Tension behind the comedy in Derby group's latest play

There is tension as well as laughter in the latest production from Derby theatre group the Marlowe Players as they present John Chapman’s comedy Kindly Leave The Stage at Darley Abbey Village Hall this week. The play runs from Tuesday, November 19, to Saturday, November 23, with performances at 7.30pm and tickets are still available.

Director Chris Davies sets the scene for the play: “There’s a group of professional actors who are touring a production,” he says. “The cast includes well-known Shakespearean actors who are appearing in a frothy comedy. One of the actors has never played Shakespeare and the general view is that he’s not good enough to be in one of the Bard’s plays. There’s tension between cast members who are involved in real-life relationships and an underlying tension between the actors themselves.”

Kindly Leave The Stage starts with the marriage of Rupert and Sarah being on the rocks. Their friends Charles and Madge, both lawyers, agree to handle the divorce. After the curtain has been up a few minutes, Rupert forgets his lines, has a brainstorm and threatens to kill Charles in full view of the audience because he’s been having an affair offstage with Rupert’s real wife Madge.

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“The biggest challenge has been trying to get over when the play has gone wrong so that the audience knows what’s going on,” says Chris. “There are a couple of attempts to get the play back under way and I need the audience to know when we’re doing that. There are strong parts for men and women. We’ve got a good mix of members who’ve been in previous Marlowes productions, some who’ve been in just a few and one debutante. The cast have effectively had to learn two parts, so it’s interesting how they’ve gone about showing when they’re one character or the other.”

Rupert will be played by Gary Peake, in his fourth Marlowes play and in the biggest part he has taken with the group: “I feel really privileged that they’ve trusted me with it because I love being part of this group,” says Gary. “I’ve always had really awesome supporting roles and they’ve been really rewarding but it’s the first time they’ve trusted me with something this big. You feel you’re carrying responsibility but not in a negative way because you’re just surrounded by support here. Everybody in the team is brilliant – not just the actors but the director and the backstage crew too. Everything here is so well organised.”

Marlowes veteran Martin Illston, who first joined the group in 1977, plays Edward, an elderly actor whose name on a theatre poster is guaranteed to attract audiences: “He has a bit of a weakness, which is drink,” says Martin. “He can hold his drink but it’s clear he’s under the influence. He also loses his way because he relates lines that are fed to him to a speech in Shakespeare’s King Lear. So he suddenly becomes King Lear and spouts forth to everybody. They have to try to get him back on the right track. I like the part and I think the play’s very good. It’s got an interesting twist and I hope the audience will understand that we start off as a play and then it moves out of the play into real life.”

Martin met his wife Suzi at the Marlowes and she is playing one of the lawyers, Madge, in Kindly Leave The Stage. He adds: “As a group we’ve tended to do more comedies recently and it’s nice to have a change. We just try to extend ourselves and give our audience something different to look at.”

Tickets are available at www.ticketsource.co.uk/marlowe-players or by calling 0333 666 4466.