By Alan Ayckbourn

This was a milestone for the group in as much as it was our first venture into putting on a play, rather than a musical show. “I thought the talky bits were just there to string the songs together”, was one of the comments from just one of the cast members who took the plunge, and discovered that being in a show that wasn’t broken up by songs could be just as challenging in a different way.  It was also the first time the company was directed by Dianne Storey, who later directed us for ‘Stepping Out’, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Bedroom Farce’. 

The play centres on Guy Jones; shy, recently widowed, and settling in a new town.  In a bid to have some form of social life, Guy joins the local light opera company, headed up by the manic Welshman, Daffydd ap Llewellyn.  Through a series of incidents – mostly connected with adultery - Guy goes from being a one-line part to the starring role.

Although a play, the script does contain several excerpts from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’, so Concept still got the chance to show off their singing talents again.

Nigel had the unenviable task of playing Daffydd, which involved learning about 50% of the lines – at least!  But as always, he carried it off to perfection.  Other memorable performances included Mike Gaccon as the bumbling Guy, as he went reluctantly from incident to incident, while always seeming to come out on top.  Also, Lorna Welch (or Jones as she was then) raised more than a couple of eyebrows as the sultry Fay Hubbard – especially when she walked onstage in a rubber dress, for the ‘swapping party’ scene!

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