Little Women

Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott – Adapted by Emma Reeves
13th to 15th October 2016 | Lincoln Drill Hall

Long-standing Common Ground member Martin Noble made his directorial debut with this ambitious and well received production of Little Women.

Emma Reeves’ adaptation actually included two books – Little Women and Good Wives – and was a faithful re-telling of the well known story of sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy as they grow up without their father in the United States during the civil war.

The production required a good sprinkling of young people, which were able to find thanks in part to help from Lincoln’s two universities, and an array of 19th-century costumes which our wardrobe ladies Su and Carolyn managed to put together on a shoestring as usual!

We sold almost 400 tickets over three performances of the play, which also featured singing and live music. Performed on a simple set, and telling the story through flashbacks from the point of view of Jo, Little Women was one of our most successful productions; it was extremely well received by the audience and we even managed to make a small profit!

The production was dedicated to our founder member and committee member Gaynor Little, who passed away in September.

Reviews:

“I saw Little Women at Lincoln Drill Hall last night. A truly excellent production. I’m normally very critical of amateur theatre (even though I’m involved myself) but this was outstanding. The talent on stage, particularly the younger, less experienced members of the cast, was a match for many professional productions. The dedication and passion from the actors was very obvious. It was the best I’ve seen from Common Ground Theatre Company (I caveat that by saying I have only seen six or seven of their productions) and most probably the best amateur production I’ve ever watched.” – Simon Harvey, via Facebook.

“Don’t miss it! A thoroughly enjoyable night out on many different levels. It was great to see a young, lively, talented cast (even the older ones looked young and lively). Music, costumes, lights – well done Martin Noble with your directing debut.” – Dot Howes, via Facebook.

Fantastic performance of Little Women last night, thoroughly enjoyed! Well done everyone!” – Shona MacLean, via Facebook.

 

Meg Jessica Hocking
Jo Ellie Pickering
Beth Tabitha Davenhill
Amy Laura Potente
Mrs March Vicky Ashberry
Aunt March Irene North
Aunt Carol Peggy Reading
Sallie Gardiner Lucie Evans
Belle Moffat Emily Ashberry
Laurie Jay Petherick
John Brooke Steve Gillard
Professor Bhaer Jez Ashberry
Ned Moffat Elliot Sargent
Fred Vaughan Joshua Pearson
Director Martin Noble
Assistant Director Su Toogood
Stage Manager Shelagh Gillingham
Lighting Joe Price
Sound David Brown
Stage crew Kev Gillingham
Wardrobe Carolyn Jones, Su Toogood
Properties Carolyn Jones, Su Toogood
Programme Jez Ashberry
Publicity Jez Ashberry
Photography Bill Bartlett, Catherine Clough
Music Hannah Borrill
Arrangements Robert Steadman
Singing Su Toogood, Emily Ashberry
Front of House Nick Dunnett, Dot Howes, Eileen Finningley, Ros Rowe,Naomi Watkins & Julia Ross

Dancing at Lughnasa

Dancing at Lughnasa

By Brian Friel
23rd to 25th September 2015 | Lincoln Drill Hall

Our autumn 2015 production in the main auditorium at Lincoln Drill Hall was Dancing at Lughnasa by the celebrated Irish playwright Brian Friel.

Directed by Gaynor Little, the play tells the story of an impoverished family of sisters living in rural Ireland in the 1930s and the effect on them of the return of their older brother Jack, who has been working in Africa as a missionary priest.

A fabulous ensemble cast really brought this play to life, aided by an ingenious set (which cost £30!) and some suitable down-at-heel costumes and props.

As usual with Common Ground we welcomed several newcomers, but to the untrained eye it seemed that the cast had been working together for years! Dot Howes, Pam Marnie, David Thew, Dene Woodman and Louise Ross all appeared for us for the first time, joining Common Ground stalwarts Su Toogood and John Leighton and relative newcomer Fraya Grove.

Sad to relate that just a week after our performance Brian Friel passed away, but we felt we did justice to one of his best loved plays despite the small audiences over three nights at Lincoln Drill Hall.

Kate Su Toogood
Rose Louise Ross
Maggie Pam Marnie
Agnes Dot Howes
Chris Fraya Grove
Michael David Thew
Gerry Dene Woodman
Jack John Leighton
Director Gaynor Little
Producer Vicky Ashberry
Stage Manager Nick Dunnett
Lighting Lincoln Drill Hall
Sound David Brown
Set construction Nick Dunnett
Stage crew Kevin & Sheila Gillingham, Julia Thew
Wardrobe Carolyn Jones, Su Toogood
Properties Bill Bartlett, Su Toogood, Carolyn Jones
Programme & publicity Jez Ashberry
Photography Bill Bartlett, Deb Lord
Choreography Collette Saw
Front of House Naomi Watkins, Juli Charlton

The Fisherman’s Wife

The Fisherman’s Wife

A sex farce, with sea creatures – By Steve Yockey
30th April to 2nd May 2015 | The Room Upstairs, Lincoln Drill Hall

We have staged all kinds of plays in our 14-year history, from Shakespeare and Dickens to coarse acting and contemporary drama. But it’s fair to say that we’ve never performed anything quite like The Fisherman’s Wife, which was our offering in spring 2015.

Never before performed in the UK, this is a new play by American author Steve Yockey which takes as its inspiration The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, a 19th-century Japanese woodcut which depicts a raunchy encounter between a female pearl diver and two tentacled sea creatures.

From that starting point Yockey wrote a crazy, surreal sex farce featuring an unhappily married couple, a sexually opportunistic travelling salesman and a pair of magical sea creatures who assume human form when on dry land.

Our hilarious show in The Room Upstairs at Lincoln Drill Hall featured live music, vivid underpants, drug misuse, a puppet show, sex, violence, a singalong and much more besides.

Once again we had several new faces in our cast – Matt Noakes and Suzannah Turner as the sea creatures Octopus and Squid and Fraya Grove as the eponymous Vanessa Minnow – while old stagers Philip Little and Jez Ashberry played the fisherman Cooper Minnow and Thomas Bell, the travelling salesman, respectively.

The play was a virtual sell-out and certainly enhanced our reputation as a theatre group which is prepared to push the boundaries wherever possible!

Review: “We went to see The Fisherman’s Wife on Saturday night, had a thoroughly fun evening with lots of laughs – well done!” – Jill Cook via Facebook. 

Vanessa Minnow Fraya Grove
Cooper Minnow Philip Little
Thomas Bell Jez Ashberry
Squid Suzannah Turner
Octopus Matt Noakes
Director Vicky Ashberry
Technical Support David Brown
Stage Manager Nick Dunnett
Lighting Joe Price
ASM Helen Hill
Set construction Nick Dunnett
Set painting Andrew Simms
Photography Bill Bartlett
Properties & wardrobe Vicky Ashberry
Programme / Publicity Jez Ashberry

Mr Wonderful

Mr Wonderful

by James Robsons

20th to 22nd October 2014 | The Room Upstairs, Lincoln Drill Hall

We turned to contemporary comedy – well, 1980s comedy – with our production of the bittersweet play Mr Wonderful directed in The Room Upstairs by Janet Marshall, who was making her directorial debut for the company.

Stalwart member Gaynor Little did her best to steal the show in a comic role as the bed-ridden Phoebe, who struggles with the idea of her daughter finding true love at last at the same time as she struggles with the early signs of dementia.

But Naomi Watkins also deserves credit for her performance as Norma, who is taken in by the suave impostor Geoff Lazenby before finally turning the tables on him.

The part of Geoff was ably played by another long-standing Common Grounder, Martin Noble, while John Kirsopp demonstrated his versatility by taking the remaining four parts.

For the first time in our history we can’t say that we welcomed a new member onto the stage, but we did have newcomers working behind the scenes!

Mr Wonderful

Norma Green Naomi Watkins
Phoebe Green Gaynor Little
Geoff Lazenby Martin Noble
Box, Lop Wink, waiter, drunk John Kirsopp
Mr Wonderful Aloysius
Voices off Vicky Ashberry, Carolyn Jones,
Su Toogood, Fiona McManus
Director Janet Marshall
Assistant Director Vicky Ashberry
Technical Support David Brown
Stage Manager Nick Dunnett
ASM Fiona McManus
Wardrobe & make-up Fiona McManus
Programme & publicity Jez Ashberry
Front of House Su Toogood, Carolyn Jones,
Elaine Howell

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights

Adapted from original stories by Dominic Cooke

13th to 15th March 2014 | Lincoln Drill Hall

Su Toogood directed this ambitious and spectacular show which featured a cast of thousands, colourful costumes, music, belly dancing, executions, monsters, magic and more!

Arabian Nights – Or One Thousand and One Nights – is an ancient collection of tales, many of which are familiar to modern audiences: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, for instance, and The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.

Sasha Drennan took the leading role of Shahrazad, the young woman who marries the cruel king and tells him magical stories every night to save herself from being executed like hundreds of brides before her.

As usual we welcomed lots of new faces to our cast as well as not one, but two dancing groups who helped us to give the proceedings an authentically Middle Eastern feel.

As is often the case we made no money on the production but we were pleased with some of the feedback we received from our audiences! Here’s a brief selection:

“It was very entertaining, very professional and looked so good. You must have put in so much work on the costumes, apart from everything else. Congratulations!” Pat Shirley

“Truly a brilliant show. Beautifully crafted. It really seemed to flow so well. So many wonderful performances. The time really flew by. Great ending scenes. So effective. We really did enjoy it so much and talked about it all the way home and much of this morning too. Such a wonderful team piece with so many lovely touches. Costumes look stunning too. Congratulations to you and everyone involved.” Graham Turner

“Congratulations on a wonderful performance of Arabian Nights. It was a real treat and obvious that everyone must have worked really hard to put on such an entertaining play.” Jane Lund

“Su Toogood’s competent direction of Arabian Nights with a cast of what seemed like thousands (eat your heart out Attenborough) was a pleasure to watch. Magical and entertaining, Su’s vision was brought to fruition by her very talented cast complemented by exquisite costumes. An evening well spent, all in all we were delighted and would watch it again. Congratulations Common Ground.” Val & Brian Petty

“Anybody coming to see you all over the next two days is going to see a really great and fun production. The whole thing flies by and I was mesmerised by it a bit – a real escape into imagination.” Andrew Jordan

“It was interesting to see the show from a new perspective – it was a large cast to manage and not the easiest space to work in, especially with limited rehearsal time in it. You must have worked hard.” Beverley Anthony (who directed Arabian Nights at Nottingham Lace Market)

We were very sorry to lose a cast member during the rehearsal process: long-time member Sheila Thomas was to have played some small roles in the stories but sadly passed away in February 2014.

Royal household:

King Shahrayar – Jez Ashberry
The Vizier – John Leighton
Shahrazad – Sasha Drennan
Dinarzad – Marea Reid

Story Characters:

Christopher Adams – Tailor, Es-Sindibad the Sailor,
Haroun, Old Wise Man
Ruth Andrews – Talking Bird
Vicky Ashberry – Druggist, Doctor’s Maid,
Page, Old Religious Woman
Kate Bartlett – Mule, Chief of Police, Girl, Puppeteer, Envious Sister
Kevin Brown – Ali Baba’s Son, Steward, Merchant, Cook
Jose Bruce – Marjana, Little Beggar, Youngest Sister
Alison Clubley – Ali Baba’s Wife, Customer
Brenda Hartley -Kasim’s Wife, Merchant
John Kirsopp -Baba Mustapha, King, Sidi 1
David Lintin – Ali Baba, Merchant, Abu Hassan
Janet Marshall – Thief, Rukh, Mother, Customer, Envious Sister
Chris Matthews – Executioner, Kasim, Bahman
Andrew Mitchell – Merchant, Es-Sindibad the Porter, Sidi 2, Perviz
Martin Noble – Captain, Watchman
Karen Ryan – Thief, Amina
Bob Shirley – Passer-by, King, Baker, Steward
Jenna Starar – Queen, Thief, Tailor’s Wife, Bride
Christine Walker – Mule, Hangman, Eagle, Marriage Broker, Ghoul, Sorceress
Naomi Watkins – Doctor’s Wife, Steward’s Wife

All other parts played by members of the company

Director – Su Toogood
Director’s Assistant – Carolyn Jones
Stage Manager – Nick Dunnett
Stage Crew – Mike Grimshaw, Adam Holman
Sound & Lighting – Bill Bartlett, Lincoln Drill Hall
Wardrobe – Carolyn Jones, Su Toogood
Set & Props – Beverley Anthony, Bill Bartlett, Nick Dunnett, Su Toogood
FOH Manager – Elaine Howell
Photography – Bill Bartlett
Poster Design -Brenda Hartley
Programme/Publicity – Jez Ashberry

Dancers:

Shimmychics – Claire Johnson, Barbara Pearce, Diane O’Rourke, Nicky Gouldson
Sheherazade Dancers – Connie Hurd, Helen Reed, Rachel Harvey, Jenny Whiffing, Beverly Thompson, Charlotte Odell