power, and the range to take her a long way.
But in this sort of production honour should be shared equally among the cast and all the back-room brigade. Havant has long been expecting great things of Theatre Union - and at last Theatre Union is supplying great things.
There are further performances at Havant Grammar School tonight and on Saturday.
| The Company: | |
| The Producer | Ray Osbourne |
| The Leading Lady | Maureen Burness |
| The Leading Man | Barry Reilly |
| The Second Actress | Pamela Smith |
| The Third Actress | Trina Hogg |
| The Ingenue | Francoise Cullet |
| The Juvenile Lead | Clive Wilson |
| The Stage Manager | Nic Dawson |
| The Second Actor | Tim Mahoney |
| The Prompter | Roland Goodbody |
| The Property Man | David Spackman |
| The Characters of the Play in the Making: | |
| The Father | Derek Cusdin |
| The Mother | Eileen Baatz |
| The Stepdaughter | John Cohen |
| The Son | David Gatfield |
| The Boy | Melanie Burness |
| The Little Girl | Madam Pace |
| Madam Pace | Gabrielle Finken |
Todd's War by Steve Farnfield was the winner of the Bench's playwriting competition in 1986
The intensity and insanity of a man gripped with a vision of revolution in the 1980s provides the theme for the latest production by Havant's Bench Theatre.
"Todd's War" is the first play ever penned by Southsea playwright Steve Farnfield, and it is both stimulating and intriguing.
Todd is a man fuelled by a futile ambition – to spark massive public disorder through football hooliganism and recreate a pure and primitive society.
Backed by a confused collection of drop outs and criminals, he embarks on a doomed campaign which results in shocking violence and inevitable tragedy.
The play, which is being staged at the Old Town Hall Arts Centre, is performed by a collection of talented and convincing Bench Theatre actors.
The character of Todd is played by David Penrose, husband of the play’s director Jacquie, and he masterfully develops the leader’s growing insanity and ruthlessness.
Dry and witty humour punctuate the play’s gradual increase in tension and action, and even in the most serious moments the writer manages to prompt a relieving laugh.
"Todd's War" earned Mr. Farnfield £300 when it won the first prize in the Bench Theatre’s international playwriting contest and the director is convinced it will earn him widespread recognition.
Todd's War by Steve Farnfield was the winner of the Bench's playwriting competition in 1986
