BP News

Artistic Director's Blog

Well as the end of another season hoves into view, we can look back on a bit of a bumper year. Certainly if ticket receipts are any measure of success – things have never been better. In the last month alone we've had two great productions: The Good & Faithful Servant directed by Charles Plester in the Studio and Gigi in all its sumptuous splendour directed by Leanne Phillips.

The Good & Faithful Servant is a wonderful but little-performed classic by that master of the uncomfortably funny, Joe Orton. I thought Ian Mutton as Buchanan and Edith Pratt as the char-of-easy-virtue who takes him on as he retires, were wonderful portrayals of sad-comic lives. The play was written in the early 60s, but its themes are as up-to-date as an iPod. In the play, the firm treats people like numbers while maintaining stoutly that it really values them as individuals – remind anyone of current government policy? It was also a rare chance to catch Keith Crook in acting mode

The humour in Gigi was much more winsome – it was fun and frothy, like a cold glass of Moet et Chandon Brut on a hot summer evening. All the leads were wonderful and I thought Zara was a perfect central character around whom the whole heady, decadent thing revolved. It was Leanne's directorial debut with the BPs and I'm so pleased that it was such an unqualified success.

And so on with our next Year. We want to publicise all the audition dates very early this year for all the productions – although having said that – we are late advertising them for our very first play – Once a Catholic. So if you are interested in a part, please contact Charles Plester tout suite.

Have a good summer!

Rory Reynolds, Artistic Director