Love Begins at 50
Plays for Laughs
14-18 October 2014
Plays for Laughs
14-18 October 2014
Plays for Laughs are a Southend based drama group started by Maggie Hooper in 2012. She decided to start up a group with the sole purpose that each show that was put on would raise money for a Southend based charity. Along with good friend, Belinda Belt acting as casting director, their first production was Arsenic and Old Lace, directed by Jacquee Storozynski-Toll. The following year they produced Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde and their latest production, which is looming ever closer, will be Love Begins at 50 another comedy written by Raymond Hopkins.
They produce just one play a year and Belinda has the formidable task of finding actors to cast in each show. Most people belong to their own group so sometimes it’s hard to find local actors who are available but Belinda has been in the Southend drama scene long enough to be able to sniff out some pretty good talent and this has led to their shows being extremely well attended and received. The most recent cast members have also been, or still are, members of the likes of Lindisfarne Players, St Aiden’s Players, Southend Shakespeare and East Essex Players, to name but a few.
Maggie says that the group only perform comedies, hence the name and, it would seem, audiences who come away laughing are audiences who are more than happy to part with their pennies, which is great news for Southend’s local charities. So far they have been able to support Help for Heroes, Essex Air Ambulance and the latest production will hopefully be providing the Southend on Sea branch of Age Concern UK with a big chunk of cash. “We choose local charities because then we know exactly where the money goes,” Maggie tells me, “and Age Concern are a charity that are quite often over looked.” Maggie should know; she is a volunteer at the Centre and so will see first hand where their collection money goes.
So, on to the play - Anita and Clive Debanks have been married for 28 years and have led an uneventful life. But all that is about to change. Although in a loveless marriage, Clive has never been unfaithful. However, as preparations for his fiftieth birthday are underway, Clive feels that life is passing him by and has a yearning for one last fling. To this end, he chooses three prospective partners from the ‘lonely Hearts’ column in the local paper. By a strange twist of fate, the same paper is offering a Caribbean cruise, as the first prize, in a competition to find the perfect married couple. Anita enters the competition but keeps it a secret form Clive. A photographer arrives to take pictures of the happy couple the night Anita is away, and Clive is busy at home, entertaining one of his new dates. From that point onwards, things get a little complicated, to say the least. The action is fast and furious in this hilarious farce.
Go and have a good laugh at this play at The Dixon Studio at The Palace Theatre from the 14th to the 18th October. Details are available from www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the Box Office on 01702 351135
Search for Plays for Laughs Facebook page too and keep up to date with all their news.
Click here for Review
They produce just one play a year and Belinda has the formidable task of finding actors to cast in each show. Most people belong to their own group so sometimes it’s hard to find local actors who are available but Belinda has been in the Southend drama scene long enough to be able to sniff out some pretty good talent and this has led to their shows being extremely well attended and received. The most recent cast members have also been, or still are, members of the likes of Lindisfarne Players, St Aiden’s Players, Southend Shakespeare and East Essex Players, to name but a few.
Maggie says that the group only perform comedies, hence the name and, it would seem, audiences who come away laughing are audiences who are more than happy to part with their pennies, which is great news for Southend’s local charities. So far they have been able to support Help for Heroes, Essex Air Ambulance and the latest production will hopefully be providing the Southend on Sea branch of Age Concern UK with a big chunk of cash. “We choose local charities because then we know exactly where the money goes,” Maggie tells me, “and Age Concern are a charity that are quite often over looked.” Maggie should know; she is a volunteer at the Centre and so will see first hand where their collection money goes.
So, on to the play - Anita and Clive Debanks have been married for 28 years and have led an uneventful life. But all that is about to change. Although in a loveless marriage, Clive has never been unfaithful. However, as preparations for his fiftieth birthday are underway, Clive feels that life is passing him by and has a yearning for one last fling. To this end, he chooses three prospective partners from the ‘lonely Hearts’ column in the local paper. By a strange twist of fate, the same paper is offering a Caribbean cruise, as the first prize, in a competition to find the perfect married couple. Anita enters the competition but keeps it a secret form Clive. A photographer arrives to take pictures of the happy couple the night Anita is away, and Clive is busy at home, entertaining one of his new dates. From that point onwards, things get a little complicated, to say the least. The action is fast and furious in this hilarious farce.
Go and have a good laugh at this play at The Dixon Studio at The Palace Theatre from the 14th to the 18th October. Details are available from www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the Box Office on 01702 351135
Search for Plays for Laughs Facebook page too and keep up to date with all their news.
Click here for Review
The cast of Love Begins at 50
click on the thumbnails to enlarge
click on the thumbnails to enlarge