Touring Theatre visit.

Shap Memorial hall saw a packed house for the presentation of Unruly Women part II.    Everyone was welcomed by Janet Wood, who introduced Quondam Theatre group.

The play written by Fine Time Fontayne and Andy Booth was set during the First World War in Salonika (Greece) where disease was rife and there was fighting all around. 

It revolved around three main players; Felix Findhorn Maude (Colin Kilbride) a Scottish journalist keen to expose the truth about the conditions for men fighting at the front line, much to the annoyance of the British Government; Bella Beech (Elizabeth Eves) a woman soldier fighting with the Serbian army, the daughter of Yorkshire Vicar, she was a determined and strong woman; and Adelaide Cloncurry (Helen Longworth) an Australian nurse, who was keen to see Australia become independent from Britain.  

A fourth character was the rather unsettling and sinister government representative Georgette Milne (Alison George) who offered to help the three who were wanting to escape back to England, but kept making outrageous demands and conditions.

Each character tells their story, in the style of ‘Singspiel’ interspersing the dialogue with songs, all the actors proved themselves to be able musicians on a variety of instruments as well as excellent singers.

 There are plenty of humorous episodes, but it was clear throughout that war is a serious tale.  The play ends with each character telling what the final outcome was, Felix, got back to England, married and raised a family, Bella, after a short time in England returned to Serbia where she married an army officer. Adelaide returned to Australia and was active in the campaigns for an independent Australia.  The three main characters were all based on real people of the time. All the songs were especially written for the play by the Musical Director Richard Stone.

The event formed part of the Highlights Rural Touring Scheme and was hosted by the P.C.C. of St Michael’s Church who provided refreshments and held a raffle.