VANDALS TARGET AM DRAM GROUP

The Players were due to perform Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular on Thursday last week.

But less than two hours before the start, the amateur actors discovered that someone had superglued the lock of the front door.

When they finally got in, they discovered cupboards and drawers had also been glued up.

But the worst mishap came when the cast tried to move a specially constructed revolving floor, which was meant to change scenes over three acts.

About 100 nails and screws had been driven through the mechanism, making it impossible to start.

'It must have taken the vandal hours to do that,' said director Bob Leeds. 'He even covered the nail and screw heads with sawdust to make it harder for us to find them.

'Why anyone should want to do such a thing is beyond me. And there was no sign of anyone actually forcing their way in.

'We were 30 minutes late starting the show and had to tell the audience what had happened. We had to go through the play without the scene changes but eventually, too late, we got the stage revolving and were able to show the audience what they had missed.

'They gave us a big cheer.'

Added Bob: 'I felt pretty sick about it at the time. We had been working on that stage and the props since the beginning of the year.

'When we first found out, we were all in a state of shock; but we soon focused on the night ahead, and the cast were determined that the show would go on.

'In the event, it went without a hitch, even though many of the things being referred to in the script were not on the available set. In a way, everyone was galvanised to give 100 per cent, and it showed.'