Customer Delight
Written by Nathan Chapman
March 2006
Directed by Sally Hartley
The first round of the All England Theatre Festival (Western Area, Southern Division) is held at the Hanger Farm Arts Centre in Totton. Bench Theatre first entered the festival competition in 2006 and has been a regular contributor ever since.
AuthorNathan Chapman
Nathan Chapman
Nathan is a writer and director for various local theatre companies, and has also lectured in Drama at Chichester and Havant Colleges. He has written in a number of different styles, including screenplays, children's musicals, murder mystery evenings and poetry, but his first love is writing plays. His first play, 'The Life Of Reilly' (1997), toured the South professionally in 2001, and was directed by him.
Having left teaching in 2009, he now runs his own successful theatre company, SOOP (Seat of Our Pants) which performs nationally to great acclaim. A member of Bench Theatre for many years, Nathan has acted in and directed numerous plays and also been chairman of the theatre company. Many of his acting outings with the Bench have involved him playing highly mannered Victorian gentlemen, proof if it is needed, that art need not imitate life.
The world's oldest profession becomes big business. As prostitution is legalised, a nervous first-timer decides to sample the no-longer-forbidden delights, only to discover that fears over litigation and health and safety have already taken their toll on the industry.
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This one-act play was staged at the Hanger Farm Arts Centre, Totton as part of the first round of the All England Theatre Festival 2006 competition. It was first performed in 2005 at Havant Arts Centre as part of Bench Theatre's festival of new writing, Supernova3.
| Supplier | Robin Hall |
| Customer | Nathan Chapman |
Crew
Author's Notes
I tend to let ideas "brew" in my head for a while before I am able to commit them to paper. With Supernova 3 coming up, I knew I wanted to produce something for it, but I hadn't written anything for a while. The idea that had been brewing for about a year without going anywhere was something about the transaction between a prostitute and a customer. The simple question "What would happen if prostitution were legalised?" led to Customer Delight. It was fun to write, and a very good way to get back into the swing of writing. But I was sure the sketch wouldn't be selected because of some of the content. Imagine my surprise and trepidation when, not only was it accepted, but I found myself playing the part of the Customer!
Nathan Chapman
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