Rushen Players

Two One Act Plays

Friday 24th MARCH 2023
Curtain 7:30pm
Erin Arts Centre, Port Erin

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These notes are to provide more background information to the plays
than we are able to fit in the paper programme

Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill is one of the most influential and significant contemporary British dramatists working today.
The author of more than 30 plays, as well as a number of adaptations and translations, she has
reshaped the theatre landscape and continues to produce adventurous new work.

Churchill builds up theatrical techniques from both Brechtian epic theatre and personal areas of theatre,
reshapes traditional devices, and melds them into an original style. Churchill uses Brechtian historicisation
to analyse the relationship between women at different social positions through history.

Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone is a play that combines neighbourly chit-chat with visions of apocalyptic horror.
It was first performed in the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, London, on 21 January 2016.

Three old friends and a neighbour, backyard tea with environmental disaster, exploring themes of
politics, crisis, communication and female endurance. A summer of afternoons in the back yard.
Tea and catastrophe!

The play is divided into eight sections; in each section the conversation is suspended while Mrs Jarrett delivers
a monologue describing an evolving apocalyptic scenario in horrific and frequently surreal terms.
In addition, in the second half of the play, each of the other characters delivers a short soliloquy or aside,
laying bare their own particular psychological troubles:
Sally's phobia of cats; Lena's crippling depression;
Vi's intense dislike of kitchens, having killed her husband in her own kitchen several years before.
The pleasant conversation is frequently interrupted, by the neighbour, Mrs. Jarrett, who addresses the audience
with long monologues about an apocalyptic world.
The play speaks to our fears about the future of the planet,
as well as our personal anxieties, while also offering some salvation in the strength of our community,
as friends, neighbours or open-minded theatre goers.
Humour and pathos.

This brilliantly written, sometimes uncomfortable play comes with no easy answers.
Controversial and open to interpretation, it it intricately wired into current politics.
A seemingly pleasant tea party interspersed with apocalyptic disaster.
Make of it what you will.

September in the Rain by John Godber

September in the Rain is an evocation of a lost working-class way of life, with something a little darker below the surface.
The story follows the life of Yorkshire miner Jack and his over verbose wife, Liz.
The play is autobiographical as it follows the lives of the author’s own grandparents, based on the stories they told, on many occasions.
It is portrayed in John Godber’s minimalist style where an elaborate stage setting is replaced by a
multimedia staging and by two actors who take on the roles of several others.
It is also designed to show how the effects of a demanding occupation can result
in the expressions of extreme emotions whilst simultaneously can be damaging to health and well-being.

After honeymooning in Blackpool in 1950, Jack and Liz make the destination habitual for the next thirty years.
The highs and lows of a marriage are displayed through claustrophobically small bedrooms, predatory landladies,
trips up the Tower, talent competitions and highly charged discussions on beachwear.
The full gamut of emotions are displayed in ways that will be familiar to many.

This is certainly one of Rushen Players’ more challenging productions and one where the actors only represent the tip of the iceberg.
We are indeed fortunate that the Erin Arts Centre can cater for the projection of slides and can provide
a sound effect that can transport you to the top of that 580 foot icon of the British Seaside resort - Blackpool Tower.
Reginald Dixon will be on the Wurlitzer, Jo Stafford will sing the title song whilst Wallace Arnold will be around to transport you safely home.

The production team is pleased to be taking this offering to the Gaiety Theatre as part of the MADF Easter Festival of Plays.
It will be staged on Thursday 13th April at 7:30. If you would like a repeat performance your support would be greatly appreciated.

Warning!

You need to be wrapped up for that walk along the prom - the sea air has turned a bit nippy!
Dancing shoes for that waltz in the Tower Ballroom are essential.
The rooms are not en-suite so don’t drink too much before bedtime or you’ll disturb the residents with your flush, flush!
Lastly don’t forget to pay your bill for fish and chips at Stanley’s. He’s still chasing a couple that forgot to pay last year!

There is some (mild) bad language but plenty of laughs and tears. A box of Kleenex is recommended but not essential. ENJOY!

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Rushen Players

Two One Act Plays

Caryl Churchill is one of the most influential and significant contemporary British dramatists working today. The author of more than 30 plays, as well as a number of adaptations and translations, she has reshaped the theatre landscape and continues to produce adventurous new work.

Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone is a play that combines neighbourly chit-chat with visions of apocalyptic horror. It was first performed in the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, London, on 21 January 2016.

Caryl Churchill is one of the most influential and significant contemporary British dramatists working today.
The author of more than 30 plays, as well as a number of adaptations and translations, she has
reshaped the theatre landscape and continues to produce adventurous new work.

Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone is a play that combines neighbourly chit-chat with visions of apocalyptic horror.
It was first performed in the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, London, on 21 January 2016.