SCA – Twenty-Eighth Festival of Arts & Crafts

Review #1:
Publication: Brighton & Hove Gazette
Publication Data: April 17 1981 issue
Correpondent: Walter Hix
Text Header: Bad acting comes top!
Text: Content

THE adjudicator at Southwick Drama Festival was absolutely right to give top award to the Wick Theatre Company for its desperately funny production of Streuth. From the opening mishap it went through the gamut of missed cues and deliberately bad acting. The whole cast played well, especially Barrie Bowen and Brian Moulton. Frances Moulton directed with inventiveness and imagination.

Best actress award went to May Hood, whose performance was the only remarkable feature of a rather stupid play called R.I.P., in which the newly-dead apparently choose whether to go to heaven or hell.

The best actor award was won by Alan Dickins in Rother Players’ production of None So Blind, an adaptation of the Oedipus story, which was runner-up. There was also a fine performance from Joan Kirwan.

The Moulsecombe-based Barnstormers Youth Group presented Conversations with a Golliwog. Lynne Angel played well, despite a tendency to lack vocal flexibility, but the talking points of this production are the extent to which this group has increased in stature over the years and the man-size golliwog created by producer Kendrick Faulkner.

The Regency Players presented An Author in Search of Eight Characters, hardly suitable for a newly-formed and therefore inexperienced society.

Streuth will not be in the next round of the national one-act drama festival on April 28 because it clashes with the opening night of Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be.

Review #2:
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: April 24 1981 issue – page 18
Text Header: WICK COMPANY TAKE VICTORY
Text: Content

HIGHLIGHTING the pitfalls of thespian pursuit earned Wick Theatre Company victory in this year’s Southwick drama festival at the Barn Theatre last week.

Wick won the best play cup with their version of Michael Green’s 20-minute comedy Streuth which points out all the things amateur companies should not do. Their winning cast were Brian Moulton, Douglas Tucker, Anthony Muzzall, Peter Joyce, Ronald Cheesman, Barrie Bowen, Joan Bearman and Rosemary Biggs. Directed by Frances Moulton, the successful play gave Wick the right to compete in the division finals of the All England theatre festival at Croydon.

Unfortunately the festival clashes with Wick’s next major production – Fings Ain’t Wot They Used to Be – at the Barn Theatre from April 28 to May 2.

Also taking part were three other groups, including Steyning Downland WI for whom May Hood won the best actress award in their staging of R.I.P. by Kathlyn Selby.

The adjudicator was Sheila Sharpless from the Guild of Drama Adjudicators and the festival was organised by John King.