• Graham
• Anna (his wife)
• Leonard (her brother)
• Joan
• Peter (her fiance)

• Director
• Stage Manager
• Assistant Stage Managers
• Lighting Design
• Sound Design
• Lighting & Sound
• Continuity
• S
• Set design
• wardrobe
• programme/Poster design

• Ian Clegg
• Trish Richings
• Rob McLaren
• Lindsey Holledge
• James Meikle

• Adrian Bowd
• Mary Young
• Ray & Debbie Cox
• Gary English
• Alan Lade
• Ian Baldwin
• Penny Cockell & Kay Wetherilt
• Adrian Bowd
• the cast
• Adrian Bowd with Alan Lade

SEAFORD SCENE Review by Andrea Hargreaves

Apparently Alan Ayckbourn, surely one of our national treasures, wrote Time And Time Again in just six days in June 1971 directing it on the Scarborough stage the following rnonth. Well, Sir Alan, having read a few of the fairly glowing reviews of the time, l can only think that there was something of The Emperor’s New Clothes about these critiques. The reviewers did, however observe that this farce marked a turning point from the more conventional take on the genre to something much more thoughtful and ironic, and shortly afterwards Ayckbourn went on to write and direct the brilliant Absurd Person Singular followed by The Norman Conquests. Like these, Time And Time Again is a satirical study of bad behaviour hut due to the lapsed standard of this great playwright’s hasty script, the lines are awkward to speak and problematic to direct. So all credit to Seaford Little Theatre for rising to these challenges and presenting an amusing evening.

Making his debut for the company, Adrian Bowd pulled this rather odd play together and made the most out of the clever set that he designed comprising conservatory, garden, pond and playing-field border fence — which unfortunately I had to guess at as I was sitting out of its sight and missed some entrances and exits.

The story concerns an out-of-work much divorced school teacher who spends his time talking philosophically to a garden gnome while stealing someone else’s fiancée, who in turn is lusted after by his sister’s husband —, look, it’s farce, you get the picture... Rob McLaren, in his second outing for Seaford, turns in a splendid performance as the apparently pathetic but inwardly scheming teacher Leonard, showing good comic timing and agility — his overlarge trousers were a masterstroke.

As chauvinistic pig Graham, Ian Clegg stole the show, ranging from dictatorial grouch to disgusting letch in the split seconds dictated by the sharp direction. His wife, the down-trodden Anna, was played with spirit by Trish Richings, a mistress of the meaningful gesture and tonal variety. As Joan, Lindsey Holledge had to transform from a somewhat prim young woman to one who was prepared to two-time her man, and this she accomplished well. Her cuckolded fiancée, Peter was played by James Meikle who effectively conveyed the difficulty of being employed by the lusty Graham and being too dense to see what Leonard was up to.

The first act of this production was particularly funny, and would have been even more so if the players had reacted to the audience’s guffaws and allowed a pause before going into the next lines which could not always be heard owing to the laughter; Of course, Leonard’s shabby behaviour is uncovered at the end but the denouement comes as an anticlimax, leaving the play - no fault of the performers or their direction - to fizzle out.

I look forward to the thriller Portrait of a Murder opening on 25th July.