Change of plan as West Wittering Players offer comedy double bill

Tickets £10 and £8 are on sale from Sayas News, Rookwood Road; telephone 01243 513110.

Directing one of the two shows is Dennis Harrison.

“We were going to do Dad’s Army but we realised that it was an adaptation that wasn't really for the amateur stage or for the size of stage that we have got. There was a need to have a hall and an office and a tea room and a railway station, and the West Wittering stage, however versatile it is, is not that versatile!

“So we had to come up with something else. We made the decision not to do Dad’s Army in early February but we didn't want to be quiet in the spring. We like to give our audiences the chance to see us, and our mission statement is to create entertainment for the community. So we had a committee meeting and we decided what we could do in the time we had given the time restraints – and that was to very quickly choose two one-act plays that we could cast with separate casts and with separate directors and that we could rehearse simultaneously in various places in the hall every Monday and Wednesday just so that we could accelerate the rehearsal process.”

Dennis will be directing What's for Pudding? by David Tristram, a piece in which Mary and Jack's Saturday evening is interrupted by the arrival of Maureen, Ted and Dennis.

“I have done the play a couple of times and we did a play of his in November which we turned into a theatre supper evening. For this one this time I have chosen the theme tune of Not Going Out. It's about a couple that decide to stay in on a Saturday night and then get visited by their neighbours that come and try and sell them tickets for a local dance. The main characters are fairly sophisticated and modern but then the neighbours come in. Maureen's a little bit dozey but Ted is the sort of person that annoys you at a party. He tells his jokes but he is the only person who is laughing at them.”

Completing the double bill is Split Ends which will be directed by Angie Willsher: “The gist of the play is that there is a couple whose son is bringing his girlfriend home for the first time to meet the family. The point is that the father is bald and is very sensitive about being bald. And at some point he leans back and drops his wig into the cat basket behind the sofa. He can't find his wig! There's quite a lot of slapstick that goes on.

“I think the two plays will fit together very well. I think they will work nicely as a pair. The comedy is similar and the setting is similar. It's in a drawing room on a Saturday night or a Sunday morning. I think they sit together well and we've got a decent cast that will make them work. I'm a little bit worried that they are quite short but then again you have got to create the pauses in comedy. You really need to have those expectant pauses!”