Stables Monthly
STUART BAILLIE
It’s fair to say that the last few weeks have demonstrated what a significant range The Stables provides. There’s been everything from a well-supported craft fayre to a ten-night run of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, a play about Oswald Mosley, a one-man show about Robert Kennedy and ‘the funniest play you’ll ever see about depression’, Every Brilliant Thing.
Deirdre Keneally – Every Brilliant Thing
The craft fayre demonstrated just how deeply embedded The Stables is in the heart of the community. More than a dozen stalls, selling everything from homemade marmalade to knitwear, arts, crafts, and gifts were busy all morning. Then the run of The Cherry Orchard demonstrated the excellence of The Stables in delivering strong performances in difficult but iconic plays. In Every Brilliant Thing, director Helen Black introduced a bit of audience participation, a first for the theatre, adding a new dimension that was great fun to be part of. As we go to press, Ross Drury’s Game Plan will be opening. It’s a play by Alan Ayckbourn, his usual mix of tough themes with a good dollop of humour.
The pioneering exchange programme with the Chicago Heights Drama Group comes to fruition at the end of June. This year it’s the turn of the Chicago group to come to Hastings. During their visit they will be performing The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley. This is part of what some believe might be the only theatre exchange programme of its kind in the world. The first exchange between the two groups happened in 1999, and has been a fixture ever since. Mary Ellen Fawk, from the Chicago Heights group, says many great friendships have been forged over the years and that the exchange is a fantastic opportunity: “There is a mystique about, and respect for, British actors, and coming over here to see how a piece of British theatre gets put together, to see the work ethic, is wonderful. The whole exchange programme is just a great shared opportunity,” she says. When a team from The Stables crossed the Atlantic last year they took Ray Cooney’s Run For Your Wife to perform to Chicago audiences.
Tickets for the show are selling fast so contact the box office on 01424 423221 or book online at stablestheatre.co.uk. If you’d like to be part of The Stables team drop in and see us sometime and find out more.
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