Stand-up comedy,
spooks and suspicion are all part of the madcap mix when three of Newport’s leading
amateur theatre groups take part in the Gwent Festival
of One Act Plays at Blackwood Little Theatre on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th April.
 |
| Will Smith-Haddon as Yorick in 'Poor Yorick' by Phil Mansell (PHOTO: PHIL MANSELL) |
First on the bill is
‘Poor Yorick’ by local
writer Phil Mansell. One of the plays featured in the recent highly successful
No Holds Bard festival, this innovative comedy tells how Hamlet’s
jester attempts to pioneer stand-up comedy but instead becomes embroiled in plans for revenge.
“It’s really
great being able to take my play to another theatre and to compete in this
prestigious drama competition,” said Phil. “My play opens the festival on the
Friday night and we’re hoping for as good a response as when we performed it at
the Dolman Theatre last month. The festival features six great plays, and with
tickets priced at two for just £7 it offers a great night out for anyone who
loves fresh and exciting new theatre.”
 |
PNG’s three witches: Charlotte Webb, Sian Elizabeth Pope
and Clare Davies in
‘In The Spirit of Things’ (PHOTO: PHIL MANSELL)
|
Following Phil’s
play is another Newport drama group, Playgoers New
Generation (PNG) who
present ‘In the Spirit of Things’ by Steven Quantick. This is another comedy about
“business unusual” at Incorporeal Incorporated, where the witches from Macbeth provide
supernatural guidance to the mortal realm.
 |
Dolman Youth Theatre members James Thomas,
Emma Radmilovic, Ellie Tappin and Dana Symonds
in ‘Bottom’s Dream’ (PHOTO: PHIL MANSELL)
|
On Saturday Dolman
Youth Theatre present ‘Bottom’s Dream’ by Alan Poole, which asks who really
dreamt the Midsummer Night’s Dream – and what were the reactions of the
mechanicals’ wives and
mothers to their play-acting?
Other plays are being presented by Ad Hoc Theatre
from Cwmbran and Blackwood Little
Theatre. All the plays will be adjudicated with the chance of going through to
the Welsh finals in June. The
Gwent Festival of One Act Plays is at Blackwood Little Theatre from 27th
– 28thth April. To book
tickets – which are just £7 with a special buy one get one free offer - phone 07930 599317 or online at http://www.blackwoodlt.org.uk/
