Biggins arrives to give our Triple Bill of Comedy enthusiastic support – Reviews.

We staged two of our festival award-winning comedies on May 10^th and 11^th at 8pm at our theatre on Ashley Road. Christopher Biggins, our President, arrived from London on Saturday and was fulsome and generous in his praise.

English for Pony Lovers, from the radio series Double Acts by John Finnemore, was our entry to the Totton Festival of Drama last year, winning the runner-up trophy. Rachel Fletcher was named Best Actress for her role as a German keen to improve her English. But Lorna might not be quite the language tutor she’s cracked up to be….

This shared the stage with Lady Molly of Scotland Yard in which the ladies of the Female Department invite the audience into their office to show how Lady Molly solved her first murder case – the infamous Ninescore Mystery.

This adaptation by Studio member Lesley Bates, from the original story by Baroness Orczy of Scarlet Pimpernel fame, is also an award-winner. It was placed third within two marks of the winner at this year’s Totton Festival in March and picked up the Best Supporting Player trophy for Jill Cowling and the Technical Achievement award.

Both plays also entered the One Act Play Festival at The Woolstore Theatre in Codford, in May, where Lesley won best director award.

Sandwiched between them is The Trifle – Violetta , – What happens when you have to perform an operetta without music? And in English? Jackie Pilkington adapted an original script and was joined by Pam Edmund, Keith Edmund and Peter Mitchell valiantly performing the tragic story without a note of melody to help them….

You can see a REVIEW of the evening from THE FINE TIMES RECORDER below:

AUDIENCES at Salisbury’s Studio Theatre in Ashley Road had a triple treat this May, when three of the company’s short plays were performed together.

The show started with a return of the 2023 production of John Finnemore’s English for Pony Lovers, which was pipped to the post at the Western Area final of the All England Theatre Festival – a decision which most watchers considered to be daylight robbery. It started its journey at the annual Totton Festival of Drama, in which this year’s entry was Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, adapted by director Lesley Bates from a story by Baroness Orczy. This closed the evening.

Between these two shows was a delightful confection, heretofore known only to generations of Broadchalke residents. Called Violetta, it’s a wonderful operatic skit, in which the words of the arias are spoken rather than sung, highlighting how repeated phrases, and the words that tear and strain to rhyme (thanks to Paul Simon’s Kathy’s Song) sound quite ridiculous as spoken words.

The wonderful English for Pony Lovers (see review at https://www.theftr.co.uk/double-bill-at-salisbury-studio-theatre/) is set in a bar in a small German town where a German senior science teacher meets a young Englishwoman for a lesson in modern English jargon. Elke (Rachel Fletcher) is rigorous and disciplined, prepared to pay for qualified teacher Lorna (Aine Tiernan) to introduce her to the argot of the internet. Lorna, who claims ten extra years on her 18 year old dropout gap year student, knows absolutely nothing about English grammar. Elke quickly notices that all is not as she expected.

Violetta, adapted by Jackie Pilkington, is performed by members of The Awfully Earnest Opera Society, who include Pam and Keith Edmund, Peter Mitchell and Jackie Pilkington. Splendidly costumed, choreographed within an inch of their lives, and embodying the traditions of the “park and bark” days of Grand Opera, they were a joy to behold.

Lesley Bates is not only a very able playwright but a director whose intimate grasp of detail has impressed both adjudicators and audiences for many years. Here she takes the Hungarian baroness’s tale of the women of Scotland Yard and their determined efforts at career advancement and creates a whodunit of hilarious and memorable dimensions. Once again Rachel Fletcher steps into the limelight as Lady Molly Robson-Kirk, an early fictional female detective and a legend at The Yard, despatched to Ninescore to find out who killed the flighty sister and let her decompose in the village pond. With Joanna Daniel as the faithful Mary, Paul Chalmers as the redoubtable Bert and a host of female junior detectives playing all the other roles, it’s a classic tale of wicked aristocrats, loveable yokels, pedantic vicars and energetic heroines.

Another terrific evening at Studio Theatre, where the next show is One Man Two Guv’nors, on from 5th to 13th July.

https://www.theftr.co.uk/two-treats-and-a-trifle-salisbury-studio-theatre/

Here’s what the SALISBURY JOURNAL had to say:

Award-winning is one thing, but to keep the audience laughing through the whole show is another – and “Two Treats and a Trifle” at the Studio Theatre did just that.

Two Treats and a Trifle was performed at the Studio Theatre in Salisbury on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11, and was promised to be a “delicious evening of award-winning comedy.”

The show combined three short plays: English For Pony Lovers, Violetta and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.

The first of the three, English for Pony Lovers, was my favourite. It told the story of Elke (Rachel Fletcher), a German teacher trying to improve her English, and Lorna (Aine Tiernan), a young adult on her gap year, who had ended up in a small German town. Lorna fraudulently tries to give Elke an English lesson – hiding the fact that she is not actually a qualified teacher.

The play, originally from the BBC radio series “Double Acts”, hilariously highlighted the complexities of English grammar, notably through Rachel Fletcher’s excellent German accent, and her clever mannerisms showing the baffling nature of learning English. Her Best Actress award at the Totton Festival of Drama was certainly well deserved.

Aine Tiernan was excellent at playing Lorna – who was clueless when it came to teaching English as a foreign language. Her nonchalant tone in explaining different words and tenses, from double using the word “had” to what the word “wispy” meant – “thin and a bit rubbish” – generated many laughs from the audience.

In between the two plays was operatic skit “Violetta”. Labelled as “La Traviata goes wrong”, four cast members from The Awfully Earnest Opera Society performed the infamous opera through spoken word, grotesque movements and of course a dramatic ending. It was a funny, unique adaption of the original opera and was the perfect “sandwich” in between the two plays.

The final performance, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, had a larger cast of seven actors, and some even multi-rolled as they told the tale of the exciting Ninescore mystery murder case.

A special mention has to be given to Paul Chalmers, who was fantastic in playing multiple characters using different accents and movements, and he came to be an audience favourite.

I found the set and costume, cleverly designed by Theo Ross, Alex Grant and Anthony von Roretz, to be particularly effective in this final play. Set and costume changes were subtle, such as signs on an easel to show the change of location or a costume rack onstage but worked really well in ensuring the fast-paced nature of the play did not feel rushed.

On Saturday night, actor and president of the Studio Theatre Christopher Biggins came to Salisbury to watch Two Treats and a Trifle.

He announced that he was hugely impressed by the production, and that this was his second visit since he took over as president last year.

The Salisbury Studio Theatre team have done a fantastic job in putting these three performances together, and they were all loved by the audience. Unfortunately it was only a two-night run, but should “Two Treats and a Trifle” be re performed, I would recommend you get yourself a ticket.

https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/leisure/salisburyartsfestival/24314840.review-two-treats-trifle-studio-theatre/