The Rose and Crown
Edinburgh 2016
Charles Finnie (as Harry Tully), Beverley Wright (Katherine Peck), Oliver Cookson (Edward Stone), Hilary Davies (Bertha Reed),
Chris Bain (Percy Randle), Hannah Bradley Croall (Ivy Randle), Oliver Cookson (Edward Stone)
not pictured: Oliver Trotter (as The Stranger), Gregor Haddow (as the unseen barman)
photo: Arbery Theatre
“I’m here on business, you know, and I’m afraid I have to get on with it. “
An East End pub a year after the end of the Second World War. A handful of grumbling drinkers and a Stranger on an unusual mission.
This one-act play by J B Priestley, written for television in August 1946, is typical of the playwright’s interest in playing with reality to look into his characters’ lives. Martin Foreman directed this revival, first in February 2016 (with Alan Patterson as Percy Randle) as EGTG’s entry in that year’s Scottish Community Drama Association’s One-Act Festival, where it won the Bob Buchanan Award. The same production was presented by Arbery Theatre in August 2016 at the Edinburgh Fringe; the reviews below are from that run.
“four stars: fine resurrection of a gem”
Edinburghguide.com
“four stars: well acted and craftily staged”
British Theatre Guide