THE EXHIBITIONISTS ARE AMONGST US &
GOODNESS GRACIOUS! IS THAT REALLY ME?
by William Norfolk
Directed by Alan Chambers
Cast:
Noel Collins, Ruth Lister, Carol Adams, Bill Baker, Peter Healy, Jane Hodlin, Joan Pyle, Douglas Thomas, James Smith
THE AUTHOR
WILLIAM NORFOLK is another of our authors to have special associations with Stephen Joseph and his companies in Scarborough and the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent.
His first practical theatre contacts were with Toynbee Hall where he wrote and produced revues. He began writing plays in 1956, but his first success was when Stephen Joseph presented his short play "We've Minds of Our Own" at Scarborough. His full length play "The Birds and the Well-Wishers" was chosen as the opening production at the Victoria Theatre in 1962.
THE PLAYS
The Exhibitionists Are Amongs Us
Is non-conformity exhibitionism? Or is conformity exhibitionism? Or are we all exhibitionists anyway? These are questions you are not likely to find answered in William Norfolk's entertaining short comedy, though it may raise many more questions than that.
Goodness Gracious! Is That Really Me?
A comedy about illusions. The illusions are maintained by an eccentric group of characters in an Earls Court flat. If life rudely breaks in, the intruder has to be dealt with and that is where Mr Potter comes in, a friendly neighbour with a convenient hearse.
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
The Exhibitionists...
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
Goodness Gracious...
PRESS RESPONSE
The Exhibitionists Are Among Us, William Norfolk’s short parable about a married couple living in a cage, received a mixed response. Amateur Stage admired its frightening and powerful conception but thought its obvious symbolism and repetitive dialogue greatly overextended the idea. Douglas McVay writing in The County Times found that it communicated little beyond boredom. The Stage, however, regarded it as an amusing comment on people becoming accustomed to their own confinement and jeering at their neighbours.
The second Norfolk play, Goodness Gracious! Is That Really Me?, was received more warmly, though not unanimously. Amateur Stage called it, despite a contrived ending, perhaps the festival’s most satisfying play. Douglas McVay also found more substance in its debate about escapism and protective fantasy, while The Stage described it as a pleasing treatment of invented identities. The Times, however, grouped both Norfolk plays together as a “leadenly pretentious double-bill.”
Amateur Stage
The Middlesex County Times
The Stage and Television Today
The Times
QUESTORS ARCHIVES
THE EXHIBITIONISTS ARE AMONGST US & GOODNESS GRACIOUS IS THAT REALLY ME?
