Welcome to Compton Little Theatre

Established in 1982

Welcome to Compton Little Theatre, based in Compton Village, Surrey.  We are a friendly, family based group with high standards in all aspects of our very professional productions.  We were established in 1982 by a group of enthusiastic actors, many of whom are still involved in some shape or form.

We aim for three productions a year, a musical or panto in January, a Summer play and a comedy dinner/drama in the Autumn.

We are always looking for new talent in any area; acting, directing, costumes, make-up, back stage crew, front of house.  So take a look around and contact us or visit our website www.comptonlittletheatre.org.uk

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NODA review of CLT’s Dinner & Drama Production ‘A Ballyhoo in Blighty’

Compton Little Theatre came up trumps again with this marvellous choice of production for its annual autumn dinner drama event. It fizzed and buzzed along with never a dull moment, and was very funny indeed. Villagers of Compton, if you have never been to CLT’s autumn dinner drama, you’re missing out! A Ballyhoo in Blighty is in fact 4 mini plays, each totally different, but equally bizarre, with a cast of two in each. Director Noel Ruddy had chosen a very strong cast, who created characters who will live in the memory.

We were given a tasty meal of sausage and mash before the start, and then a fabulous choice of pudding in the interval, and of course the atmosphere at any CLT production is always tremendous, a great community feeling, full of fun.

 I shall watch out for the work of award-winning playwright Andrew Biss in future, for his work here is highly engaging, clever, totally surprising and extremely witty.

The first play, ‘Indigenous Peoples’, took us to a campsite in the Lake District, where a young couple, Caroline and Roger, were spending what was obviously their first weekend away together. They were an unlikely pair, Roger, a keen lover of nature and the outdoor life, and Caroline, a posh young lady with a cut glass accent, who hadn’t realised what she was letting herself in for, and was far more accustomed to weekends in very pleasant hotels. She was certainly not dressed for a camping weekend, wearing a lovely white sundress with black spots, and elegant footwear. They’d packed a coolbox with a bottle of wine, but had forgotten the ice and the corkscrew. This isn’t going to end well, we thought, especially when Roger explained that the facilities were just over there, in the woods, behind a bush. Caroline’s horror was palpable, Roger’s puzzlement at her reaction was classic. What an unlikely couple! Amy Aiello gave us a great Caroline, nervous, feeling so out of place in these surroundings, yet determined to find all the good things in Roger. J P Judson’s Roger was super too, amazed by Caroline’s lack of interest in these wild surroundings, yet very attracted to her, nevertheless. There were so many witty lines, so well delivered. Just when we thought disaster had struck, in the form of a snakebite in a very unfortunate place, the situation was saved by Roger’s prompt action, and indeed from that point on the relationship seemed to move on in leaps and bounds. Very funny indeed!

The second play, ‘The Craft’, took place on the stage of a professional theatre, an evening performance, with the leading man and leading lady. Actor 1, the man, was on stage alone to start with, thinking aloud. He considered himself a great actor, in the mold of Gielgud or Olivier. The production might have been something by Noel Coward. He was clad in light slacks, blazer and cravatte. He absolutely loathed his leading lady, and once she appeared, an equally affected person, we learnt that she absolutely loathed him. She wore a very fine, dark green, silky shirtwaister dress, this once again gave a suggestion of the type of production they were appearing in. A hilarious interlude followed, as they acted their roles between their cutting asides to us, the audience. Fine performances from Steven Webb and Gillian Walker. All that insecurity, fear, jealousy, abject horror at being near the other person (let alone having to kiss them!), all was brought across so brilliantly. This was such a clever piece.

‘A Familiar Face’ was the third piece. Two elderly Cockney ladies meet for tea in a café shortly after Dora had been widowed, and the funeral had taken place. Dora’s grief was intense, and Eydie began to worry that there may be more to Dora’s grief than just simple mourning for the loss of a beloved husband. Dora then calmly took out of her huge shopping-bag-on-wheels a large glass jar containing a human head. This was a piece de resistance from the prop department, I couldn’t stop looking at it and wondering!

Discussions ensued about how this object could have been placed under the stairs in Dora’s home, how long it might have been there, and whose head it might have been. ‘Well, it looks a bit like the gasman,’ said Dora. Dora’s grief turned to extreme anger and frustration at having been married to a monster that she cooked and slaved for over all those years. The abuse and language that emerged from her mouth was shocking, and terribly funny. Revelations ensued, including about the gasman, and Eydie made an attempt to explain away the head, to spare Dora from all that trauma. Once again, a clever, witty piece. Those two great characters, with Jane Bryant as the feisty Edie, and Anne Stuart as the normally demure and retiring Dora, we grew to love them. The costume and makeup department did a great job of making these two ladies look very elderly indeed.

The final piece was entitled ‘An Embarrassing Odour’, and took place in the living room of an elderly widow, Ethel. She was in her armchair, doing her crossword, and chatting to the photo of her dear departed husband. There was a crash – an intruder! A masked burglar appeared, frustrated to find someone home, but brandishing a cosh. Ethel kept pleading, ‘I’m 78 you know’. Gradually she calmed down a little, and tried to forge a relationship of sorts with this threatening thug. They talked of a string of local burglaries which had recently stopped. ‘You must have taken over from him then’, she remarked.

He however was only concerned with bagging all her valuables and getting away from the awful smell in that room. He passed Ethel his cosh to hold while he tried to open the large wooden chest in her room. Ethel was still sprightly though, and the thug soon discovered what that smell was! Robin Matthews made an admirable villain, and Mandy Scully as Ethel was tremendous, with marvellous facial expressions, expressing great vulnerability and frailty – until the end, that is! Once again, the costume and makeup team did a grand job of turning Mandy into a really old lady, she was extremely believable.

Noel Ruddy’s excellent direction, and his fine cast, delighted us with this zany, astonishing, shocking evening of well-written and well-crafted drama. Each and every one a little gem. What fun!

Pauline Surrey

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