Review #1: Four One – Act Plays
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: April 21 1950 issue – page 6 YOUTH NOTES section
Reviewer: Unknown
Text Header: None
Text: Content
FOUR one-act plays, including Before You Roast Your Beef, which they performed at the recent Youth Drama Festival, were presented by the Unity Players at the Red Triangle Club, Southwick, on Saturday evening before an enthusiastic audience. They were produced by Mrs E. Penney and Peter G. Elder. The acting in all plays was of a high standard.
Those taking part were: John Wilson, Sheila Grovestock, Michael Tracy, Janet Norris, John Gutteridge, Bruce Unstead, Brian Cooper, Eileen Turley, Betty Carpenter, Thomas Craig, Maureen Futcher, Peter Castle, Mary George, Elizabeth Garred, Ralph Dawes, Arthur Hall and John Basilio.
The paper printed a photograph on page 8 of the cast – without Bruce Unstead – of There’s Money Coming To You.
Review #2: Four One – Act Plays
Publication: Brighton & Hove Gazette
Publication Data: April 22 1950 issue – page 8
Reviewer: Unknown
Text Header: “YOUTH CLUB’S FOUR PLAYS”
Text: Content
THE Unity Youth Club [Drama Section] staged their first production before a large and appreciative audience at the Red Triangle Club, Southwick, on Saturday.
The production consisted of four plays, a thriller, two comedies and a drama. The casting and production was in the capable hands of Peter G Elder and the founder of the drama section Mrs. E. Penney.
The four plays – There’s Money Coming To You, Raikes Cross, by Stuart Ready, Before You Roast Your Beef, by T.B. Morris, and La Strega, by S. Fone, proved to be a great success.
Those taking part were: John Wilson, Sheila Grovestock, Michael Tracy, Janet Norris, John Gutteridge, Bruce Unstead, Brian Cooper, Eileen Turley, Betty Carpenter, Thomas Craig, Maureen Futcher, Peter Castle, Mary George, Elizabeth Garred, Ralph Dawes, Arthur Hall and John Basilio.
Post Production Comment #1: Four One – Act Plays
Comment Author: Tom Craig
Comment Data: August 2008 by email
Comment Text: Content
“My wife and I were members of the Unity Youth Clubs Young Wick Players in 1950. I am Tom Craig, not Thomas as shown in the record of the first production of four one act plays. My wife was then Mary George. She was at school with Betty Carpenter. We remember the fun we all had in those days and the resourcefulness that was necessary to get us ‘off the ground’ – for example, the footlights for that first production in the Red Triangle as the YMCA Hall in The Twitten in Southwick was called, consisted of about 6 batten lamp holders screwed to Mary’s Mum’s clothes line prop! This was my first and last effort at ‘props’ as soon after that I went off to do my National Service so, although I was in Raikes Cross I was certainly not in Villa for Sale in the 1951 production of three one act plays – it looks as though the wrong cast list got into the 1951 record.
Mary and I lived in Southwick most of our lives until soon after we married in 1953 and moved away. We remember with affection nearly all of the people whose names were listed in that record of the 1950 production and many of the names in following productions.
We now live in Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada.”
[web ed; the original publication of an inaccurate cast list referred to by Tom was subsequently corrected – the error was mine…mea culpa]