The Plays: Year-by-Year (1975)

This page contains productions details for all plays produced by Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, during 1975. All information on this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd M.A. from programmes, brochures and newspaper articles.

Summer 1975

All plays were performed in-the-round in the Concert Room at Scarborough Library. The season ran from 16 June to 10 September 1975.

Bedroom Farce

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Alan Ayckbourn
Yes

16 June 1975
16 June 1975
13 September 1975

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Character
Ernest
Delia
Nick
Jan
Malcolm
Kate
Trevor
Susannah
Actor
Stanley Page
Heather Stoney
Stephen Mallatratt
Janet Dale
Bob Eaton
Eileen O'Brien
Christopher Godwin
Polly Warren

On Approval

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
Frederick Lonsdale
No

23 June 1975
23 June 1975
23 July 1975
Director:
Design:
Costumes:

Character
The Duke Of Bristol
Richard Halton
Mrs Wislack
Helen Hayle
Stanley Page
Helga Wood
Christine Welch

Actor
Christopher Godwin
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien
Janet Dale

Angels In Love

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Hugh Mills
No

14 July 1975
14 July 1975
3 September 1975

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Philip Pawsey
Character
Burton, a maid
Dearest, mother of Lord Fauntleroy
Cedric, Lord Fauntleroy
Lettice, Lady Fauntleroy
Violet, Comtesse de Chaumont
Furse, the butler
Molyneux, Earl of Dorincourt
Sir Pomeroy Pomeroy-Jones
Eustace Pomeroy-Junes
Actor
Christine Welch
Janet Dale
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien
Polly Warren
Kevin Wood
Bob Eaton
David Ross
Christopher Godwin

Confusions

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Music:
Alan Ayckbourn
No

4 August 1975
4 August 1975
10 September 1975

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Paul Todd
Character
Terry / Waiter / Stewart / Arthur
Harry / Martin / Vicar / Ernest
Lucy / Bernice / Mrs Pearce / Beryl
Rosemary / Paula / Polly/ Milly / Doreen
Mr Pearce / Gosforth / Charles
Actor
Stephen Mallatratt
Christopher Godwin
Janet Dale
Eileen O’Brien
Stanley Page

The Adventures of Bongo Bungle

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
Janet Dale
Yes

23 August 1975
23 August 1975
To be confirmed
Director:

Character
Bongo Bungle
Other characters
To be confirmed

Actor
Kevin Wood
Bob Eaton
Polly Warren
Christopher Godwin

The Village That Woke Up Asleep

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
Janet Dale
Yes

30 August 1975
30 August 1975
To be confirmed
Director:

Character
Details not known
To be confirmed

Actor
To be confirmed

Autumn / Winter 1975

The autumn / winter season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre ran from 22 September 1975 to 31 January 1976. Performances took place in the lecture room at the library rather than the concert room and, as a result, were not performed in-the-round.

Brontës

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Music:
Bob Eaton & Peter Clough
Yes

22 September 1975
22 September 1975
31 October 1975

Bob Eaton
Helga Wood
Bob Eaton & Peter Clough
Character
Anne Bronte
Charlotte Bronte
Emily Bronte
Branwell Bronte
Patrick Bronte
Maria Branwell / Elizabeth Branwell / Tabitha Ackroyd / Ellen Nussey
Rev Carus Wilson / Tom Spring /
William Weightman / Railway Director / George Gooch
William Robinson / Robert Southey / Francis Henry Grundy / Doctor
Actor
Alison Skilbeck
Janet Dale
Polly Warren
Malcolm Hebden
Christopher Godwin
Wendy Murray

Stephen Mallatratt


Kevin Wood

An Englishman's Home

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Stephen Mallatratt
Yes

15 October 1975
15 October 1975
17 January 1976

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Character
Mandy, Brian's wife
Cecile, Trevor's wife
Julie, Robbie's girlfriend
Brian, Cecile's brother
Trevor, Cecile's husband
Robbie, Mandy's brother
Actor
Janet Dale
Polly Warren
Alison Skilbeck
Malcolm Hebden
Bob Eaton
Christopher Godwin

A View From The Bridge

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Arthur Miller
No

12 November 1975
12 November 1975
13 December 1975

Paul Webster
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Character
Alfieri
Eddie
Catherine
Beatrice
Marco
Rodolpho
Immigration Officer / Louis / Tony
Immigration Officer / Mike
Mr Lipari
Mrs Lipari
A 'Submarine'
Actor
Malcolm Hebden
Christopher Godwin
Polly Warren
Janet Dale
Bob Eaton
Stephen Mallatratt
Kevin Wood
Peter Chadwick
David Millard
Wendy Murray
Stephen Lowe

What The Devil!

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Director:
Design:
Bob Eaton & Polly Warren
Yes

26 November 1975 (See notes)
26 November 1975
29 November 1975

Bob Eaton
Polly Warren
Helga Wood
Actor
Bob Eaton
Polly Warren
Alison Skilbeck
Malcolm Hebden
Stephen Mallatratt

Charlie's Christmas Countdown

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Music:
Janet Dale
Yes

9 December 1975
9 December 1975
7 January 1976

Janet Dale
Helga Wood
Jill Pennington
Bob Eaton, Polly Warren & Christopher Godwin
Character
Charlie
Bongo Bungle
Mr Buggins / Gungy 1 / Robot
Factory foreman / Zapette
Mrs Buggins / Gungy 2 / Lynx creature
Mr Dib / King Zap / Gunglesaurus / Tanglebush
Mr Boss / Gumbo / Snake-creature
Factory worker / Gungy minion / Gunlesaurus / Zappo / Tanglebush
Actor
Malcolm Hebden
Kevin Wood
Christopher Godwin
Polly Warren
Alison Skilbeck
Stephen Mallatratt

Bob Eaton

Wendy Murray

The Chimes

Author:
Adaptation:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Stephen Mallatratt
Charles Dickens' The Chimes
Yes

18 December 1975
18 December 1975
10 January 1976

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Character
Will Fern, a blacksmith
Meg , daughter of Toby
Mr Tugby, a shopkeeper
Mrs Tugby
Alderman Cute, a magistrate
Mrs Cute
Toby Veck, a street porter
The Spirit Of The Chimes
Actor
Stephen Mallatratt
Alison Skilbeck
Malcolm Hebden
Wendy Murray
Christopher Godwin
Janet Dale
Bob Eaton
Polly Warren

Just Between Ourselves

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Alan Ayckbourn
Yes

28 January 1976
28 January 1976
31 January 1976

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Character
Dennis
Vera, his wife
Neil
Marjorie, Dennis's mother
Pam
Actor
Christopher Godwin
Polly Warren
Malcolm Hebden
Janet Dale
Alison Skilbeck

1975 Production Notes

○ Although premiered at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, Bedroom Farce was actually commissioned by the National Theatre and would become Alan's first production to be staged at that venue. However, the National agreed for the play to have its first production in Scarborough.
○ Commissioned as an end-stage play for the Lyttelton at the National Theatre, Alan Ayckbourn initially intended to direct Bedroom Farce in-the-round. Unfortunately, the set would not fit as intended into the space and was repurposed for three-sided 'thrust' performance.
○ On Approval was a revival of the production which had featured in the 1974 winter season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and featured the same company.
○ Angels In Love was not originally scheduled for the summer 1975 season, but was a late replacement for the advertised play Up To The Eyes by Peter King, which was withdrawn from the schedule in early June when the new play was announced as not being up to expectations.
○ No programme is held in archive for The Adventures Of Bongo Bungle so all details have been taken from the summer 1975 brochure for Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, and the only review published for the play.
○ The Adventures of Bongo Bungle was a children's show performed on Saturday mornings during the 1975 summer season at the Library Theatre, Scarborough. Admission was 5p which included a lolly-pop and a badge.
○ The second performance of the play saw more than 500 children turn up and a decision to stage a second performance immediately after the first to cope with the demand.
○ The Adventures of Bongo Bungle was performed on a voluntary basis by both the acting company and stage management with all box office profits going to the company.
○ No programme is held in archive for The Village That Woke Up Asleep and there are no press cuttings held in archive either relating to the play. As a result, no details other than performance dates and the author are known.
○ The Village That Woke Up Asleep was a children's show performed on Saturday mornings during the 1975 summer season.
○ Brontës was written to coincide with a Brontë Festival being held in Scarborough in 1975.
○ The play is occasionally incorrectly referred to as The Brontës in publications about the Stephen Joseph Theatre's history.
○ During the 1974 and 1975 winter seasons at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, the Library Committee did not make the venue's Concert Room available; this room being where the Library Theatre had been based since 1955. In its place, a smaller room on the same floor - the Lecture Room - was offered but which could not incorporate theatre-in-the-round with productions performed three-sided (thrust).
○ An Englishman's Home marked the debut of the actor Stephen Mallatratt as a playwright with his first full-length commissioned work. He would go on to become a renowned playwright and screenwriter - notably working on the popular British television soap opera Coronation Street. He is perhaps most famous for his adaptation of Susan Hill's novella The Woman In Black in 1987.
○ A View From The Bridge was apparently put into the schedule for the winter 1975 season due to it being studied by schools in the region, who contacted Alan Ayckbourn enquiring about the possibility of the play being staged so pupils could see the play rather than just reading it.
○ What The Devil! was initially conceived as a revue suitable touring pubs in the Scarborough area. This featured just three actors - Bob Eaton, Polly Warren and David Ross - and had a shortened programme. The first performance took place at Cober Hill, Cloughton, on 21 July 1975 before touring various pubs. There were also five lunchtime performances at the Spa Suncourt, Scarborough, from 14 - 20 August, 1975. The success of the revue led to its being revived as a full evening's entertainment at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre from 26 - 29 November, 1975. This version of the revue included a new comedy sketch, Dracula, by Alan Ayckbourn.
○ Just Between Ourselves was premiered at the end of the 1975 winter season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre with just six performances (which sold out as soon as they were put on sale). This was intended as a taster for the 1976 summer season when the play was scheduled for a normal run in the repertory.
○ Although Just Between Ourselves was written with the intention of it being staged in-the-round, the original production was staged three-sided (thrust) due to the limitations of the performance space (see note above). When the play was revived during the 1976 summer season in the larger space, Alan Ayckbourn decided to keep it in the thrust configuration for ease.
All information for this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd and should not be reproduced without permission. Any approved reproduction of information from this page should always credit 'A Round Town (www.theatre-in-the-round.co.uk).