Exploring Expectations

Directed by Helen Browne

GEORGE – Tony Cocker

BRENDA – Doretta Maynard

Design concepts by Gordon Emerson, Monica Farry and Carman Wood-Hope

Writer’s note:

“Throughout Great Expectations Pip finds himself in many different relationships, some great, some not so great and some downright harmful. How he navigates these relationships ultimately leads him to finding his true self. I wanted to explore the theme of relationships in a modern setting to see if any parallels could be drawn.”

Triggers: this play explores a relationship that includes power/control and within that bullying.

Directed by Gill Bassam

STEVE – Stephen Brown

JACKIE – Lorraine Reynolds

Design concepts by Malcolm Allum and Val Collier

Writer’s note:

“To me, Great Expectations is about honour and doing the right thing, this was my starting point and it led me to question those things in the writing of my scene.”

Triggers: Themes of bereavement

Directed by Ann Cole

STELLA – Christine Ovens

PHILIP – Graham Gillis

Design concepts by Valerie (Phil) Phillips, Patricia Russell and Xincai Tai

Writer’s note:

“I imagined Stella and Pip getting married and having a long life together. It’s not all been ‘happy ever after’. If you love, prepare to grieve. It’s the price we pay. The loss of a child. Memories lost to a cruel disease. Love and devotion pushed to their limits.”

Triggers: this play includes someone living with dementia and the challenges this puts on a relationship.

Directed by Estelle Longmore

EDITH – Ruth Holmes

MARY – Linda Martin

GRACE – Debbie Sumner

Design concepts by Lorraine Reynolds and Carman Wood-Hope

Writer’s note:

“Tanika Gupta’s play re-awoke my interest in Colonialism, and in particular how it affected Anglo- Indian women. I wanted to turn the story on its head, and have my youngest character wanting to search for her true identity and culture, and to become proud of who she is.”

Triggers: Themes of ill-health, racism, death and bereavement.

Directed by Steve Bassam

MARALYN – Enid Saunders

RONNIE – David Weston

Design concepts by Val Collier, Gordon Emerson and Valerie (Phil) Phillips

Writer’s note:

“Ronnie and Maralyn are based on Pip and Estella’s early years when Maralyn’s character, like Estella with Pip, is always bossing Ronnie around, putting him down for the least little things, making him feel inadequate. When Ronnie’s early retirement came Maralyn who is ten years younger, was still looking for more in her life. When Clive Ricketts, The Cowboy Builder came on to the scene, this was her opportunity. Just like Estella with Bentley Drummle, Maralyn had gone and picked the wrong horse.”

Directed by Sandy Parkinson

EVE – Helen Varey

ADAM – Joseph Figuera

BIG G – TJ Hilton

Design concepts by Malcolm Allum, Patricia Oley and Patricia Russell

Writer’s note:

“Deity Central is an exploration of ‘Thwarted Ambitions’. It is, very deliberately, a loose play form. I wanted to just press emotional buttons, in order to provoke discussion. I wanted to present the male side of loss, of grieving. Cruelly, my most precious ambition, my son can expect…”

Triggers: abortion, death of a child and bereavement

Directed by Brian Holmes

JOHN – John Priestly

JEAN – Milly Doregos

JAMES – Bill Connor

Design concepts by Patricia Oley, Lorraine Reynolds and Ann Sarge

Writer’s note:

“After re-reading Great Expectations I immediately began to write. I didn’t plan a theme but what emerged is what interests me: Rags to Riches and back again, romantic delusions lingering into later life, and the constancy of some early friendships despite social and financial differences.”

Directed by Paul Green

THERESA – Sue Gorvett

BETH – Tracy Pimlott

BRIAN – Graham Gillis

Design concepts by Monica Farry, Ann Sarge and Xincai Tan

Writer’s note:

“Great Expectations depicts starkly the realities of one’s ‘accident of birth’ – servitude or privilege and the resulting false values. My play attempts to show how, although society is more affluent, the life courses of many are blighted by the power and control of religious indoctrination.”