The TheatreFest16 programme of new work for the theatre will launch with the debut performance of the winning slavery-themed play from TheatreFest15’s play-writing competition, Morning Star by Steve Harper.
The play will be performed on Friday September 23 at the Studio Theatre, Ballakermeen High School. There will also be a ‘pop-up’ performance of the work staged at the Rover’s Return pub, Church Street, Douglas on Sunday September 25.
Mr Harper, a retired BT manager who now lives in Norfolk, said: ‘If ever a play were suited to being performed in a pub, it’s Morning Star, as it’s set in a Bristol inn, The Blind Fiddler.’
Outlining the plot he explained: ‘The year is 1848, and a fortune is being made trading cheap goods to African warlords in exchange for prisoners. These wretched souls are then shipped across to America where they are used as labourers on the plantations. The profits are then converted into American tobacco and cotton and brought back to England where they are sold for huge profits. ?20,000 for a round trip persuaded a lot of captains to risk capture by the revenue men and the dangers of Africa and the Atlantic. Our landlady, Molly Hawkins, and her pot boy Snook believe they are going to have a quiet night due to the storm outside, but Pug the boatswain on slave ship "Morningstar" finds shelter in the inn while he waits for his captain James Quigley. The London coach delivers a further three passengers, two American sisters, Angelica and Angelina Le Bough, and their mysterious travelling companion Mr Jacob Webb. They wish to charter the "Morningstar" for their own needs, but negotiations are uneasy and dangerous. Eventually a deal is struck, but of course there is a twist in the tale…Never cut cards with James Quigley!’
No stranger to promenade performances, Mr Harper, who is a member of Downham Amateur Dramatic Society, where he writes plays, constructs and paints sets and props and also plays in a small band, said: ‘Performing a play in a pub adds a new dimension for audiences and the actors, it can really pump up the adrenaline.’
Mr Harper will be joined as guest speaker at the Studio Theatre by the competition’s adjudicator Colin Dolley of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators who praised the play for its ‘compelling narrative’.
While visiting the island in September Mr Harper, a lifelong motor bike fan, hopes to hire a bike and ride a lap of the TT mountain course ‘very slowly.’
Isle of Man Arts Council vice-chairman Michael Lees said: ‘Slavery was never going to be an easy subject to write about. Steve Harper, though, took the inspired approach to concentrate more on the characters rather than the trade itself. The result is a play that captures the period and engages the audience while never shying away from the harsh realities of slavery, described on occasions in a way which some among the audience might find distressing, but which lends authenticity and reflects the heartlessness of the trade.’
Morning Star at the Studio Theatre is on Friday September 23 at 7.30pm. Tickets, ?10 or ?8 for senior citizens and under-16s are on sale at the Welcome Centre in the Sea Terminal, 686801 and from the Gaiety Theatre and Villa Marina box office, 600555, villagaiety.com.
The Morning Star pop-up performance at the Rovers Return pub is at 12noon on Sunday September 25. Free seating and admittance. (No tickets).
Saturday September 24 will see a double bill: a new musical review, Megan and Me, and a devised piece, Journeys. Festival tickets covering all three evenings’ performances are ?15.
TheatreFest16 - ‘New Work. New Places. New People’ - is curated by Stage Door Entertainment.
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