Richmond Amateur Dramatic Society is bringing three one-act comedies to the stage for their Spring slot at The Georgian Theatre Royal.
Audiences will get to see three plays on one night with Short Stories 2 which includes Cracker’s Christmas by Jilly McNeill, Bride Before a Fall by Robert Scott and The Break Room which is written and directed by RADS’ own Charles Lambert.
Cracker’s Christmas is a farce which sees the Cracker family sitting down for their Christmas dinner, with Mum, Joan, downbeat at the prospect of neither Aunt Daphne nor Aunt Delphine being able to come to dinner that year for different reasons.
The big issue is that both aunts have to come on alternate years due to a 40-year feud between the two of them and them not being able to be in the same room together, but lo and behold, they both turn up on this day. Chaos ensues as Dad, John concocts a plan to keep them out of the same room, but naturally it is not as easy as it sounds.
Bride Before a Fall sees recently married Victor and his mistress Madelyn plotting how to kill Victor’s dim and very annoying wife, Lottie, in order to secure her fortune. All of this happens under Lottie’s nose, as she is completely unaware that her supposed best friend and her new husband have planned a series of different scenarios to bump her off, and she is continually, unwittingly getting in the way of it all.
“Of course, this makes it all the trickier and as the different ways of murder continue to fail, frustrating both Victor and Madelyn, there are shocking consequences for all.
The Break Room which is set in a staff room of fictional fast food restaurant, Champ Burger, sees loveable layabout, Craig, doing all he can to avoid going back on shift, much to the annoyance of acting manager Megan, many years his junior trying to make an impression.
There is a buzz around the place as celebrity TV chef, Christian Dare, who not too long ago actually worked at Champ Burger, is due to make an appearance at the store that day. Various other characters, including an innocent new starter and a recent burglary victim are in and out of the Break Room with stories overlapping and comedy ensuing throughout.
RADS are no strangers to putting strong performances on and recently won awards at both the Sedgefield Drama Festival and the NODA North awards as well as scooping the prestigious National NODA Presidents Cup for best play last year for their production of Swive (Elizabeth].
Scott Fenney, director of Cracker’s Christmas, said: “I’m thrilled to be a part of this production which is the first play in RADS 90th anniversary year.
“Seeing it all pull together over the last few weeks has been a joy and I can say for certain that audiences are in for a real treat with all three plays, as each brings its own different style of comedy.
“And with all three plays running at approximately 30 minutes each, the night will be fast-paced, with a couple of intervals in between.”
Short Stories 2 runs from March 21 to 23 with performances starting at 7.30pm.
Tickets can be purchased via the Box Office on 01748 825252 or online.