Details

Harry Thunder, a young naval cadet, absconds from naval college bitten by 'a rage for a little acting' and joins a company of strolling actors. Its leader, Rover, is a foundling, a man without home, family and love. The stage and his roles are more real to him than life, and when life, friendship and love (in the unexpected form of a Quaker beauty) make their insistent demands, his fragile grasp on reality begins to fall apart. Meanwhile, Sir George Thunder is in hot pursuit of his son... The Navy, the Quakers, the peasantry and the theatre all collide in this exuberant play by John O'Keeffe (famously dubbed 'the English Moliere). First played in 1791, it offers a gloriously comic view of English provincial life. O'Keeffe presents us with a cast of eccentrics, who through a series of hilarious mistakes and confusions discover the transforming power of the theatre of love.

Cast/Performers

Sam Alexander (Jack Rover), Cornelius Booth (Lamp / Banks), Philip Bird (Ephraim Smooth), Jo Herbert (Lady Amaranth), Debra Penny (Amelia), Hugh Skinner (Harry), Emily May Smith (Jane), Isaac Stanmore (Sim), Sion Tudor Owen (Gammon), Kim Wall (George Thunder), Stewart Wright (John Dory)

Creatives/Company

Author: John O'Keefe
Producer: Bristol Old Vic
Director(s): Mark Rosenblatt, Catherine Alexander (movement), Paul Benzing (fight)
Design: Ben Stones
Music: Marc Teitler
Sound: Sarah Weltman
Lighting: Guy Hoare