Bedroom Farce

Maggie Tagney in Bedroom Farce at Keswick Theatre

ANYONE who needs cheering up during these days of economic gloom should pop into Keswick Theatre.
Bedroom Farce is just one of the plays running at the theatre by the lake during their summer season and it’s guaranteed to make you forget about stocks, shares, the inflation index or quantative easing!
Instead you’ll be lost in a world where the Bedroom Index, Angst Count and Giggle-ometer are all you need to worry about.
Alan Ayckbourn’s farce is in the safe hands of Stefan Escreet and a talented cast. It’s a bit more considered than many English farces – this is a humorous but sometimes astute look at that most ghastly, hideous and comic world: Relationships.
Sex, of course, rears it’s ugly head but only to generate yet more laughs. For Delia (Maggie Tagney) and Ernest (Stephen Aintree), sex is only a happy memory – supplanted instead by a midnight treat of sardines on toast or hot cocoa. But while this older couple provide a calmer and dispassionate view of the chaos on stage, it’s their son Trevor (Chris Hannon) who is the centre of the storm.
He has destroyed the relationship with his psychosis-laden wife Susannah (Louise Yates) and now seems determined to destroy all those around him.
First in his sights are Malcolm (George Banks) and Kate (Jessica Ellis) who are holding a house-warming party. The lovey-dovey couple are soon reduced to screaming demons with only broken furniture left in their wake.
Trevor, of course, is blissfully unaware of the harm he’s doing and moves swiftly on to Jan (Zoe Mills) and Nick (Adrian Metcalfe). Nick manages to get some of the best laughs of the evening despite playing the role of someone stuck in bed all night with a bad back.
The performance got off to a slow start but by the second half the laughs were coming thick and fast. The play was written in 1975 and is set in the 70s – complete with garish wallpaper and haircuts. To be fair the humour seemed dated at times and I was left feeling some of the scenes needed as much a makeover as most of the bedrooms. 
But this certainly had plenty of good moments and an overall feel-good factor that will make for a super summer evening out.
Bedroom Farce is at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick until November 7. Box office: 017687 74411. Website: www.theatrebythelake.co.uk.

Newtown Boggle

BOGGLE is the Cumbrian dialect term for a ghost - well, anything odd or unexplained. And the Newtown Boggle is one of the more famous supernatural visitors that is said to wander the streets of Whitehaven. Over the centuries the boggle has changed shape and form - probably due to two ghost stories being confused. In one form the boggle is a huge black dog that stands and howls outside a house the night before a death (or on the harbour when a ship has been lost at sea). In its other form, the boggle is described as an extremely tall lady with no head.

My partner, Lesley, has now stumbled across what is perhaps the oldest reference to the boggle - a report in The Cumberland Pacquet of October 1, 1793:

WHITEHAVEN: Whether on "the sensible and true avouch of their own eyes," we know not, but it is reported, that a very ancient and awful personage, commonly known by the title of The New-Town Boggle, has lately 'revisited the glimpses of the moon, making night hideous.' -- Nothing so much checks the general admission of the report, as the shape in which this well-known phantom now appears: - it is that of a huge swine: and some sceptics are of opinion, that so extraordinary a visitant should assume a form less common to our streets.

I am happy to be corrected, but what I think The Pacquet is saying towards the end is that the sceptics are suspicious that the creature should appear in such a common form as that of a pig - common, because at that time most households would have kept a pig in the backyard. 

If the boggle was a portent of disaster then its appearance in October 1793 was very timely. A couple of weeks later The Pacquet would report on the execution of Marie Antoinette.

The 'making night hideous' quote is from Hamlet.

Jo Caulfield on tour

COMEDIAN Jo Caulfield has just finished touring Cumbria with a show subtitled: "The Tour of Towns I've Heard Of But Never Been To". But even she had to admit she'd never really heard places like Egremont or Torpenhow.


And pronouncing places like Torpenhow had also proved a challenge to her. But hats off to Jo for daring to step outside the M25 and taking on an exhausting tour of those remote parts of Britain normally neglected by the showbiz set. To be fair, she's recently left London and moved to Scotland so she's probably used to rural Britain by now.


Gigs at Barrow, Millom, Thursby and the like gave Jo the chance to poke some gentle fun at the various Cumbrian towns - and even some of its residents. She's known for her acerbic wit and doesn't pull her punches but she appeared to warm to the good folk of Cumbria. At Egremont's Florence Mine (recently converted to an arts centre) she applauded the hard work which had gone into creating a new arts venue (particularly the colourful ladies loo seats!). "Even if you didn't like the show" she told the 40-strong audience "do support Florence mine in the future".


She struck a chord immediately with the audience by ranting about the stresses of modern life and those secret pet hates we all harbour: self-service checkouts at Tesco, young couples freshly in love - and other people's kids! Such topics are de rigueur with comedians today of course but Jo managed to make them  fresh and biting enough to produce plenty of laughter.


And for the second half she invited the audience to lower their stress levels by revealing what made them angry ("Everything" said one woman "I'm menopausal"!). It was a terrific evening's entertainment by a true professional and she'll no doubt be welcome if she ever wants to return to Cumbrian towns and villages - even those she can't pronounce.

Britain's nicest library?

The lending library inside Boot mill

 IS this the nicest lending library in Britain? It most certainly is!* It is located in a restored mill in the village of Boot in the valley of Eskdale on the western edge of the Lake District. And, if you'll forgive the pun, it's a library that certainly isn't run of the mill.


The best way to get to it is to drive to Ravenglass, then catch the 'Ratty' steam train to Dalegarth. Stop for their famous Cumberland sausage, egg and chips - then walk the quarter of a mile to Boot. At the end of Boot, you'll find the mill - probably with Dave King the miller sitting outside and Stanley the cat 'on guard' by the mill entrance. Inside you can enjoy a tour of the old mill and buy any number of items from ice creams to antiques dug up locally. And don't worry if Dave's not around - you'll find an honesty pot on the counter (it would be inconceivable that any money would be taken from the pot). The library has a hundred or so books and are borrowed by the 200 villagers or the tourists staying at the campsite down the road. 

Boot Mill, Eskdale

Originally, the mill was owned by the county council and was an 'official' library. But when the council sold the mill to a Trust, the new miller - Dave King - decided to keep the library going. He collects the out-of-date or remaindered library books from Whitehaven library and puts them in his mill. You can borrow them for as long as you like. I'd recommend sitting in the mill garden or by the river to read a good book on a summer's afternoon. To be honest, it's never very clear where the mill building ends and the surrounding mill garden starts. The two wonderfully merge into each other. If only every building was like that. I've been in the mill photographing before and seen a variety of wildlife wander in and out. 

Dave King in his 'office' at Boot mill

Libraries keep trying to reinvent themselves and coming up with digital this and digital that. If they only followed the example of Boot library, I'm sure they'd have no shortage of families visiting and hanging around for hours on end.


* Unless of course you know differently. If you know of a 'curious' library that's different from the crowd then please let me know.

History Boys proves top class

The History Boys at Keswick Theatre (March  24 to April 21 2012)
Review by Alan Cleaver

Peter Rylands as Hector

IT must be frustrating for all concerned when Keswick Theatre schedule a play for a four-week run - but on the first night realise it's such an obvious smash hit that they should have left it running all summer!


So grab a ticket quick. History Boys is only at Keswick until April 21 and if you don't book quickly you'll miss out on a real treat.


The Alan Bennett play is directed by Ian Forrest and stars Peter Rylands as Hector the inspirational teacher  clashing with the grammar school's headmaster, a new teacher and changing times. Peter falls easily into the role, having played Alan Bennett in Keswick's production of Lady in the Van. At times he slips into 'Alan Bennett' mode but that's no bad thing. Bennett's dry humour is brought to life by Rylands and the rest of the cast as Hector's view on the world and his teaching methods is contrasted with a modern desire of headmaster (Robert Pickavance) to get the History Boys of the title into Oxford or Cambridge. Helping them is another Keswick favourite, Kieran Buckeridge, playing new graduate teacher, Irwin.


The boys - an elite class of eight students - pull off a show-stopping performance all of their own. A variety of antics, songs and dances are used to great effect adding to the warmth and charm of this production. And while all perform superbly, Meilir Rhys Williams has to be singled out for his delightful solo performances. It would aslo be remiss not to mention Mitchell Hunt for his electrifying portrayal of cock-sure Dakin. Oh dear, now I feel I should name them all as all the performances are top notch - so here's the rest: Jack Brown, Andy Daniel, Phil Duguid-McQuillan, Greg Herst, Freddie Rogers and Phil Adele.


It is the boys that the audience are cheering on, but it's Hector who is the jewel in this show. Rylands is following in the footsteps of Richard Griffiths' award-winning portrayal in the play and later film of The History Boys but Rylands makes this his own. Inspirational teachers have become something of a cliche in the world of the arts and yet Rylands wows us all once more with a warm and sincere performance. It is, of course, a vehicle for Alan Bennett to show off his literary knowledge and his humour but director Ian Forrest ensures this is a visual feast as well as a mental one. 


The show's only woman - Mrs Lintott played by Maria Gough - is a breath of fresh air and Robert Pickavance as the headmaster is the loveable villain of the piece.


This is a terrific night's entertainment but you'll need to be quick to get a ticket.


Box Office is 017687 74411. Be aware there is strong language in this play.

Knives In Hens

Knives In Hens
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, 
February 3 to February 18.

HelenMacfarlane in Knives In Hens

THEATRE serves several purposes. Primarly we hope it entertains. But if it makes us think as well that's no bad thing. Keswick Theatre tends to put its more challenging theatre in the smaller-sized auditorium of The Studio. Which, sadly, probably tells us all we need to know about ourselves and our current TV diet of easily digestible drama. 


It's also a pity because we miss out on remarkable and thought-provoking plays such as Knives In Hens. Contemporary Scottish playwright David Harrower. He wrote it in 1995 from a sense of rage at the irrelevant work he saw being put on the stage at that time - and anger at having been told "what makes a good play"! Knives In Hens certainly tears up all the rule books - and there's more than a dash of anger as the three characters interact on a minimal but atmospheric stage.


The setting is simply described as 'rural' and at first you think it might be medieval Britain or perhaps some middle European country. But it could equally be set in the future or on another world. It doesn't matter. What Harrower does - and director Jez Pike expands on this brilliantly - is put the  trio  in a setting which makes you think more carefully about how they are behaving and what they have to say.


Their language is staccato but accessible and the simple love-triangle plot allows Harrower to concentrate on more important things. Actors Helen MacFarlance, Adam O'Brian and Liam Smith give a faultless performance squeezing every last nuance from the sizzling script. They're helped by the imaginative set designed by Thomasin Marshall. This is a play which makes you say a small prayer of thanks for the gift of theatre. 


The idea that without drama like this we might have to stay at home and watch Big Brother, Dancing on Ice or Loose Women all the time is just too horrible to contemplate. 


Knives in Hens runs at Keswick Theatre until February 18. Box Office: 017687 74411. www.theatrebythelake.co.uk

The hare-fairy of Carlisle

I promised the fairy enthusiasts on the Fairy Folklore of the UK and Cumbrian Folklore Facebook groups that I would report back on the reference I had found to a hare-fairy being caught in Carlisle. The huge tome of The Saturday Review (Vol 94) for 1902 has now arrived from America and here is the full extract (the whole article on Lakeland fairies and boggles runs to about a thousand words.


The hare-fairy reference comes at the end when the unnamed author is talking about a Mr Cowper and a Mrs Hodgson who have collected fairy stories. I've come across these before - both local historians at about the turn of the 20th century. Mrs Hodgson contributed an article on "Surviving Fairies" to the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society in 1901. Sadly I know nothing more about her (let me know if you do!) but I'll investigate further and see if her papers are kept in the Cumbria Archives. 


The author mentions the witch that turned into a hare at Outgate near Ambleside (a famous legend) and then goes on to say...


...but Mrs Hodgson has caught a real live hare-fairy still haunting the neighbourhood of Carlisle. "There was a fairy that looked like a hare. It was  a real fairy, but a man caught it for a hare, and put it in a bag and thought he would have a nice Sunday dinner. While it was in the bag it saw its father outside, and he called to it, 'Pork, pork'! (query, Puck, the Icelandic puki?) and it cried out 'Let me go to Daddy'! Then the man was angry and said 'Thoo ga to thy Daddy'! and it went away to its Daddy; and he was very much disappointed at not getting his Sunday dinner.


I assume when the writer says Mrs Hodgson has 'caught' a real live hare-fairy, he is meaning that she has tracked down a still current hare-fairy legend. 


The rest of the article refers to other well-known Lake District legends (the phantom army on Souther Fell - though the author says there is also one on Helvellyn, need-fires and the Armboth boggle legend. The Saturday Review was evidently a weekly 'magazine' looking in-depth at a variety of subjects.


This is another delightful fairy legend - I keep a map locating other fairy legends in Cumbria so take a look at let me know of any I have missed!