Latest Productions
FACE THE MUSIC
To listen to this 16-minute play please click here and leave any comments if you wish.
It’s early 1908. The composer Gustav Holst has just received the results of a prestigious music competition. Will this be the major break-through he’s been looking for? And what will it mean for his wife and new-born baby?
If you enjoy this play you may also enjoy others in the ‘On the verge’ series which deal with various types of change. The others in the series are Big Blue Things by David Elder; Forbidden Music by Lou Beckett; and We Can't Be by Lou Beckett.
Face the Music was produced by Parrot Productions and directed by Marianne Gaston. Gustav Holst was played by Ian Kubiak, and Isobel Holst by Claire Tucker. Sound was by David Holland, with thanks to the Cotswold Listener studios. Music was composed by Jim Barne. The music ‘A sketch for Beni Mora’ was recorded for the Holst Victorian House. The oboist was Caron de Burgh, with John Wright on the piano. Parrot Productions are grateful to the Cheltenham Arts Council for their generous financial support. Further thanks to Laura Kinnear and to Annette Holland.
BIG BLUE THINGS
To listen to this new 14-minute play please click here, and leave any comments if you wish.
In the aftermath of the devastating Gloucestershire floods of 2007 two Cheltenham residents, Pete and Sima, try to cope with the new normal, making daily trips to collect water from those ‘big blue things’ that have suddenly appeared on the town’s streets. However, while carrying on with their new routines, a terrible hate crime suddenly rears its ugly head. Pete thinks it should be easy to tackle head on, or will it?
If you enjoy this play you may also enjoy others in the ‘On the verge’ series which deal with various types of change. The others in the series are Face the Music by David Elder; Forbidden Music by Lou Beckett; and We Can't Be, by Lou Beckett.
In Big Blue Things Sima is played by Rishika Daswani, and Pete by Ian Kubiak. Sound editing was by Cam Shand. The music was composed by Jim Barne.
Parrot Productions are grateful to the Cheltenham Arts Council for their generous financial support.
The image used in the poster is courtesy of Mattia Ascenzo on Unsplash.
THE MAKING OF MISS BROWN
Cirencester 1883: Like so many dutiful Victorian women, 52-year old Miss Brown lives a mundane life, caring for her sick father. There are bills to be paid, sheets to be washed and, fulfilling one of her father’s duties, daily meteorological readings to be taken. As a devout Quaker she follows ‘the light within’, but, with her passion for astronomy, longs to see the invisible and explore the hidden depths of the universe. While some wing-clipped geese on her neighbour’s farm seem like an accurate metaphor of her life so far, the dark clouds that constantly hug the Cotswold horizon look like a vision perfectly predicting her remaining days. Suddenly, Elizabeth’s life changes, and she needs to decide whether to seek a life of comfortable mediocrity or chase her dream. In The Making of Miss Brown, by Gloucestershire writer David Elder, and directed by Rhona Smith, Marianne Gaston (with voice-overs by Anthony Young) brings to life the untold story of Elizabeth Brown (1830-99), Cirencester’s forgotten astronomer, in this new one-person play.