by ESTHER McCRACKEN

Produced by MYFANWY JAMESON

Performed in October 1966

The group's third production was a comedy about poaching, the law and love, set in rural England.

Esther McCracken was a local playwright and radio personality and her granddaughter is the actress Imogen Stubbs.  This was one of her better known plays from the 1940s.

A review of this production, possibly from the Blyth News, signed only NH, reveals that rehearsals were dogged by illness and that two of the cast had to be substituted at the eleventh hour.  The producer had to step in as Mrs Royd.

The play was obviously considered old fashioned even in 1966–upon its first production twenty years before one of the younger women characters caused a stir by appearing in slacks!  Seaton Delaval must have caught up with the Swinging Sixties by this time.  Women in trousers no longer had the same shock effect, so the character in this production wore a mini skirt to demonstrate her "sophistication" to her hosts.

The reviewer commended the producer for doing "a very good job in bringing the play up to date"!

Unfortunately no programme for this particular production seems to have been kept, so there are no cast or production team lists available.

However, we know that Bill Elliott and Jim Leslie played the parts of Mr Royd and Mr Barasford, and that Valerie Husband, Alf Douglas, Roberta Laidler, Mary Hucklebridge and Kath Hindmarsh were also in the cast.  And despite the problems, the reviewer said that "the acting was nevertheless up to a high standard."

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