Acorn Antiques
Written by: Victoria Wood
Directed by: Rosemarie Nelson
May 2014
Acorn Antiques is a small antiques business run by sisters Miss Babs and Miss Berta in the fictional town ofManchesterford. They are "helped" by Mrs Overall, their friend Mr Clifford and two new and rather "dense" trainees, Hugh and Mimi. Miss Berta was once the fiance of Mr Clifford but he suffered a bang on the head and has lost his memory. Despite this, Miss Berta still loves him and longs to be his wife.Sales in the antiques business are not good and one day disaster strikes as the landlord has sold their shop and all the other shops along the street to a property developer and the traditional businesses are being replaced with "faceless chains". Disaster is looking them in the face.....do they want a Hong Kong thong, Botox booth and Grubby Garter pole dancing in Manchesterford?
Desperate for additional funds for Acorn Antiques the unlikely plot unfolds, a fortune needs to be found....but where?
Are there really triplets?.........and who is their mother?
Tony, a loan shark, is sniffing around but will he get his wicked way?
Will Acorn Antiques survive? Will there ever be a happy ending? How far can soap operas be sent up?
All these questions and more will be answered .....eventually, if you can stop laughing long enough.
Cast List
Character
Actor
Mrs Furlong, Ladies Outfitter
Tracy Slade
Christine, Lingerie Shop
Linda Raymond
Minchin's Lass, Hardware Shop
Tracy Foster
Lucy the Lollipop Lady
Wendy Wetherill
Mr Watkins, local resident and shopper
Barry Kirk
Miss Willoughby, Wool Shop
Glenys Young
Postman
Bill Parkinson
Miss Babs
Linda Cearns
Hugh
Rhys Burrell
Mimi
Emma Harmston
Miss Berta
Sandra Trott
Mrs Overall
Barbara Harrold
Clifford
Keith Goody
Father
Simon Haskell
Miss Cuff
Debbie Thwaite
Miss Wellbelove
Jean Appleton
Tony from Credit Cronies
Martin Herford
Miss Bonnie
Debbie Stevens
Young Mrs O
Lisa Matthews
Bev - Tony's Crony
Gail Hughes
Ev - Tony's Crony
Tracy Foster
Deb - Tony's Crony
Rosemarie Nelson
Local residents and shoppers
Gail Hughes;Lisa Matthews;Rosemarie Nelson;Ken Templey;
Reviews
The Internet drew me to see this show. This was the first Blackmore Players show I've been to. Totally enjoyed It! The enthusiasm of the cast over- flowed from the stage. Miss Babbs really emulated the TV character. I haven't been to an 'Am Dram' for over 20 years and this has wetted my appetite again. Well done all. I had a great night. Hope to see you at your next show! Thank You. AliAli Riley
This show has not been performed too often by amateur societies although it is an extremely funny script with plenty of opportunity for having fun. I suspect it is because the leading characters are very iconic and woe betide any society who is unable to cast them to match the original Victoria Wood pattern. I am pleased to say that Blackmore Players did, indeed, manage to cast the show accurately and, in particular with Barbara Harrold in the role of Mrs O. She gave an excellent performance with just the right amount of homage to the original, Julie Walters, performance but she also made the part her own. Linda Cearns (Miss Babs) and Sandra Trott (Miss Berta) looked absolutely right and they had clearly worked hard to produce the characters that the script required. Debbie Stevens completed the triplets as Miss Bonnie and very good she was too. Keith Goody played Mr Clifford well and all of these Principals came together to give the story its comedy. Rhys Burrell and Emma Harmston were excellent as, the pitiful adolescents, Hugh and Mimi. The rest of the cast made this show a real enjoyment to watch, making the most of the very funny script and the timing for all the innuendos and jokes was spot on. The standing set was very good and the way the street scene folded back to reveal the shop interior looked good and worked very well. I know that the space on the stage and in the wings is extremely limited but we did not get that impression from the audience perspective. It all worked very well and we didn't miss the stairlift! I would have liked to have seen the large television removed for the second half but that is being really picky! Lighting and music were good although the mics were not always turned up on time and this made the sound a bit patchy. But, given the constraints on this venue, I thought the whole show worked well. Blackmore has a very sympathetic audience who obviously enjoyed the humour and spectacle and it was clear from the audience's comments as they left that this was another good production from the Blackmore Players.Tessa Davies, NODA