previous curtain calls > 2010 | 2011
‘It Could Be Any One of Us’ by Alan Ayckbourn
January 2010
"A thunderstorm. A windswept country house. A family of failures - a detective who has never solved a case; a writer, an artist and a composer whose work has never been aired publicly; a dysfunctional teenager - wrangling over a bequest...
... all the prime ingredients for a murder-mystery thriller in the traditional mould. But this thriller is by Alan Ayckbourn and has within it a number of surprises..."
"A Real Puzzler To The End... be prepared to be left scratching your head until the last minute, we were guessing who was behind all the mysterious goings on at the Chalke household from the interval, and despite thinking we were being incredibly clever we were still miles off the truth!"
Swindon Advertiser
January 2010
‘Third Week in August’ by Peter Gordon
April 2010
When Sue decides to take a ‘get away from everybody’ caravan holiday, little does she realise that she’s booked into the caravan site from hell! She is soon taken under the wing of expert but inadequate caravanner Neville….when he is not engaged in battle with his wife or coping with his recently divorced sister-in-law.
Matters become complicated with the arrival of the enthusiastic Tony and his reluctant girlfriend and Neville decides that a communal barbecue is the order of the day, or is it...
...if you have ever been near a caravan site you will recognise them all!
"One Liners Had Us Rolling In The Aisles"
"This is a rollicking couple of hours of entertainment - The audience laughed their socks off!"
Swindon Advertiser
April 2010
‘Cranford’ adapted from the novels of Elizabeth Gaskell by Martyn Coleman.
September 2010.
.jpg)
If you have read the novels of Elizabeth Gaskell or seen the BBC television adaptation then you know all about the “ladies of Cranford” and their love of gossip! This stage adaptation included some favourite characters, Miss Matty Jenkyns, Miss Pole, Mrs Jamieson and Lady Glenmire along with some new friends, all wrestling with the trials and tribulations of "polite society"; breaking in a new maid, dealing with a band of robbers or coping with financial disaster.
"The Ladies of Cranford came to the Arts Centre in a splendid production directed by Sandra Gilbert where once again the Phoenix Players showed just why they are one of the premier theatre companies in this town."
Swindon Advertiser
September 2010
In London Suite, America’s favourite playwright crosses the Atlantic for this quartet of plays, all set in suite 402 of a classic London hotel. There is something for everyone here as we run the gamut of emotions – desperation, revenge, tenderness, abiding love and farce all shot through with that signature Neil Simon humour and cracking one liners. Spend an evening laughing with the Phoenix Players and forget the dark days of January.
“Quartet of Sparkling Talent – The Phoenix Players provided sparkling entertainment in Neil Simon’s quartet of one-act plays. This great night out maintained this groups well deserved reputation for excellence”
Swindon Advertiser
January 2011
"A Letter from The General" by Maurice McLoughlin
September 2011.
Set in the common room of a mission station in a Far Eastern Country in the year 1950. Revolution has swept over this country and is now lapping around the walls of a mission station which specialises in caring for orphaned children. The children have been taken away on the orders of the General, that they may not be contaminated by a capitalist religion; only the Sisters are left and one peasant family who live in a hut at the Mission gates. Any day the revolution may swamp the nuns and they may be escorted from the country; but it is more likely that the General will order them to be liquidated. Matters are complicated by the arrival of Father Schiller, who has been wrecked by torture and Reverend Mother agrees to hide him. Internal tensions add to the complexities of the situation and lead to its dramatic resolution.
"Job well done by top cast"... "The Phoenix Players again produced a play that held the audience in the palm of their hands. You could have heard a pin drop in the audience while the characters engaged us all and drew us into the plot. A Job well done."
Swindon Advertiser
January 2011