Compton Little Theatre

CLT Pantomime Jan 2025

It's that time of year again! CLT is excited to bring Compton Red Riding Hood, written by CLT's talented writing duo Frazer Woodhams and Fred Pollard. It's the story of Red, the eponymous heroine who is joined by her slightly dotty Granny, a couple of hapless wheeler-dealers, a conniving and ruthless property developer, an outrageous panto Dame and, of course, a Big Bad Wolf! Good and evil battle it out to save the village of Rosewood. With plenty of laughs and great songs, it's guaranteed to be fun for all the family. The box office is now OPEN.

Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 January 2025. Compton Village Hall, 7.30pm and Saturday matinee 2.30pm, £12. Book online www.ticketsource.co.uk/clt or by emailing tickets@comptonlittletheatre.org.uk.

Review of Dinner and Drama ‘Anybody for Murder’

Author: Graham Botterill

Director: Amy Aiello

The hall was nicely decorated in a Grecian style, to reflect the beautifully painted stage setting of a Greek villa. The tables were named after Greek islands and the dinner began with a traditional meze. The lighting was warm, Mediterranean sunshine…very welcome on a cold night. Effective sound effects included bouzouki music and realistic, gruesome noises such as necks cracking. The set was very well designed and made full use of the stage. Furniture and props were all appropriate to the time and place; and were used efficiently and to deadly effect.

Costumes were mainly ‘60s holiday wear, which contrasted well with the sombre suitings worn by the sinister Ticklewells. The wigs worn, by Janet and Suzy, were particularly good and had me fooled. The play is a comedy murder story full of fun jokes and twists, with a plot you could drive a herd of wild goats through.

Keith Miller played Max, the disgruntled expatriate determined to kill off his wife, Janet…or was he ? His performance was wonderfully manic as he glibly lurched from one bizarre explanation to another. We’d hardly met Janet (Mandy Scully) before she was drugged at breakfast and then despatched to the bedroom to await her fate. Against all odds, she emerges triumphant at the end of the show.

Jane Bryant was Suzy…Max’s once and future lover. She’d come out to help him bump off Janet, but becomes the victim herself…over and over again. How her arms must have ached by the end of the week. Nikki Harish played Edna, the laid-back and frequently hung-over author next door, who relied on Max’s vivid imagination to beef up her novels. Gillian Walker and Stephen Pugh played Machiavellian Mary and nice but dim George Ticklewell…a prudish, buttoned-up couple who weren’t above a bit of opportunistic murder. They made a great comedy pairing.

Everyone’s timing and characterisation was superb; and you extracted every ounce of humour from the lines.

A fine meal, hilarious play and a great raffle. Thank you Compton for your excellent hospitality.

Established in 1982

Welcome to Compton Little Theatre, based in Compton Village, Surrey. We are a friendly, family based group with high standards in all aspects of our very professional productions. We were established in 1982 by a group of enthusiastic actors, many of whom are still involved in some shape or form.

We aim for three productions a year, a musical or panto in January, a Summer play and a comedy dinner/drama in the Autumn.

We are always looking for new talent in any area; acting, directing, costumes, make-up, back stage crew, front of house. So take a look around and contact us or visit our website www.comptonlittletheatre.org.uk