Farndale’s saviour is its cast, all of whom turn in good comic performances – they get being relentlessly shit just about right. The play-within-a-play concept, though lazy, is done well, and convincingly. Olivia Dowd was impressive as hopelessly earnest director Mrs Reece – her exasperation, nicey-nicey diplomacy and provincial skittishness made it easy to forget that she wasn’t actually responsible for the mess unfolding on stage. Boxford Drama Group presents Chase Me Up Farndale Avenu, S’il Vous Plait at the Boxford Village Hall on 30th, 31st March and 1st April. The director, of this production, has faithfully followed the script and its instructions…and it has paid off. The pace was excellent and interactions were well co-ordinated…there was a chair arranging sequence that seemed to take up a whole act. It was impossible to spot any fumbling that hadn’t been Once again, the Boxford Drama Group Ladies turned to the Farndale Avenue series of plays for their Spring production having previously produced two of the side-splitting Farndales, ‘The Haunted Through Lounge’ and ‘Recessed Dining Nook at Farndale Castle’with ‘Chase Me Up Farndale Avenue, S’il Vous Plait,’ which sees the hapless ladies of the Farndale WI attempt a French farce. Review for THE NOMADS, Nomad Theatre, East Horsley June 2019 The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery

It’s a cliché, but the title of this play says more or less everything about CUDOS’s latest production, it was a farcical and very funny take on Shakespeare’s tragedy. The ladies of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate ride roughshod, bumbling their way through with the forlorn hope of impressing competition judge Mr. Peach, who’s come all the way up from that London! That’s the joke. No nuance or subtlety here. No social consciousness, just women from an estate doing Macbeth really badly! The information on housing, people, culture, employment and education that is displayed about Farndale Avenue, Wolverhampton, WV6 0TE is based on the last census performed in the UK in 2021. The Farndale drama society (BDG) showed just how much an amateur drama group can get wrong in a two act production. An unintelligible plot, a plethora of doors and a grand range of characters made this Farndale offering as bubbly as a glass of champagne. (sic)…

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West Midlands Labour Party accused the police of 'provocative action', particularly with regards to the deployment of the Special Patrol Group, which was used to chase away looters in Wolverhampton. But West Midlands Chief Constable Sir Philip Knight defended his actions, saying that the toll of the looting and rioting would have been much worse had it not been for the strong relationship between the police and community.

This was a very challenging play with a small cast but these formidable ladies did it like no one else! Staging the play in the restricted area of the Studio could have caused a few headaches. But, in fact, the set design was a triumph; and the intimacy of the whole space added greatly to the atmosphere. There were four exits (SL archway, SR passage, SR stairway and a window), plus a false door and a fireplace As always with the Drama Group, the performers couldn’t be faulted for their enthusiasm and energy, with all the usual plot twists and a small cast of five playing what seems like hundreds of roles, confusion ensued. The tone was set from the start, as the lights failed to go down, the music came in at the wrong time and the set was revealed with doors in the wrong places, and the opening scene being interrupted almost immediately! It’s a cliché, but the title of this one tells you more or less everything that you need to know. UCLU Drama’s latest offering, lamentably one of the last at the Garage Theatre, is a farcical and at points very funny production of Shakespeare’s tragedy. The ladies of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate ride roughshod, bumbling their way through with the forlorn hope of impressing competition judge Mr. Peach, who’s come all the way up from that London. Long before The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong in which an amateur dramatic society experiences the horrors of what can go wrong right in front of a live audience, the fictional Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society have been resolutely presenting plays in which the scenery collapses, cues are missed, lines are forgotten and sound effects create illusions the director never imagined.

It was the heavy-handed arrest of 20-year-old Leroy Alphonse Cooper on July 3 that sparked the Toxteth riots. His detention led to a brief disturbance that left three officers injured, but instead of fading away, the trouble escalated over the days that followed. The crowds were eventually dispersed with the use of CS gas – the first time such a tactic had been used in Great Britain. Moyra Brookes was surely born to play Mrs Reece, the Chairman. The “one or two announcements” that went on forever, the rivalry with Thelma, exasperated asides to lighting & stage management, the succession of characters and the final upstaging of Felicity and everyone else. It was a monstrously fine performance.