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Count Your Blessings
A Comedy in Three Acts bt
Ronald Jeans
Produced by David
Beeching
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Cast |
| Mrs. Withers, the Charwoman |
Bess Graves |
| Marion Butterworth |
Lydia Perry |
| Gay Butterworth, her sister-in-law |
Lila Garrard |
| Pelham Butterworth, Gay's husband |
Edward Garrard |
| Theodore Malek, a Czech |
David Beeching |
| Thelma Cressingdon |
Marjorie Vandervord |
| Hubert Batt, a Solicitor |
Edward Warden |
| Mrs. Compton Chamberlain |
Jade St. Cyr |
| Juliet Frost |
Dee Beeching |
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The action of the play takes place in the first
floor drawing room of the Butterworths' house in Wendover Place, near
Brompton Road, London.
Act 1 - Early Summer 6pm
Act 2 - Autumn - Sunday Afternoon
Act 3 Some weeks later
Time - the present.
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Note - The picture at the top was not labelled,
and for some time languished in our "unknown" folder. However, my
brilliant powers of deduction almost certainly link it to this play
which matches in terms of the count of bodies (3 male, 6
female).
Some 3 or 4 years after creating this page, I was delighted to hear
from Bridget Sainsbury, who is the daughter of David and Dee Beeching.
With her help, along with some notes on the back of the picture, plus
comparison against other productions, I think that we are now able to
(almost) positively identify all members of the cast.
From left to right, we have ...
Standing - Marjorie Vandevord, Dee Beeching, David Beeching, Jade St.
Cyr, Bess Graves.
Seated - Sam Warden, Ed Garrard, Lila Garrard, Lydia Perry.
... I think!
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Programme
Notes
With "Count
Your Blessings", the Fairlight Players return to comedy. Witty and
amusing dialogue, the humorous situations with an appealing touch of
sophistication.
In
the central roles of Gay Butterworth and her husband Pelham Butterworth
are a real-life husband and wife, Lila and Edward Garrard. This
talented couple, who made their first brief appearance to Fairlight
audiences in our last Christmas party production, will endear
themselves with their charming and skillful performances.
In
strong support Bess Graves brings her inimitable touch as the "daily
help" and two more great favourites once again show their paces,
Marjorie Vandervord as Thelma Cressingdon providing some of the
greatest fun of the show, and Jade St. Cyr in one of her penetrating
characterisations as Mrs. Compton Chamberlain. Two more newcomers to
our audiences, Lydia Perry and Edward Warden as Marion Butterworth and
the family solicitor Hubert Batt, give that firm decisive touch these
characters demand. Bringing up the rear, as it were, David Beeching
heavily disguised as a "cheque" refugee, and the last but by no means
least, the cause of most of the trouble: Dee Beeching as the glamourous
Juliet Frost.
This
is a play that we are sure cannot fail to please; based on that all too
universal problem "how to make ends meet".
(Notes
copied from rear of programme)
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| No less than four new recruits
make their Fairlight Players debut in this
performance. Please note that the reference to a "cheque" refugee is as
printed in the programme notes. I take it that this was deliberate, and
probably pertinent to the plot. |
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