Lashings of Ginger Beer
Productions:
Animal Farm
Lashings of Ginger Beer
Macbeth
The Wizard of Oz
Frankenstein
Pinocchia
The Railway Children
The Tempest
A Christmas Carol
Winchester: The First…
A King's City Christmas
Changes
4 Calling Birds
It’s A Wonderful Life
A Christmas Cornucopia
Around The World In Eighty Days
The Selfish Giant
Much Ado About Nothing
Grimm Tales
Tales From The Arabian Nights
The Snow Queen
The Hotel
The Happy Prince
Hamlet
Living Without Fear
The Government Inspector
Captain Miserable & The Book Guardian
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The first five years…
Blue Apple actors in dress rehearsal. Photo by Mike Hall.
Lashings of Ginger Beer
When four intrepid children and their faithful dog visit an aunt in Hampshire for the holidays, they are expecting a quiet time wandering the hills and observing the locals. Little do they know they are about to get embroiled in mystery-solving, crime-fighting and doing down some dastardly wrong’uns.
The children’s bravery and resourcefulness will be tested by spies, smugglers and suspicious sorts of all kinds. Can they save the day, fuelled only by a hamper of sausage rolls, cheese sandwiches and lashings of ginger beer? Join us to find out.
Brought to you by the team who re-created The Railway Children for the stage, this show will be escapism of the highest order, taking you back to a time that never really was; a safer, simpler time when crooks mumbled darkly on street corners, so we could all spot them at a glance!
“I’d say there is something fishy here. I don’t trust those odd-looking chaps one little bit. A rum-bunch if ever I saw one. And I, for one, won’t rest until they are locked up in what the local people call ‘the clink’!”
Programme | Reviews | Director's Notes I Cast and Crew I Gallery I Performances I Feedback
Programme
Image by Rich Williams
Reviews
“A stage full of smiling faces at the end of the performance suggests that the entire cast involved in “Lashings of Ginger Beer” have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Director Richard Conlon triumphs again by giving the cast of actors with learning disabilities the stage to show audiences that they have talent and a fantastic stage presence.”
Review by Elaine Chapman, an independent reviewer who reviews at https://theatreandartreviews.wordpress.com/
Read her full review of Lashings of Ginger Beer here.
Director's notes
Lashings of Ginger Beer follows our tradition of bringing light in the darkness – pure pleasure injected into the short, cold, winter days. In normal times we theme our work around a major subject, but for now I think we’re all allowed to just have some good old fashioned fun. So, we are taking you to a place which never existed but feels like home, to meet characters plucked from the imagination but ones we feel we know. 2022 has been a year unlike any I have known at Blue Apple. Our postponed winter show which (due to Covid) became an Easter show. A small cast took a pared-down version of that same production to Brno in the Czech Republic for an international festival. Then, after tackling Macbeth (in the face of cast illness) some of our performers were again ‘on the road’ to Rome with our re-mounted 2021 production of Frankenstein thanks to the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association. To round off a period of frenetic activity we hosted our Czech friends Divadlo Aldente and Polish colleagues Teatr 21 here in the UK, exploring what we do and why we do it – learning from each other through performance, film and workshops. These relationships are important to all of us as we grapple, internationally, with making performance more inclusive.
After the gloomy darkness of Macbeth and Frankenstein what could be more appropriate than exploring those simpler days which we know through childhood books? We take liberties with source material every time we step on stage and Lashings...is no exception, but we take those liberties with real affection. You’ll feel you know those children on stage as well as the dastardly ne’er-do-wells they have to defeat to save the day; you may even be on your guard for characters who are not all they seem – Much Kindling In The Hearth has a few surprises up its sleeve. Thank you for sharing a couple of precious hours with us. We hope you are repaid by real warmth and heart. Only the shared experience of performing live in a theatre space makes sense of our work. The past few years have reminded us of that special connection between performer and audience. We know that without you we are just whistling in the wind – we hope that this time spent with us sends you off into a bright and positive 2023 with a spring in your step.
Richard Conlon, Writer/Director
Cast and Crew
Special thanks to guest voice artist Alan Titchmarsh
Anne
Julian
Dick
George
Timmy The Dog
Aunt Fanny
Mrs Smith
Mr Smith
Reverend Godley
Verger
Lady Rich
Mr Steel
Mr Glass
Mrs Glass
Anna Brisbane
James Benfield
Sam Dace
Ros Davies
David Hunt
Katy Francis
Katie Appleford
Tom Hatchett
Ali Sinclair-Wilson
Darcy Goulston
Jane Chadwick
Neil Bennet
Andy Canning
Jossie Kirby
Miss Burns
Young Miss Burns
Mr Bone
Mr Knibb
Mr Stiles
Mr Trapp
PC Goodman
PC Cuff
Station Master
Junior Station Master
The Crook-boss
The Second In Command
Miss Keyes
Miss Greene
Villains
Alice Peck
Francesca Collins
James Elsworthy
James Spencer
Chris Pearce
Neil White
Ryan Nicholas
Jennie Grover
Ellie Moody
Ezekiel Tejevo
Teddy Gameson
George Collingwood
Clare Talks
Mary Richards
Daniel Austin, Sue Dashper, Joseph Guerrier, Caitlin Hatfield, Grace Hone, Jonny Ling, Michelle Pluck, James Smith
Costumes, Props and Extra Visuals
Surtitles and Film
Set, Lights And Production
Choreography
Singing Assistance
Written by
Directed by
Polly Perry
Django Pinter
Mark Pyke
Amanda Watkinson
Nick Duncombe and Clare Talks
Richard Conlon and the cast
Richard Conlon and Rebecca Godden
Gallery
Images from rehearsal by Mike Hall
Performances
Performances at Theatre Royal Winchester January 2023
Friday 6 January, Saturday 7 January, 7.30pm Sunday 8 January at 2.30pm
Livestream on Saturday 7 January 2023
Blue Apple's 'Lashings of Ginger Beer' was broadcast live from Theatre Royal Winchester on Saturday 7 January 2023. The video is captioned.
Feedback
“Love the audience participation. As ever an inspired script from Richard Conlon.”
“Massive thanks to cast and production crew for putting on such an utterly enjoyable performance!”
“The subtitles screen was really helpful.”
“Imaginative, colourful, fun and funny”
“Joyous, heart warming and raucous fun!!!”
“Enjoyable, funny, uplifting, entertaining and it made me think and laugh.”
“Funny, inspirational, pushing boundaries, engaging.”
“Love how supportive all the cast are of each other.”
“Fantastic, comedic, entertaining.”
“Great production values, loved local element and comedy aspect. Great. Loved it!”
“It was fantastic - such confidence and camaraderie of the cast, with wonderful comic timing. A joy to watch!”
“Hilarious. Impressive. Inclusive.”
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all our funders and donors for their support, including:
National Lottery Community Fund, Winchester City Council, Hampshire County Council, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation, No Wrong Door (NWD), Sylvia Waddilove Foundation UK, Ashley Family Foundation, The Perivoli Foundation and for the generous in-kind support provided by the University of Winchester and the University of Southampton. Thank you to Ed Hartridge for supplying Hartridge’s ginger beer for the production.
