It was off to Framlingham College last night for the latest production from local am dram society FADS. Arnold Ridley's Ghost Train was an excellent choice for the group having just the right blend of comedy, thrills and drama to entertain a wide audience. The Headmaster Porter Theatre was packed and we had a great evening.
It's set between the wars at a remote station in the wilds of Cornwall; a group of passengers are stranded in the gloomy waiting room. The last train has gone and the station master is ready to head for home. He's reluctant to stay and warns his unexpected guests of spectral visitors and an infamous ghost train that haunt this place on this particular date.
Should they stay or should they go? Their dilemma unfolds with their individual stories; newly weds, nearly divorcees, an old maid and an idiotic and bumbling young man make up the group and keep the audience amused as things go bump in the night and not everything is exactly what it seems.
Mark Watts stole the show as the very silly Teddy. He was word perfect and captured the Bunteresque character to a tee. He was supported by another gentle husband performance from Peter Turner as the newly wed Charles and Ian Baird as grumpy Richard Winthrop. Kathy Churchill (from the excellent AboutFram) was gloriously melodramatic in Act 2 bursting into the station in a wonderful period evening gown to add confusion and intrigue to the proceedings. The remainder of the cast all played their characters very well.
A special mention should go to Glynn McKay for his fabulous set and to Maurice Gifford and Tom Howard for the super sound and light effects. This was just what amateur dramatics should be; fun for the audience and fun for the cast and crew. I felt that they were worth a couple of curtain calls but they left after just one bow - very modest.
In other news, we managed to get out on the bikes on Tuesday. The weather was glorious and, due to my lousy navigation, we managed to find ourselves three miles off the planned route in Kettleburgh instead of Earl Soham. Whilst that added six miles to the ride, we had a good workout and the build up to our cycling tour in Provence in June has finally started (could do with some padded shorts though).
It's good to see the village signs around the county. They add a nice individual touch to the communities. It's also good to see all the local produce for sale with honesty boxes. We bought a bit of marmalade en route.
Along with the fabulous naive painting I mentioned on the last blog, I'm selling this super little fluted Delft dish on eBay starting tonight. Dating from around 1690 it's probably the oldest pottery piece I've ever owned but it looks like it was made last week. My eBay name is lfcchampions. I signed up with that name when eBay was in its infancy and I was confident that Liverpool were heading for the top of the Premiership. Maybe, my selling name will finally be justified if they can win their remaining matches.
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