Brilliant… bloody brilliant

When I first read Sandi Toksvig’s ‘Silver Lining’ I was in no doubt that Saddleworth Players should do it. I laughed through my first reading of it and I laughed two years later through the cast read through. Putting it on stage though was an entirely different matter.  Shakespeare wrote about ‘the two hour’s traffic of our stage’ in a metaphorical sense but part of my job as director has literally been directing traffic – that of two wheelchairs up and down and around the furniture-filled Millgate stage – Plus a sloping corridor ending in steps!

A work of such wit and pathos has to be finely balanced and the tremendous comic one-liners in this play need perfect comic timing. But such a fine cast of players are well up to the challenge. The rehearsals have been joyous collaborative experiences, with one or two of  Toksvig’s lines being so hilarious we have struggled to get past them and continue rehearsing.

The crew have worked hard, building a wheelchair- proof set and creating special effects in lighting and sound. Special praise goes to Liz O’Driscoll who has been a star on props and I just take this moment to remind her to delete her browsing history. You’ll understand when you see the play.

The language is raw at times but so is the situation – very raw. The ‘engineering’ section of the story shows how desperate times require desperate measures and how knowledge gained from a lifetime’s accumulation can be dredged up along with oxbow lakes and the French for horse! 

In the words of Gloria Bernhardt my cast are ‘brilliant – bloody brilliant!’ – come watch them in ‘Silver Lining’ June 10-17.