LGP events at the Village Hall

click Lacey Green Productions for all events.

click Organisations for others

click Charity Events for other fund raising events for charity.

click LGP events at Stocken Farm Barn

click LGP Dinner Theatre evenings in the Village Hall.

click LGP Murder Mystery evenings in the Village Hall

click Charity performances at Chipko for performances there.

also click LGP events at the Village Hall

Shows reviewed below are :- May 1989 'The Owl an the Pussycat Went to See', 'Bugsy Malone', The Cagebirds' and 'Accrington Pals' (Four short plays): May 1991 'Ernie's Incredible Illucinations', 'Us and Them', 'Everywoman', 'Gidean and the Sea Witch', 'Hi-fi Spy or What the Butler Didn't See' (five short plays.) : March 1993 'Mother Goose' : May 1995 'Pandemonium Incorporated' : May 1997 'Phears' and 'Play the Game' : August 1998 'The Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom'; 2009 'It Runs in the Family';

Hallmark May 1989. Review of 'The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See', 'Bugsy Malone', 'The Cagebirds', and 'Accrington Pals'.

Lacey Green Productions put on four short plays on the evening of 18 April and the afternoon of 23 April. Parents, friends and others connected with the casts were there but, in the round, all available seats appeared to be taken and those who ventured out on a dull, wet day when I went found it very worthwhile, judging by reactions.

The first play: ''The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See..."' is based on the childrens poem, with additions and complications, including many other Lear characters which the originals went to "see" after going to "sea". I know many of the children from earlier workshops and shows and it is marvellous to see how much more confident and capable they are now. The play was wonderfully costumed acted with absolute enjoyment and to the Director, Valerie Brookhouse, must go a great deal of the credit. If you saw how good they were in "Blitz" you would have been even more impressed by this play; I was totally amused and delighted all through. Little children who once could scarcely bear to leave their mothers side were speaking out confidently and putting in natural humour, while children who were always bright and confident were not overacting – real achievement. These same children, once settled at the side to watch the other plays, were quiet and well behaved - true stage discipline, handing over the limelight to those next on. It would be invidious to mention names, they were all so good and leading characters worthy of their parts. Those who did not go along to see the plays should not miss a future opportunity to see any which might be put on, on Village Day, but particularly the little children.

"Bugsy Malone" does not need an explanation of the story and the older children into teenagers group obviously enjoyed performing it. Teresa Kennedy and Caroline Norton directed it, no doubt with some guidance from more experienced directors, but still an achievement in itself. The accents and mannerisms came over well and if the weapons and ammunition were a trifle (!) messy, the actors were all good sports and carried it off realistically. Here again I was aware of how some of the youngsters were gaining confidence and were prepared to throw themselves into situations where some of their peers would feel very awkward and self-conscious; this is the benefit of theatre workshops and previous shows and the help of professionals.

The Cagebirds' was an experience, not just an entertainment. I was completely absorbed by it and not a little moved. While talking of birds in a cage and their keeper – the Mistress - we could see ourselves in the prisons of conventions, habits and fears. I have not been mentioning names and in this play we had some very good acting, but really outstanding was Rebekah Gabbitas. She has to be mentioned because I feel that at 1/7 and with so little experience she carried a difficult part amazingly well: a free spirit who tried to persuade her fellow prisoners to break out from the prison - of their narrow lives really. Although she touched them and made them think, she failed and so lost the chance to return to the wild herself. Rebekah owes a great deal, I am sure, to the direction of Brian Panter in this play, but has a great deal of acting ability; perhaps we shall see her on the professional stage eventually.

The first part of "Accrington Pals" was an unusual choice and my own feeling is that it suffered from being only part of a play, although well directed and acted. It tells the story of a small group of working class women who live in Accrington, a Lancashire cotton town, their mixed reactions to the enlistment of husbands and boyfriends, how life is while they are in the army in England and their feelings when they must go to their almost certain deaths in the war in France. I felt it did not lend itself, as the other plays did, to being acted with few props and no scenery and one could not immediately warm to the characters and understand them, where in a longer performance one might do so. The characters were not all easy to make convincing especially for teenagers and those brought up in the south, but it was bravely attempted and succeeded within limits.

It was a very enjoyable evening and I congratulate all those involved; actors, directors, backstage people and administration. The L.FG.P. company is a wonderful organisation – it involves whole families and they all gain from it. Do patronise and support it, or why not join in one capacity or another!

Hallmark May 1991. Lacey Green Productions for their "experimental year" put on five short plays to allow members to try something completely new and give them a chance to extend themselves. Their programme announced that they had enjoyed the rehearsals and hoped that we, the audience, would enjoy the performance. The writer certainly did.

The youngest members performed "Ernie's Incredible Illucinations" by Alan Ayckbourn and from a strong junior section I would imagine no-one was left out. They all threw themselves exuberantly into the action and were a delight to watch. The story is that young Ernie has been worrying his parents with his "illucinations" and so they take him to see a doctor. Ernie is induced to explain and we see the astonishing results, although the doctor is sceptical until the last imagining. Ernie was played by Aidan Piercy, taking a lead part for the first time and doing it very well. His "Mum", Katy Longhurst, sustained her accent convincingly all through while Edward Crooks as "Dad" appears to know how to play it "straight" for laughs and Rebecca Tyrer was a believable doctor in that setting! We knew it was unreal but it was a lovely "tall" story put over well enough to be convincing. They all knew their lines, no-one made a wrong entrance as far as I could see. Yes, they had expert direction but all the children were good, keen and disciplined and the only showing off was in the acting.

“Us and Them" by David Camton was performed by teenagers. An allegorical and somewhat moralistic play but a very good vehicle for their talents, it gave everyone equal shares of the action except for the Recorder, a part on its own. He came to record the comings and goings and activities of anyone and everyone; the others were in two groups of all boys and all girls – A from the East and B from the West. As the programme told us, the play explores human weaknesses such as prejudice, acquisitiveness, suspicion and intolerance. In a short-time we see telescoped what the world has been seeing over and over again and, while entertaining, there was certainly food for thought for actors and audience alike. The Recorder, Richard Tate, had the most difficult part and he coped with it very well, using the correct detached manner and able to carry his interjections over the noise and action of the others. However, there were times when he had the stage to himself, when his longer speeches were given too fast - perhaps a natural reaction in that situation. More experience and confidence will enable him to exploit that chance some time. It was good to see talented young people unselfconsciously putting a great deal of effort into an unusual play where no-one is "star" and making it very real.

“Everywoman’ is a contemporary verse drama adapted by Hugh Steadman Williams from a fifteenth century morality play. This was a difficult play for the actors, there can be no ad libs when not only long speeches but conversations between the players is in rhyme. It was very well performed by all the cast but Alison Stacey must be mentioned, she was on stage so long and sustained the character with all its facets so well, when just the effort of remembering the rhyming lines could easily have allowed the personality to slip. Many of the actors we have seen before but Ray Gosling formerly helped behind the scenes and, for the first time on stage, he certainly went in at the deep end and proved that he can act.

"Gideon and the Sea Witch" by Enid Staff is another play with a moral but it was entertaining and well-acted for all that. Its period was early this century by the costume, when ignorance and superstition were more evident but with the prejudice which remains today. The all-women cast portrayed the characters in the story about the proposed hounding of the girl who is an outsider in a way which showed good casting. Some familiar names were there, from whom we expect a good performance, while Ann-Noel Clark and Pam Cassidy are welcome newcomers. The imminent birth of Rachel Panter's baby did not detract from her performance, it added realism rather!

It says something for the aforementioned plays that we enjoyed them so much we could overlook the fact that three of them were similarly serious but the last play “Hi-fi Spy" or "What the Butler didn't see" by Richard Tydeman was funny. It was in verse again and that enhanced its theme. As the programme said, "The plot is so thick it's difficult to see through" and some might have asked "What plot?" but it didn't matter, it was fast nonsense, very well done. The Butler, Ray Gosling again, did the peeping and acted as Compere, some of the cast appeared as of varying nationalities while others were policewomen in interesting disguises although one, a real glamour girl, had a suspiciously deep voice and fingered parts of her anatomy as she talked of "strange parts". Could this really be one of the little Munchkins from "The Wizard"? The foreigners turned out to be members of various secret services and the whole romp was fairly meaningless fun and as much enjoyed by the cast as the audience, from the zest with which it was played.

There are too many names to mention all the actors and backstage staff but all their hard work was so worthwhile. It has been mentioned before that the regular theatre workshops give such a grounding that the confidence and ability are there before the plays are attempted. To see whole families represented in the casts or otherwise involved is indicative of the type of organisation we are fortunate enough to have in the village, a real family affair. The directors were Val Brookhouse, Brian Panter and Sandy Wingrave, the latter another welcome newcomer. Brian talked of the actors being important, saying that without them there is nothing to direct, but the actors do acknowledge the encouragement and direction they have received as the reason they succeed.

The plays were put on for two Sunday late-afternoons and the audience mostly family and friends of the actors but those of the "general public" who ventured were expressing astonishment at the standard of the performances. The productions were as good or better than usual and deserve a wider audience.

Congratulations L.G.P.

Hallmark March 1993. Mother Goose at the Village Hall. Report by Madeline Cleaver

If you always attended reluctantly school plays and entertainments, to Support your children, perhaps you were not attracted to the idea of the Youth Group of Lacey Green Productions putting on a pantomime.

I expected a good performance, having seen them in action before, and they did not let me down, or the many others in the audience. It was good to see performers from previous shows and see how they had progressed; their professionalism and unselfconsciousness must encourage newer members. Played "in the round" we were all near the action and the entries could be varied and effective.

The clowns who first appeared set the mood and got us all "ahhhing", hissing, booing and cheering to order, so that we were programmed to respond at the right moments, especially when chief clowns Anna Saxton and Rachel Lawrence appeared with their signs. Then the Fairy Queen (Miranda Piercey) and Demon (Sinead Kennedy) appeared to guide the action. Puns and corny jokes came thick and fast, along with topical references which were all appreciated. I could believe the Book Shop in Princes Risborough supplied the bedtime reading "Mother Goose" showed us when she arrived on her bike, although I felt that the heavyweight cake she said she bought at the W.I. stall was not their usual stock. "Morris's sausages" were displayed in a swinging manner but have you ever seen a metallic bra in Derek's shop? I know he can supply almost everything but that is incredulous. "Hallmark" has a mention, as did the “Ducks Free Press" and, naturally the Goslings of Roundlands featured prominently. As it happens, the Goose family who used to live in that road moved some years ago.

It was all in true pantomime tradition: Principal Boy Colin and Girl Jill (Emma Longhurst and Rebecca Gosling) to provide the "love interest". Mother Goose was a male (Tim Palmer) and as good as many a dame I have seen, quite remarkable in a teenager; he entered into the part wholeheartedly without overplaying it "Silly" Alastair Reed) and "Billy" (Zettie Clark) were the knockabout comedians and were excellent. "Silly" was tall, thin and awkward and "Billy" small, fat and roly-poly; their humour as much in movements as words. Priscilla the Goose, played by Katherine Reed, had nothing to say but was able to be very eloquent all the same. Some characters doubled up and played smaller parts, Dominic Long was the Wicked Squire, Ann Gosling the Park Keeper, Rebecca Tyrer the Queen of Gooseland and Nick Lawrence her revolting Chef, while her timid Consort was Gareth Thomas. David Stacey was the Chief of Geestapo. All these and supporting parts as well as chorus did very well and if they all seem unreal – well it was pantomime and they were convincing all the same.

We were all invited after the show to go and collect a cup of tea and, as we did so, the table and chairs were set out expeditiously so that in no time we were sitting down with our drinks and members of the cast were plying us with sandwiches and cakes, while the people with teas were round to refill our cups so promptly, we had the feeling the whole thing had been rehearsed along with the show.

The Pantomime was directed by Alison Stacey, Rachel Panter and Peter Brookhouse, who must be congratulated, with the usual tea of backstage people, not forgetting front of house and box office, backed their efforts. Mike Robbins on Sound and Magic Mike made a great contribution to the production and deserves a mention.

Hallmark May 1995. Pandemolium Incorporated. Report by Linda Moorcroft

On Sunday the 21st May it was the turn of the youth section of Lacey Green Productions (LGP) to treat its audience to some lively entertainment.

The programme. promised an evening of "fun, food and frolics" and that is exactly what we got.

The youngest members, aged between six and eleven, were first to take to the stage with a play by David Fisher called "Pandemolium" (not a typing error!).

The play had all the right ingredients for children's theatre: atmospheric light and sound effects, music (specially composed and computer recorded for the occasion) and dancing; a Baddie, the evil Dr. Zooblinck (played by Karen Gosling) aided by Tape-Recorder (Tamsin Ridge) and their minions.

The Goodie (Hannah Moorcroft) is “an innocent member of the audience" who volunteers to go onto the stage to help out... but with what?

And here the story begins. If you weren't there you'll never know what happened to him, suffice to say that there is a nasty, black, slimy monster who threatens anybody trying to thwart the Doctor's plans!

The children's confident and enthusiastic acting served to make this a most enjoyable and memorable performance. All credit too to Val Brookhouse who tirelessly trained and directed them.

And the fun (and frolics!) had only just begun......

After the interlude in which food was served in the good company of balloons and party poppers (remember, this was an evening for the kids!), the teenagers then presented their play, "Christmas Incorporated" by Peter Horsler.

This witty farce is set on Christmas Eve in a child's bedroom which soon becomes the battleground of a Toy Industry market researcher (Rebecca Tyrer) and an educational psychologist (Kirsty Thompson).

Whilst the child (Katie Lenko) looks on, desperately trying to tell them the sort of toys she would really like, the two women argue about what they consider to be suitable toys for her to be given.

Surrounded by the two feuding adults, enter the toys themselves – two baby dolls (Zettie Clark and Hester Plumridge), a teddy bear (Aidan Piercy), two soldiers (Sarah Howe and Bryony Robinson), an action man and a Robot (Ann Gosling and Rebecca Awadry). Unseen and unheard by the other characters, they grumble to each other about the roles traditionally assigned to them!

It is no surprise then that, after playing with the toys once – in her own way – the child pushes them away, leaves the adults to argue and goes to sleep!

The teenagers carried the play off with skill, humour and confidence. The acting, make-up and costumes were all superb and imaginative.

Congratulations too to the teenaged director, Miranda Piercy. Let's hope we see plenty more of her talent.

The programme says that the next production is planned for the autumn. Please save me a seat – I'll be there.

Hallmark May 1997. LGP Children’s & Youth Theatre. 'Phears' and 'Play the Game'. Reviewed by Madeline Cleaver

As expected, all tickets for the plays in the Village Hall in the early evening of 27th April were sold out, although I think it was possible to avoid turning anyone away and so a good many people enjoyed the performance. Over the years I have seen the younger members of LGP in the major productions and in the plays especially for them and I never cease to be amazed at the talent they show. Many of them stay with the company and confirm the promise they showed as children and I am sure this will be the case with those who took part in the two plays performed this time. The theatre workshops, enthusiasm, discipline and above all, good direction turns undeniable talent into something worth watching.

The younger children’s play was “Phears” by L.M. Flannery, a good subject, well demonstrated by the cast. Mini-hi-fi- is afraid of everything and has to go on a mission to discover the magic word of courage when the Big Chief and the rest of her tribe become tired of her whinging and whining. Some help comes from the other Red Indians, led by the Chief’s daughter, Sitting Pretty, but even they and the citizens of Superstition City find it hard to remain sympathetic at times, they have their own fears. The Phear Patrol are out to get Mini-hi-fi at whatever cost and persue her both in uniform and even in disguises. Of course, she eventuality makes it to the Great Smoky Mountain and learns the word from The Wise One which frees her from her fears.

As someone said to me “The great thing was, they all enjoyed themselves so much” and of course that was it, it was obvious. They all had speaking parts, if only small ones in some cases, and they all looked as though they believed in what they were doing, not reciting something they had to get through as quickly as they could. Those with leading parts did very well and I thought some outstanding. The dialogue, particularly in the case of the Phear Patrol, was not simple and it would have been so easy to stumble through it but it was totally convincing – I said I am still capable of being amazed! Of course, younger and less experienced children did very well within their limitations and still showed promise but look out for the main part players, they are on their way to greater things through Val Brookhouse’s excellent direction.

In the interval we enjoyed a delicious light super, drinks being available at the bar, before the second play began. This was “Play The Game” by Bill Tordoff, directed by Ann Gosling, assisted by Karla Huddy and Mari Cheesman. Karla and Mari were also in the cast and the main direction was by Ann Gosling, who acts professionally but is to be congratulated on her success in this new direction.

A group of unemployed youngsters meet at a waste tip. They have no money, no home and no hope and can only dream of a chance to earn some money, while the producer and compere of a Game Show want a popular TV programme, whatever depths they sink to in achieving it. We, the audience, were the real baddies, looking for a good night out and not worrying about who is humiliated at the same time. We booed and laughed and jeered as the unfortunate youngsters attempted to answer trick questions put by the Compere, while the producer’s arrogant disdain reduced the self-esteem of the young people even more. Every part was excellently portrayed and it would be invidious to pick out this one or that, although I have to say the Compere excited a great deal of admiration and was completely absorbed in his part – wonderfully costumed and made up, too.

As always, the important people back stage did a wonderful job.

If you feel you’ve watched all the school plays and suchlike you ever wanted to (or maybe didn’t) and youth Theatre is not for you, forget it, there is no comparison. This is something enthusiastic young people want to do, they learn about acting and stagecraft through the year, often whole families are involved, and there are dedicated and very experienced adults there to direct and instruct them. It is character building in more ways than one. Whether the young people go on to take up professional acting or not, they have an interesting and absorbing activity now and for the future; it builds up their self-confidence and independence for when they go to college or wherever.

Hallmark August 1998. 'The Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom!' Report by Madeline Cleaver.

Well, it ‘appened! T’ Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom was also T’ Lacey Green Productions’ invasion of t’ Village Hall instead of t’ barn down t’ road. To accomodate a large company in a major show the stage had to be rather large and the audience reduced, so the show was spread over two weeks of three evening and one afternoon performances. The problem with that is the “putting it off’ syndrome or “I'll wait and see, there’s plenty of time”. We chose to go on the first night and it would have been good if at least another 20 had done so, as there was no question of “warming up” and “getting into the swing as the week went by”. There were no hitches, the show was absolutely ready for performance, displaying great verve and obvious enjoyment by cast and audience.

We saw familiar faces and some not so familiar, but all gave a great performance, with a few outstanding. The problem of sharing parts - good in itself to give experience to some - is that I could not judge everyone in every part they played. However, knowing the director, there would still be a good performance from everyone. Ann Gosling played Gracie Trotter, who won the hero, for most performances, but Thea Stallwood and Cathy Sayer had their chance to take that part, while Ann took Cathy’s part one evening and Marcus Ridge played Lamborghini instead of Ray Gosling for two performances. I saw Ann in her main part, which of course came up to my expectations.

It is so nice to see families involved and see how they progress from show to show. We saw Karen Gosling bossing her dad, in their parts of course, while Katie Brookhouse has often had the chance to “put down” her father and, boys and girls, it’s all legit., in the name of art, - what are you waiting for? Ray Gosling was, as usual, very funny as Julius Brutus and Fred Howard, leader of the Cloggers did well with maintaining a North country accent, which is difficult for a southerner. As Lamborghini he made a good Elvis too but having enjoyed his parts in several shows and plays it would be good to see him in a large, straight part. James Moorcroft carried his part well through the whole play and was also Musical Director, which meant that with the whole family involved one way or another, the Moorcrofts must have been taken over by the R.I. of R. Linda, while not taking part in the show, spent a long, nerve-racking time playing the music for Mike Robbins to record and then turn into the “orchestrated” version used in the show and, like most mothers, needed to be much involved because husband and three children were taking part. If a mother takes a part as well as husband and children, who still need looking after, life must seem very full. Other mothers helped in other ways, costumes, make-up and so on, and at the end of the run everyone would be pretty exhausted but no doubt had a great deal of fun.

If it is not possible to mention more than a few names, I do have to mention outstanding people not only noted by me but mentioned to me by others, such as Rachel Panter as Renata Bolom, her secretary Bimba (Mari Cheesman) and especially Tasmin Ridge as Plonka the wine waitress but particularly as Little Lil the local milk stout drinker in the Roman’s Return.

The Production and Direction team did sterling work as always, and the whole company can be congratulated on their hard work and talent, which we all hope resulted in a sum raised which was satisfying to all concerned. I hope other teenagers went to see the show and will be tempted to take part in future, particularly the fellows. There’s talent there lads, in all senses of the word!

Hallmark 2009 'It Runs in the Family' . reporter Peter Brookhouse

“My glasses steamed up with laughter” These are just two of the critics’ comments about our next production, “It Runs in the Family” by Ray Cooney. This full length play is an incredibly funny farce set in a hospital. It played to packed houses in London's West End in the early 1990’s and is LGP’s next play for the Village Hall at the end of November.

Ray Cooney is a master of farce writing and “It Runs in the Family” contains all the necessary farce ingredients. To give you a flavour — Dr David Mortimore is about to address a neurologists convention, which will probably earn him a knighthood. While putting final touches to his speech some chickens (from his past) come home to roost. Events are complicated by the presence of a police sergeant, a wandering senile patient, an assortment of matrons (real and otherwise), a syringe full of tranquiliser and costumes for the hospital pantomime.

The play is set in the period just before Christmas. So what could be better than to see a performance of this play as LGP’s celebration of the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Millennium Hall? There will be our normal dinner theatre performances on Friday and Saturday, November 27th and 28th at 8pm. Tickets are priced £19.

Plus, to accommodate all those who would like to have come to our plays in the past but couldn't get in, there will be an extra performance on Thursday, November 26th, For, practical reasons we cannot provide dinner with the Thursday performance but the usual bar will be open. Tickets for Thursday are priced at £8.

So far in 2009, LGP has chosen to support The Mary Dolly Foundation as our charity. This young, Bromley-based charity was founded in memory of Mary Dolly. She selflessly gave of her time and energy to help those who were less well off. Today the foundation helps and supports children and young people in need. They do this by providing one-to-one counselling in schools; they provide play therapy, drama therapy and art therapy and they help support families through stressful times, in order to prevent the disintegration of the family unit. In addition, the Mary Dolly Foundation also aims to help elderly people who may be cut off from basic services and the community in which they live.