Quartet

By Ronald Harwood
Directed by John Potter.
Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Ltd.

Synopsis

In a home for retired musicians live opera singers Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred. Each year there is a concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday. When Jean, the one-time bride of Reggie, moves in she disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on. A heart-warming and whimsical production about growing old disgracefully.

Cast

Jean - Susanne Lee
Susanne has been involved with amateur dramatics since 2002 when she joined Crowthorne Musical Players production of 'Me and My Girl' in the Wilde Theatre. Since then she has also enjoyed acting with CATS (Crowthorne Amateur Theatrical Society) and more recently singing with Park Opera, coincidentally, The Barber of Seville.

Cissy - Jenny Brown
Jenny has been involved with South Hill Park and all things theatrical since the Wilde was built. When not teaching Speech and Drama, Jenny is found directing for EBOS and last month directed Kindertransport at Pinewood Theatre. Quartet is a rare opportunity to perform again and as with Cissy forgetting what she was doing a minute ago, is a daily reminder that life is cruel to the memory bank!

Reggie - Nick Teale
Nick first appeared at SHP in 2008 as Alonso in 'The Tempest', alongside Stuart Nicklin's Caliban. Since then he's appeared in various productions here, most recently as Geoffrey in 'Stepping Out'. He's looking forward to becoming typecast as an old man, and more acting opportunities involving lime marmalade.

Wilfred - Stuart Nicklin
Stuart has already achieved Nick's ambition, this being his third, consecutive role as a disreputable geriatric, playing Philippe in 'Heroes' and Ham in 'Endgame,' both at SHP last year. This is the first production in which he has been required to drink stout; a skill which he looks forward to developing.

Creative Team

Clive Elkington, Producer
Clive set LivelyWood Pictures up in 2011 with the aim to make short films. That slowly developed into producing theatre, events and promotional videos. Since then LWP has produced three theatrical productions, nearly 100 videos, and even a documentary screening at Cannes Film Festivals' Short Film Corner in 2015. LivelyWood Pictures has become a Media Production Company in every sense of the term. The tagline 'Productivity at its liveliest' says it all. More information can be found at www.livelywoodpictures.co.uk

John Potter, Director
John has been involved in theatre for many years. His career has taken him to performing in, directing and producing shows in the UK and Europe. John also works in marketing and PR for the performing arts. He has worked in North America and starting a new job at Theatre Royal Stratford East next month.

Monica Bakir, Assistant Director
Monica and John's working relationship developed from the contemporary production "The mystery of X" 2011. After external projects they decided to reunite over a mutual passion for modern theatre. This time they have approached a more traditional venture with 'Quartet', which is Monica's debut into a directorial role. Recent acting credits include Parsee Woman in 'Just So'; Mary Magdalene in the documentary 'The Gospel of Jesus Wife', Dorothy in 'Stepping Out' and Watchman in 'Much Ado About Nothing' (Open Air).