Alarms & Excursions

by Michael Frayn

22 September - 1 October 2005

Michael Frayn describes his Alarms and Excursions as "more plays than one" - and indeed it is: there are eight of them. They are built around strong comic ideas and vary greatly in length - several are only a few minutes long. Played originally by only four people, the twenty five characters present the actors with numerous challenges, as they struggle with odd household noises, a very unusual in-flight announcement, eleven payphones and much more, providing the audience with many laughs along the way.

Tom Jones

by Joan Macalpine

27 October - 5 November 2005

This production was chosen to mark the celebration of 60 years of continous drama in Caterham starting with the Caterham Players back in 1945, and continued today by the Miller Centre Players.

The play, like the novel is a rich, bawdy 18th century romp and concerns the various misadventures of Tom Jones, the adopted son of of Squire Allworthy. The squire eventually becomes tired of the scandals that Tom seems unable to avoid and banishes him to cause trouble elsewhere. Tom's troubles escalate as he becomes entangled with three women at once: Jenny Waters, a lady of warm heart and dubious virtue, Mrs Fitzpatrick, a society lady seeking diversion from her oafish husband and Sophia Western, with whom Tom is truly in love but unable to marry because of the questionable nature of his birth. After many tribulations and a close brush with the hangman's noose, the good, of course, end happily and the bad unhappily. This is fiction after all!

Trap For A Lonely Man

by Robert Thomas

11 - 10 December 2005

Daniel is at his wits end following the sudden disappearance of Florence, his wife of three weeks. A mysterious priest named Father Maxim arrives at Daniel's holiday chalet and claims he has found Florence. Or has he? If, as Daniel says, the woman is an imposter in league with the priest, why this elaborate charade? What do they aim to achieve by this deception? Or has the stress of the estrangement caused some form of memory loss and Florence is indeed his wife? Thus the scene is set for an ingenious thriller with twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Separate Tables

by Terence Rattigan

5 - 14 January 2006

The typical South Coast Hotel Beauregarde is peopled by the old, the lonely and the needy. The manageress Miss Coooper is unable to remain aloof from their troubles. In Table By The Window, she attempts to help John Malcom and his ex-wife Ann, who have ruined each other, find salvation together. In Table No 7, Major Pollock and Miss Railton-Bell are misfits and their despair draws them together. Miss Cooper gives them the courage to face life. This is Rattigan and English drama at its finest.

humbleboyHumble Boy

by Charlotte Jones

9 - 18 February 2006

This is a delightfully and at times sad play with an immense feel-good factor concerning Felix Humble and his family. Following the death of his father, Felix returns to his middle England home and his difficult and demanding mother, her ghastly boyfriend and eccentric friend. Never being any good at human relationships at the best of times he seeks solace in the garden where his father had found the keeping of bees a great source of comfort and peace. There he spends more time talking to the gardener James than to his family. However, he is made to face reality which has some surprises in store for him and helped by the bees is reconciled to the loss of his father. There are strong undertones of Hamlet in the plot. In fact 'To be or not to be' takes on quite a different meaning.

plazasuitePlaza Suite

by Neil Simon

16 - 25 March 2006

This sparking comedy consists of three separate plays all occuring in the same hotel suite. In the first play, a middle-aged couple revisit the hotel of their honeymoon - but the arrangement does not end as romantically as might have been expected. The second play recounts the meeting of two old flames and what can happen under the influence of repeating famous Hollywood names. The last play tells of a mother and father and their daughter who has locked herself in the bathroom and refuses to come out for her wedding.

bloodbrothersBlood Brothers

by Willy Russell

18 - 27 May 2006

This hugely popular play is fast moving and perceptive, entertaining and thought provoking, funny yet ultimately tragic. It tells the tale of twin brothers born into a large working class family and what happens when their mother decides to have one of them adopted.

It looks at the differences and conflicts of their upbringings, their relationships with each other and with their real and adopted mothers. It will stimulate and entertain you with its powerful narrative.

shopofhorrorsLittle Shop of Horrors

by Howard Ashman & Alan Menken

29 June - 8 July 2006

Despite the title, Little Shop Of Horrors, has its tongue stuck firmly in its cheek. It concerns the fate of Seymour Krelborn, a classic loser who works at the failing Mushnik's Skid Row Florists. Apart from Seymour's affection for plants, the only light in his world is his unrequited love for the naive shop girl Audrey.

He watches her sufferings at the hands of her sadistic boyfriend Orin, a biker and dentist! Just as it looks as if he is condemned to remain in this existence forever, he finds a strange plant with an appetite for human blood. Is this his chance to find fame and fortune, or will events take a darker and more sinister turn?