Photo of Q and A in the Marine Theatre bar  Peter Wiles c

 

On Sunday 30 March Harold Pinter’s classic play The Lover was presented by local professional company Creative Cow at the Marine Theatre Lyme Regis. Following the lively and highly polished production the audience hurried to the theatre bar to take part in the Q and A following the show. Hosted by Chris Savory, whose first task was to ensure more chairs were brought up from the theatre.  He then led the audience in a stimulating and informative discussion about the company and their production. “Why did you choose this particular play?” he asked of Amanda Knott, the director, who explained that it suited their cast well and was a piece of such depth that it merited re-visiting. It had been originally written for television in 1962 she explained and then produced for the stage, directed by Harold Pinter, with his wife, Vivienne Merchant playing role of Sarah, the wife with a secret lover.

 

Katherine Senior who played the part of Sarah and Jack Hulland as Richard offered perceptive insights into their preparation for the role. “I heard they spent a fortnight just analyzing the script before they started rehearsing” explained Jack of the current London production. “We thought that was excessive until we started rehearsing and realised how dense the text is – then we too had a lot of unpicking to do”.

 

The audience asked many questions; Joe Tesorie, Lyn Greene of Bournemouth and Bob Booker kept the debate going with perceptive comments about this production and about Harold Pinter’s other plays. Amanda Knott revealed they were now looking for further plays for small casts, and explained about the range of theatres and theatre pubs they toured to, adding in praise of the Marine Theatre audience, that the numbers had been  nearly twice as many as they had experienced in other venues, and “the quality of listening here was palpable” she added, “we look forward to returning with out next production”   Margie Barbour suggested they might like to look at “The Collector” by Lyme Regis’s own John Fowles, which she was sure would be enormously popular here in Lyme.

Chris Savory drew the formal part of the evening to a close but many of the audience stayed on to sit with the cast discussing the performances and the production.  

Many local community groups will be at the theatre over the next few weeks. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Lyme Youth Theatre on 3 and 4 April, the local U3A with a classic concert on Saturday 5 April and then Lyme Regis Dramatic Society with their production “The Happiest Days of Your Life” from Wed 9th April to 12 April at 7.30 pm.