TENTERDEN OPERATIC AND DRAMATIC SOCIETY
59th SEASON
EQUALLY DIVIDED
by Ronald Harwood
TENTERDEN TOWN HALL
Thursday 27th, Friday 28th October 2016 at 7:30 pm
Saturday 29th October 2016 at 2:30 & 7:30 p m
An Amateur Production by arrangement with Samuel French Ltd
TODS is Affiliated to the National Operatic and Dramatic Association
EQUALLY DIVIDED
by Ronald Harwood
Synopsis - The play begins shortly after the funeral of Edith and Renata's
mother. Edith - severe, embattled, and unmarried - has sacrificed her life to
nurse the bedridden old woman. Renata - glamorous and married several
times - has spent her life doing what she pleases. When the contents of the
will are made known, childhood rivalries recur in this amusing, astute and
intelligent play.
Ronald Harwood - Born in Cape Town SA in 1934 and
moved to the UK in 1951. He trained at RADA after which he
joined Sir Donald Wolfit’s Shakespearean company. From
1953-58 he was Sir Donald’s personal dresser and drew on
this experience for his first critically acclaimed play ’The
Dresser’ (1981) and wrote the film script (1983) which
received
nominations for several Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. He had
written five performed plays by that time and went on to write a further
eighteen, including the also famous ‘Quartet’. Sir Donald Sinden was in the
original West End cast and it was a highly successful film in 2008. He wrote
the screenplay for many notable films (nineteen in all) including ‘One Day In
The Life Of Ivan Denisovich’, ‘The Browning Version’, ‘Cry, The Beloved
Country’, ‘The Pianist’, ‘Love In The Time Of Cholera’ and ‘Australia’. He
was knighted in the New Year’s Honour List in 2010.
Director’s Notes - I am very privileged to be directing
again for TODS and I hope you enjoy this very funny play with
some poignant moments. Many people will be able to relate
to this storyline of disagreements and arguments over a loved
one’s will. This talented cast have worked very hard in
developing their characters and have been a joy to work with, rehearsals
have been great fun. Please sit back and enjoy tonight’s performance of this
well written and splendid play.
About TODS
The Society, in its present form, was inaugurated in July
1958 by reviving the old Tenterden Operatic & Dramatic
Society and incorporating The Tenterden Players and The
Masquers into that Society. They are now more often referred to as TODS. It
has been the practice of the Society to stage three productions a year, in
January, April and October. The January production was always a traditional
pantomime but in 1994 the Society ventured into the world of musical plays
and staged ‘The Sound of Music’. The April productions have for many years
been Kent Drama Association Full Length Play Festival entries and have
gained the Society a considerable number of awards as well as many
individual acting awards.
TODS are proud to be affiliated to the National Operatic and
Dramatic Association (NODA) which was founded in 1899 and
has a membership of over 2,300 amateur societies and 3,000
individual enthusiasts throughout the UK, staging musicals,
operas, plays, concerts and pantomimes in a wide variety of
performing venues, ranging from the country’s leading professional theatres
to tiny village halls.
NEW MEMBERS
TODS are always looking for new members, either to perform or
to help with the myriad of other tasks that make a production
complete. If you are interested in joining either as an acting
member or in any other capacity, then please contact our
secretary:TODS c/o Angela Patrick
Holly Cottage Orchard Court
The Street Benenden Kent TN17 4DE
Telephone: 01580 241966
email: [email protected]
or via online & social media – details on back cover
Previous T.O.D.S productions
(M) Members Night Productions / (Y) TODS Youth Productions
1995
My Fair Lady
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Y)
Dangerous Rhythm
1996
Cabaret
Blue Remembered Hills
Peter Pan (Y)
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Fascinating Rhythm
1985
Party Piece
Rebecca
The Spirit of Christmas (M)
The Happiest Days of Your Life
1997
1986
The Other Cinderella
Florence Nightingale
The Rise & Fall of Little Voice
How the Other Half Loves
Wind in the Willows (Y)
1987
Boeing – Boeing
Confusions
1998
1988
Fiddler on the Roof
Beauty & the Beast
Wildest Dreams
Send Me No Flowers
Nativity Play (M)
An Inspector Calls
1999
1989
Pajama Game
Humpty Dumpty
Roman Fever/Cleaning up Justice/
Rashomon
The Black & White (M)
Suddenly at Home
Lessons and Lovers
1990
Whistle Down the Wind (Y)
The Owl and the Pussycat
The Importance of Being Earnest
Outside Edge
2000
Knightsbridge / Dock Brief (M)
100 Years of Musical Theatre
Bugsy Malone (Y)
A Medieval Passion Play
Deadly Nightcap
Dangerous Corner
1991
2001
Cinderella
Godspell
The Anastasia File
The Winslow Boy
Annie
Ladies Who Lunch
The Proposal / We Three / Lunch Hour (M)
2002
The Miracle Worker
Return to the Forbidden Planet
1992
Steel Magnolias
Toad of Toad Hall
The Dining Room
Was He Anyone?
2003
The Wizard of Oz
Into the Woods
Relative Values
Warrior
1993
Rats / Shake, Ripple & Roll (Y)
Sleeping Beauty
My Friend Miss Flint
The Dresser
2004
Dracula Spectacular (Y)
Little Shop of Horrors
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Sand Castles
1994
A Murder is Announced
The Sound of Music
2005
Hay Fever
Summer Holiday
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Y)
On Golden Pond
The School for Scandal
Daisy Pulls it Off
1983
Black Kate
Hedda Gabler
See How They Run
1984
Old Mother Hubbard
The Ghost Train
Pools Paradise
2006
Talking Heads
Kindly Leave the Stage
Bazaar & Rummage
2007
Disco Inferno
The Day After the Fair
Day Of Reckoning
2008
Under Milk Wood
The Secret Rapture
Plaza Suite
2009
Our Musicals Re-Viewed
Brontë
Farce & Furious
2010
The Railway Children
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Hay Fever
2011
Well That’s Life!
Road
Relatively Speaking
2012
Coram Boy
The Chalk Garden
The Unexpected Guest
2013
Calendar Girls
The Mystery of Talbot Manor (M)
The New Electric Ballroom
What the Butler Saw
2014
Shout!
Oh What a Lovely War!
Verdict
2015
Sweet Charity
The House of Bernarda Alba
Shop for Charity (M)
Wife After Death
2016
Abigail’s Party
Side by Side by Sondheim
Equally Divided
Next Production Jan 2017
The Pajama Game
The play takes place in a house made out
of old railway carriages on the south
coast of England.
Act 1
- Scene 1 –
10.30am on a bleak February morning
- Scene 2 –
Some hours later
Act 2
- scene 1 –
The action is continuous
- Scene 2 –
Evening 8.15pm
There will be an interval of twenty
minutes between Acts 1 and 2
Cast in order
EDITH TAYLOR…………….……Tina Gallagher
I have enjoyed playing several different characters with TODS since
2000. From Emily Brontë in ‘Brontë’, and Mother in ‘The Railway
Children’, to stripping off in ‘Calendar Girls’. All the parts have been
interesting in one way or another and in each part there has to be an
element of the person playing the part. ‘Equally Divided’ is no
exception - Edith is a complex character. There are certain traits of her
character I can identify with, such as her anxiety, and I can understand her
resentment at being left to look after her mother alone. However there are traits of
her character that I find difficult particularly her unforgiving nature towards her sister
and her mother. I'm not sure she is a particularly likeable character but life has not
been kind to her so one has to make allowances. I am looking forward to making her
character my own.
RENATA TAYLOR…………….……….…ANNA JURY
My last play with TODS was ‘Party Piece’ by Richard Harris when I
played Jennifer Hinson in 1996, it was a real hoot. I think we the cast
might have enjoyed it more than the audience! Before that I played a
witch in ‘We Three’, I rather liked playing a witch as I was, at the time,
expecting a baby which makes it particularly memorable. As I get to
know Renata Taylor I find myself sympathising with her more than
empathising with her. You would be forgiven for thinking that she is a frivolous selfish
woman. But then you realise that she has never been able to let go her past and talk
of the future. Everyone she ever cared for has either died or let her down – except
Edith. Friends are never mentioned and she flirts desperately with men to
compensate for this emptiness she feels. She is a tragic figure. The one area where I
can empathise with her is her wish to connect with her one remaining family member,
Edith her sister. She has reached middle age and has come home for Ma's funeral
facing everything she left behind. It appears that she may have left it too long. She has
failed to nurture the relationship with Edith that she so desperately wants. She has
ignored her sister for too long. And now she wants to make amends but has she left it
too late....... My own sister moved abroad many years ago and I know the sadness of
having distance in between. Luckily I have another sister who is close by. We all have
to keep our wires connected in life, and as you will see in the play, it takes two to
connect.
of appearance
CHARLES MOwBRAY…….......……JOHN ROBERTS
This is my third production for TODS with Iris directing, she is a great
director to work with. Having previously been a police sergeant and a
doctor, I have changed profession again, this time to a solicitor. My
last TODS production was in the musical revue ‘Side by Side by
Sondheim’ which was a real challenge, previous to that I was Herman
in ‘Sweet Charity’, another singing role. Whilst I love TODS, I have performed for
many societies local to Ashford including the now defunct Kent Shakespeare
Company. I am currently in a musical production for the Maidstone Operatic Group
with a principal part in their April production at the Hazlitt Theatre having missed out
on a part in TODS ‘The Pajama Game’. The stage is like a drug to me and I have to
have a regular fix. I have been asked to identify where I and my character are alike or
differ, well, I come from an engineering rather than academic background to begin
with. However, I do hope I can say I am ‘rather dashing’ with ‘soulful eyes’, as seen by
Edith, and have a ‘ravishing bum’ as seen through Renata’s eyes; I believe both of
them. Having taken my tongue out of my cheek, I am not a lonely character as
Charles appears to be but I do worship the ground my soul mate, best friend and wife
Kathleen walks on, as I believe Charles did with Betty, his late wife. I hope you enjoy
this production as much I have in both rehearsing and performing it, with a great and
talented cast and director.
FABIAN HILL………………………..Barry Thomas
My first appearance with TODS was October 2007 when I played the
vicar Geoffrey Morris, opposite Tina Gallagher in Day Of Reckoning.
Since that life changing introduction into the world of Amateur
Dramatics, I have appeared in several TODS productions, the latest
being “Oh What a Lovely War”. I have also appeared in a number of
pantomimes and plays with Woodchurch Players. I am delighted to be working with
Tina again; she is such a talent and has been a huge support. I really like my character
Fabian Hill, his love of beautiful things, contrasts with his loneliness, and self-doubt. I
too appreciate beautiful things, but sadly lack his in-depth knowledge. I quite envy
him. Unlike Fabian I am not lonely, but I empathise with his self-doubt. I can tell you;
before the curtain goes up today I will be a quivering wreck, cursing myself for ever
getting involved. Rehearsals have been good fun, and the props folk have had fun
trying to source valuable antiques......for nothing! I hope you enjoy it.
Production Personnel
Director…………………………………………………………………………….……...Iris Scandrett
Stage Manager………………………………………………………………..………...Sally Klemen
Set Design…………………………………………………….….Iris Scandrett & Peter Huxley
Set Construction…………………………………………...Peter Huxley & TODS members
Set Painting……………………………………………….……………………………Glynis Rollings
Lighting & Sound…………………………………………………………………………John Sewell
Properties……………………………………….………..…Jane Barton & Morag Hutchison
Wardrobe…………………………………….…………………………………………….Steph Clarke
Hair…………………………………………………………………………………………...Steph Clarke
Continuity………………….……………………………………………..…………………..Olive Neal
Front of House…………………………………………….………..Jackie Whiles & members
Priority Ticket Sales…………………………………………….……………………...Julia Jessett
Box Office………………………………………………..………...Three Bears & TicketSource
Poster & Flyer Design…………………………………………………………………….Brian Fagg
Publicity……………………………………………………….…....Brian Fagg & Emma Isworth
Social Media……………………………………………….….…Barry Thomas & John Sewell
Programme……………………………………………………………Brian Fagg & John Sewell
Acknowledgements
The Three Bears, The Stables,
Tenterden Day Centre, Tenterden Town Council,
All members and friends who have helped in any way
All of our advertising sponsors in this programme
Saturday 19th November 2016
Tenterden Town Hall 7p.m. for 7.30 p.m.
Tickets £10 each, which will include a meal of chips with
a choice of Fish, Sausage or Veggie Burger.
There will also be a bar.
Get a team together (up to 6) or
simply come along and join a table.
Please ask Front Of House for booking form or get in
touch via social media – see back page for details.
THE CAST AT REHEARSALS
OUR NEXT PRODUCTION
Wednesday 25th January to Saturday 28th January 2017
Heather Kemeys directs this double Tony Award winning , sparkling,
Broadway/West End smash hit musical.
It is 1950’s America and love is in the air at the Sleep-Tite Pajama factory as
handsome new superintendent Sid Sorokin falls for the fire-brand Union Rep,
Babe Williams. Sparks fly when the workers are refused a pay rise, leaving Sid
and Babe at odds as the temperature rises.
The Pajama Game is a buoyantly blend of romance and comedy featuring
such golden hits as “Hey there - you with the stars in your eyes” ; “Steam
Heat” ; “ This is my ‘Once-a Year Day’” ; “Hernando’s Hideaway” ;
“There once was a man (who loved a woman)”.
Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
Book by Richard Bissell and George Abbott