Wedding night
Our autumn 2003 production “Wedding Night” was a collection a shorter dramatic pieces about relationships, from the initial nervous faltering proposal from the bashful bachelor through the various stages of married life with their trials and tribulations to considerations of the eternal in late life. The collection brought together comedy, pathos, poignancy and touching sentiment to make an excellent night enjoyed by all.
The first play, Anton Chekov’s one act The Proposal, is a story of a widower and his wilful unmarried daughter. The nervous neighbour, Vassilievich, calls with a proposal of marriage with comical consequences.
The second half of the evening brought together five much shorter playlets tracking marriage from wedding day to considerations of the hereafter in old age. It is perhaps deliberately unclear whether the couples portrayed in the playlets the same couple at different times, or are merely “types”, slightly exaggerated, known to us all. Each of the playlets is preceded by a brief monologue intended to highlight their themes and preoccupations.
The first playlet, “A Man’s Best Friend”, by James Saunders, portrays a newly married couple on a train journey to their honeymoon. Bridegroom Pete is preoccupied with what seems to be ‘performance anxiety’, whilst bride Jackie cannot help needling him about it. George Melly’s “Vicar” monologue precedes it and sets the tone with its inane marital advice - “plenty of fresh vegetables and hot baths…is good advice”.
“Score”, by Lyndon Brook shows a similar couple, pompous inadequate husband and long-suffering wife, engaged in a mixed doubles tennis match with an important colleague of the husband. His inadequacies are obvious to all, though he childishly tries to blame them on his wife.
In Alun Owen’s “Norma” the protagonist of the title decides to end a brief extra-marital affair she began only to relieve the tedium of her middle-aged life. Alan Ayckbourn’s “Countdown” picks up on the idea of the tedium and comfort of routine through a brief visit with a couple who no longer need to talk out loud with each other. In the end they break out – a little – of the straight jacket of routine and rediscover a little of the romance of their earlier years. David Campion’s “Resting Place” is altogether more melancholy: a elderly couple sit in a cemetery and contemplate the fact that they cannot afford the plots and gravestones they want. Still, in the end, they find comfort in the fact that “there is nothing like a kipper, and a strong cup of tea”.
Cast
The Proposal (Anton Chekhov)
| Stephan Stepanovich | Peter Nolan |
| Natalya Stepanovich | Sue Davies |
| Ivan Vassilievich | Darren Kitchin |
The Vicar (George Melly)
Stewart Penney
A Man’s Best Friend (James Saunders)
| Jackie | Roz Knowles |
| Pete | Chad Staddon |
Bank Manager (George Melly)
Craig Hewlett
Score (Lyndon Brook)
| Sheila | Roz Knowles |
| Harry | Chad Staddon |
Lawyer (George Melly)
Norma (Alun Owen)
| Norma | Roz Knowles |
| Man | Chad Staddon |
Doctor (George Melly)
Countdown (Alan Ayckbourn)
| Wife | Wendy Nolan |
| Husband | Derek Chaplin |
Director (George Melly)
Resting Place (David Campton)
| Old Woman | Wendy Nolan |
| Old Man | Derek Chaplin |