UNDER MILK WOOD
The Maskers presented Under Milk Wood at the Nuffield Theatre, from the 4th to 8th June 1974
.... they're all in the Maskers' 'Milk Wood' ...
The Maskers are staging Dylan Thomas's rollicking radio play "Under Milk Wood" --- exactly 20 yeras after it was first broadcast. It's not long though since Thomas's brilliant piece of imagery was last seen at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton --- Theatrescope brought it in 1971. But the play is such a masterpiece that it can well stand another production in such a short space of time.
Theatrescope staged it very simply with only seven players. Ken Spencer, who is both directing next week's production and playing Captain Cat, has opted for a large cast with 43 Maskers taking part and 12 children from the Mini Maskers. Only a handful will be doubling --- and that happened by accident rather than by design.
Ken is staging the village in stylised form, with 14 levels leading up to a hill. "It's a difficult play to stage because you have got the problem of going from house to house," said Ken. "And you have to create the village without all the trimmings --- otherwise they can overpower the poetry of the play.
One of the Society's Welsh players has been enlisted to give special sessions to help the cast with the accent. He has decided on a general accent rather than setting it in a particular patch of Wales. Ken has cast two trained singers for the roles of Polly Garter and Mr Waldo -- Jocelyn Eames and David Jupp.
David Bartlett has the role of the narrator, originally taken by Richard Burton. Other familiar names in the cast are David Pike who plays the Reverend Eli Jenkins, Pete White (Mr Pugh), Graham Buchanan (Willy Nilly and Butcher Beynon), Mollie Manns (Rosie Probert), Judy Rake (Myfanwy Price), and Ann Archer (Mrs Ogmore Pritchard). Sheila Chitnis, who used to appear regularly on Southern Television's "House Party" has her first speaking role with the Society -- she plays Mrs Dai Bread One.
The Southern Evening Echo wrote;
There are some delightful moments --- Graham Buchanan's Willy Nilly, David Pike's Reverend Eli Jenkins, Judy Rake's Myfanwy Price and Ron Pearson's Cherry Owen, who all manage to bring the characters to glorious life....
For The Maskers
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Technical Director |
Ron Tillyer |
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Wardrobe Mistress |
Jo Bartlett |
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Wardrobe Assistants |
Diane Field, Beryl Guerrera |
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Properties |
Joy Winfield |
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Lighting |
Colin Jurd |
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Sound |
Geoff Grandy |
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Hon. Business Manager |
John Paget |
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Publicity |
Graham Buchanan |
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Photography |
Alan Dedmen |
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Lighting Design |
Derek Jones |
The Cast
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The Narrator |
David Bartlett |
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Dancing Williams |
Hugh Lewis |
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Tom-Fred |
Derek Sealy |
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Jonah Jarvis |
Dennis Grist |
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Alfred Pomeroy Jones |
David Thomas |
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Curly Bevan |
Robert Wilson |
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Captain Cat |
Kenneth Spencer |
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Rosie Probert |
Mollie Manns |
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Myfanwy Price |
Judy Rake |
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Mog Edwards |
David Fry |
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Jack Black |
David Thomas |
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Waldo's Mother |
Jo Bartlett |
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Young Waido |
Miles Spencer |
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Mr.Waldo |
David Jupp |
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Mrs.Waldo |
Sonia Morris |
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The Neigbours |
Carolyn Bristow, Sheila Clarke, Daphne Rothwell, Jane O'sullivan |
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Young Matti |
Sarah Nicholson |
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Matti Richards |
Sheila Young |
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Preacher |
Dennis Grist |
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Dulcie Prothero |
Mary Kilminster |
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Effie Bevan |
Ruth Lewis |
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Lil the Glue-pot |
Marcia Dennis |
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Mrs.Flusher |
Mollie Manns |
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Mrs.Ogmore-Pritchard |
Anne Archer |
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Mr.Ogmore |
Becket Pennington-Legh |
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Mr.Pritchard |
Ken Hann |
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Gossamer Beynon |
Claire Camberton |
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Organ Morgan |
Richard Jenkins |
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Utah Watkins |
Geoffrey Wharam |
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Mrs. Utah Watkins |
Jo Bartlett |
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Ocky Milkman |
Robert Wilson |
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Cherry Owen |
Ron Pearson |
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P.C. Attila Rees |
Hugh Lewis |
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Willy Nilly |
Graham Buchanan |
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Mrs. Willy Nilly |
Carol Pierce |
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Sinbad Sailors |
Brian Stansbridge |
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Lily Smalls |
Sandy White |
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Mae Rose Cottage |
Kim Spencer |
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Bessie Bighead |
Jane O'sullivan |
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Butcher Beynon |
Graham Buchanan |
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Reverend Eli Jenkins |
David Pike |
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Mr. Pugh |
Pete White |
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Mrs. Organ Morgan |
Angela Stan.Sbridge |
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Mary Ann Sailors |
Lilian Gunstone |
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Dai Bread |
Derek Sealy |
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Polly Garter |
Jocelyn Eames |
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Nogood Boyo |
Peter Warne |
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Lord Cut Glass |
Christopher Boxall |
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A Guide Book |
Sonia Morris |
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Mrs.Pugh |
Sheila Clarke |
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Mrs.Dai Bread One |
Margaret Hayward |
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Mrs.Dai Bread Two |
Sheila Chitnis |
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Mrs.Cherry Owen |
Avril Woodward |
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Mrs.Beynon |
Carolyn Bristow |
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Old Man |
Geoffrey Wharam |
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Maggie Richards |
Myfanwy Bartlett |
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Ricky Rhys |
Adrian Clarke |
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Tommy Powell |
Andrew Perkins |
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Our Sal |
Julie Latham |
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Little Gerwain |
Jonathan Perkins |
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Billy Swansea |
Lance Andrews |
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Nasty Hurnphrey |
Stephen Curnow |
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Jacquie with the sniff |
Wendy Collins |
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Girls |
Sarah Buchanan, Helen Wharam |
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Boy |
Andrew Wharam |
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Mrs. Twenty Three |
Carol Pierce |
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Evans the Death |
Derek Sealy |
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The Glee Party |
John Hoskins, Dennis Gooch, Peter Robson |
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