A comedy by Eric Chappell ... October 8th to October 13th

Eric Chappell, who is perhaps best known for his celebrated TV sitcom Rising Damp, gives us a murder mystery meets comedy thriller in the deceptively tranquil setting of a retirement home where the cantankerous, iron-willed Emily Baines firmly believes the death of her erstwhile companion is more than a little suspicious.

Emily tries to piece together the clues - will nobody ever listen? Not even her new fellow tenant May Brewer? It seems that way, but one night things come to a head…

Sharp wit, a good plot and an astute observation of character make this a touchingly funny play which will send you home smiling.

Directed by Helen Appleton

Cast (in order of appearance)

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Production Team

Acknowledgements:

The directors would like to thank the following parties for their kind help in this production:
Sue Soper, for the supply of a wig.
RENEW Furniture Recycling Project, for providing various items of furniture'

Who's who.........

Helen Appleton		Helen joined Louth Playgoers’ in 2002 and first appeared on stage in Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce. Since then she has appeared in several other plays; most recently Richard Harris’s Visiting Hour. In 2004 Helen became a co-director of Wharfingers’ Youth Theatre which has involved her in the production of various aspects of devised and scripted theatre including an adaptation of George Orwell’s prophetic novel Nineteen Eighty Four and Denise Deegan’s 1920's boarding school parody Daisy Pulls It Off. Having enjoyed her experience as assistant director for Alan Ayckbourn’s Flat Spin, Helen was pleased when she was invited to direct Summer End this season.
Jane Goldsmith	Jane last appeared on the Playgoers’ stage in 2007 in Peter Whelan’s The herbal Bed. She has previously appeared in Woman in White,  The Memory of Water, Private Lives, The Odd Couple (Female version) and Rebecca to name but a few. Aside from acting, her long list of theatrical achievements include directing Terrence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea, which was performed in the Riverhead Theatre’s Studio, and co-directing The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Amateur Dramatic Society Murder Mystery.
Barbara Saweard		Barbara first appeared for Playgoers in 1955 at the Playhouse Cinema in Little Lambs Eat Ivy. Those were the days when we used to pull down the cinema screen and build a set overnight.  Fifty years and nearly a hundred parts later, she is still fending off retirement from the stage and cannot resist a good part. Making people laugh is still the most exhilarating feeling in the world!
Holly Mapletoft	Noel Coward’s Present Laughter was the last Playgoers’ production in which Holly appeared, although she has found time over the past few years to juggle family life with treading the boards in Bedroom Farce and Stepping Out. She was not much older than her two sons when she made her acting début in the 1980s’ BBC Children’s TV series Supergran. Sally in Summer End is unlike any other part she has played and it is one which she very much enjoys.
Dorothy Barron		Dorothy has been involved with Louth Playoers since 1998; her first appearance being in The Odd Couple (Female Version) during that year. Since then, she has played in Cash on Delivery, Relative Values, The Weekend, Private Lives, Dead Reckoning (written by Playgoer's actor/director Richard Gibson), The Memory of Water, The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Amateur Dramatic Society Murder Mystery, Present Laughter, I'll Be Back Before Midnight (winner of the NODA award for best play in our region), and Visiting Hour.
Jonathan Cooke	Jonathan last appeared at the Riverhead Theatre in March when Playgoers presented Richard Harris’s Visiting Hour. He is a very versatile actor and the old fellow in a wheelchair was a complete contrast to the character he played in Brassed Off, for which he was awarded Best Supporting Actor at the Skegness Festival last year. Having just finished playing Lucky Eric in Horncastle Theatre Company’s Bouncers, Jonathan is now delighted to be in another Playgoers’ production.

 The cast in rehearsals

Reviews

Compass FM

For many, the golden age of TV sit-coms was the sixties and seventies and though we remember the stars of these; with few exceptions we fail to recall the names of the writers. One such name is perhaps Eric Chappell yet he was responsible for bringing us Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh, The Bounder and Duty Free amongst many more. Some of these originated from his stage plays but of course not everything he wrote made it to the TV screen. One such example is Summer End which this week is being performed at the Louth Riverhead Theatre.

It is all set in the shared bedroom of Emily (Barbara Saweard) and May (Jane Goldsmith); residents of the retirement home Summer End. The play opens with the two ladies dissecting an obituary published in the local paper as only two elderly ladies can and the witty lines just flow. But we soon discover Emily’s former roommate died recently and she suspects foul play. During the course of the evening we embark on a journey; Emily suspects one person then another before concluding that all her suspects are in collusion. But is this a false trail; May discovers all is not as it seems as far as even Emily is concerned?

The weight of the play rests upon the shoulders of these two ladies with support from the homes matron Mrs Lang, played by Dorothy Barron, Sally (Holly Mapletoft) the care home assistant and Emily’s son Alan (Jonathan Cooke) who also has a trick up his sleeve. Barbara Saweard captures the slightly dominant and cantankerous traits of Emily whilst retaining a mischievous sparkle in her eye; contrasting Jane Goldsmith’s portrayal of a once confident business woman who becomes vulnerable and wilts before us. On opening night the responsibility carried by these two actors was perhaps reflected in the number of occasions the prompt was called upon to lend support but hopefully confidence will build.

It is an interesting play for is it a comedy or a thriller? In reality it is an attempt at a combination of the two and at times the two genres do not sit comfortably side by side. The blame for that lies not with the cast but the author although he has penned some excellent lines for the actors which are delivered with aplomb and secure the laughs that were intended. With a touch of irony Emily reflects upon a planned evening of entertainment for the residents and bemoaning the cost says “But they’re amateurs ….. they should do it for nothing”. Well, Louth Playgoers may be amateurs themselves but they are serving up an autumnal treat that is well worth the price of a ticket.

Louth Leader