1995 BHAC Full Length Drama Competition
– Bea Waters Challenge Cup for Best Overall Production
– Adjudicator’s Certificate : to Bob Ryder for an outstanding and sustained performance
MO wrote: “The book by Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses shocked eighteenth century France, so much so that the first edition sold out in a few days. Mothers would give the volume to their daughters to read on the eve of their wedding. A bound copy, suitably disguised, was found in the library of Marie Antoinette.
The critics were uneasy, as they consider that immorality was presented persuasively and appeared to be attractive. This brilliant adaptation of the book is true to the text, and I wonder whether those same critics would have revised their opinion had they seen Christopher Hampton’s play.
It has been a great pleasure to work with such a script and with so dedicated a team, both on and off the stage. You could spend the evening working out how many ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ there are, but I would advise you just to relax and enjoy the play.”
Programme Note #2: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The Director: “Margaret Ockenden, a long-time Wick member, has appeared many times on the Barn Stage, playing such varied rôles as Gloria in Shaw’s You Never Can Tell, the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz and Muriel Wickstead in Habeas Corpus. A high spot was appearing in Harold Pinter’s Silence which Wick performed at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon.
Margaret teachers at a local Middle School and hopes she is able to communicate her love for the theatre to her pupils. She has a diploma in teaching Drama in Education. She has directed many times for the Wick – productions include The Anniversary, Jane Eyre and, last year, The Rape of the Belt for which she won the ‘Best Director’ award at the Brighton & Hove Drama Festival.
After seeing the original production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses it has become an ambition of hers to present the play at the Barn Theatre.”
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: September 29 issue – page 3
Text Header: “Dangerous couplings hit festival ”
Text: Content
IT was banned for over a century and has been billed as an ‘evil yet stunning story of sexual intrigue’. This is the latest of Wick Theatre Company, ther adaptation of the book Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
You won’t find Glenn Close, Keanu Reeves or Michelle Pfieffer from the film version, Dangerous Liaisons, but the adult only audience is in for something definitely for the broad-minded as the Wickers perform the French tale of seduction in pre-Revolution costume.
With Judith Berrill and Bob Ryder playing the manipulative Marquise de Merteuil and the ruthless and immoral Vicompte de Valmont, theatre-goers are guaranteed an evening of compelling entertainment.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses – which is the company’s entry in this year’s Brighton and Hove full-length drama festival – runs from October 4 to 7. Tickets £4. Box Office: 01273 97094
Comment #1: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Publication: Wick Newsletter
Publication Data: November 1995
Text Header: “Southwick should be proud ”
Text: Content
Les Liaisons Dangereuses was a triumph. It was a quality production that all involved should be proud of – as the headline suggests [a quote from Nick Young’s adjudication!]. All good shows depend on the efforts of a dedicated team, from the actors through to the technical team – many thanks to you all for so much hard work. Only the actors get the glory, but so many more are deserving.
All four performances went smoothly and were enjoyed by four very different audiences. The only pity was that there were so many empty seats on the first three nights – Saturday was a sell-out for the adjudication. Filling those seats is responsibility of us all, so …. if half our members had sold another couple of tickets we would have been just about full and would have secured a handsome profit on what was an expensive show to mount.
Nick Young gave an interesting and in-depth adjudication after the final performance. He started by congratulating the company on such an excellent evening of entertainment and then commented that he thought our production more enjoyable and better than the Royal Shakespeare Company Touring production! He thought it a shame that we couldn’t project a guillotine onto the set at the end to signify the impending French revolution and made some detailed points about various aspects of the production. Nick Young did make the point that he was really nit-picking and there were many areas where he was very impressed. Notably, he liked the interpretation of the text and handling of irony, the set, the staging and the costumes – both their appearance and, most importantly, the way the cast wore and moved in them.
He had praise and a helpful hint for most individual performances and was clearly extremely impressed by Bob Ryder as Valmont. Repetition of Nick’s comments would either embarrass Bob or prevent him passing comfortably through doorways.
Travelling in expectation is never a good idea but one would hope that anyone going to the awards dinner on 11th December should not come away totally disappointed at the outcome. But….it is beyond our control!
ON THE NIGHT – Wick took the Best Overall Production and Bob Ryder the Adjudicator’s Award.
