Written by Paul Surridge
Directed by Paul Surridge

'Out of adversity, comes opportunity' - certainly this line from the production of Pure Nectar from the Medstead Players, rang true.

Due to the recent fire at Medstead Village Hall, the Players had been forced to find another venue for their spring production. The Village Hall Management Committee at Four Marks came to the rescue and offered their facilities for rehearsals and for the production.

Suddenly found out of their comfort zone with an unknown stage, lighting, sound and backstage facilities, no props, costumes or equipment, the Medstead Players rose to the challenge and performed a splendid production of this new comedy by local author Paul Surridge who also directed the play.

The premise of the play was very topical. Work mates at a local engineering factory (are there any still around?) are made redundant, including the lovely Jane from the office, and the men meet in the local pub to bemoan their futures. The plot follows the intrepid work mates over three years with a few 'ups' and quite a few 'downs'.

The main thread holding them together was the local pub. The play was very entertaining with some witty and classic lines much appreciated by the audience.

Whilst a little long with many changes of scene, which was a bit confusing, the play held the audience attention, all keen to find out whether the two main characters 'did' or 'didn't'.

The whole play was held together by Dan Cox, who, as Pete had an enormous amount of lines to learn, being seldom off the stage. This caused a few problems for him remembering his lines towards the end, but his superb acting ability ensured this did not detract from his exceptional performance. It was a real treat to see more of Dan in a leading role. He was ably supported by Dan Ryan, as Roger his idle but eminently charming best friend. It is always good to see new talent put to good use. The banter between the two was parried by Geoff Rushton as the laid back Noel. It was great to see Geoff back on the stage playing the soppy Noel, whose 'happy with life' attitude was severely challenged when he won 'millions' on the lottery.

Jenny Overy played Pat, a very competent performance as the one time, but eventually divorced wife, of Pete. We all felt so sorry for her as she realised her love for him was unrequited and she returned home to her lonely life and her dog. Not so for Anita Prior, as Noel's wife Brenda. His win on the lottery changed her from a meek and mild, motherly person, into an out an out snob, pushing her husband to the limit of his endurance, with Golf Club events and drinking champagne ('pure nectar') when he would prefer a pie and a pint at his local.

Nicki Tindale gave a solid as ever performance as Helen, the ever suffering and totally accepting wife of the philanderings of her husband, the aforementioned Roger.

Dominic Clifford showed his talents off to perfection as he took on two parts, the geeky and 'not of this planet' Ray, and the macho and non too happy Mark, boyfriend of the lovely Jane, ably played by Neely Wren. Neely showed her not inconsiderable talents in more ways than one, not only a very good acting performance but also by removing (bravely) most of her garments. This was for a photo shoot by the cunning opportunist Pete who had conned her into posing for his rather small and non too professional camera. No wonder her boyfriend was angry! Well she made it to Page Three and her career took off, Pete decided to marry her and we surmise it was mainly for an easy streets ticket.

It would have been nice to see them all back in the pub again at the end, where they started from. No doubt they will all be there in spirit, playing darts and drinking pints, with Roger swapping full glasses for his empty ones - naughty boy!

Well done to all the production team and backstage staff who built a convincing set, provided slick scene changes, set up and operated the lighting and sound system, managed the costumes and props and all worked so hard to pull this off under strange and difficult circumstances. Well done all.

[Nita Simpson]

Medstead's latest offering was performed in Four Marks Village Hall, and after all their problems with the loss of their hall, proved to be a success, with all the backstage crew redoubling their efforts to cope with the difficulty of using another hall. They are most grateful to Four Marks for their help and assistance.

The play was brand new, and directed by the author, Paul Surridge. It was pretty well a new kind of venture, at least for several years - that strong cockney-type accent overwhelmed me to start with, plus the men's down to earth language. The swearing was a bit much, then I realized that four men sitting together night after night in a pub, drinking heavily, making fun of each other, constantly trying to out-joke one another (is there such a word) and certainly making coarse jokes, it's obviously what happens - I wouldn't know!

The men were excellent, each with his own special character, especially the principal Dan Cox. Neely Wren, glamorous to the extreme, was fabulously in-articulate, with atrocious facial expressions, and the most perfect figure, ideal for her part. The plot I thought went on too long without action, however the delightful 'happy ending' was great, unexpected even. All in all, a fascinating evening. Well done once again Medstead Players.

Men: Dan Cox, Geoff Rushton, Dan Ryan, Dominic Clifford (did you ever find what you were looking for on the ceiling Dominic?}
Girls: Neely Wren, Long suffering wives: Jenny Overy - sweet, Nicki Tindale - angry, Anita Prior - in charge.

Directed: Paul Surridge Producer: Allan Coombs, Stage Manager: Marion Rogers.

[Jean Gebbett]

Work mates at a local engineering factory (Pete, Roger, Noel and Ray) are made redundant, so too the lovely Jane. They meet at the local pub to bemoan their futures. As the play unfolds, Pete persuades Jane that she could be a Page 3 model and offers to takes pictures of her. His ploy to see Jane naked almost pay off but Jane's boyfriend Mark returns home early to discover Jane in a state of undress.

Months later, Jane's picture appears on Page 3 and Pete insists to Roger that he took the picture. Grateful for Pete's encouragement, she offers Pete the opportunity to manage her and as a consequence his wife Pat leaves him.

Pete manages Jane, and they also start a kiss-o-gram agency, but Pete gambles their profits away returning sometime later to meet up with his former mates for a re-union. Believing Pete to be a millionaire running a top model agency, he confesses to the seedier side of life in the business. Noel wins the lottery and weeks later Pete tries to con him out of his cash to pay his debts but his plan back fires when Jane turns up. Unbeknown to everyone, Pete has married Jane and has a son Jason which comes as a shock to his former wife and friends. It all ends up with Pete eating humble pie, however, a large win on an accumulator allows him to repay Noel and pay off the rest of his debts.

Cast:
Peter - Dan Cox
Noel - Geoff Rushton
Roger - Dan Ryan
Jane - Neely Wren
Ray - Dominic Clifford
Brenda - Anita Prior
Helen - Nicki Tindale
Pat - Jenny Overy
Mark - Dominic Clifford