RoughCast Theatre Company was born in 2000 and many of those associated with it then remain part of it today. We are an amateur group. We do it “for the love of it”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We tend to stage classic plays most of the time. One reason for keeping to the tried, tested, and well-known, is to guarantee audience numbers. Staging a play is an expensive business these days, and we aim for productions to break even at least. It ensures that we have a future!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are a touring company and necessarily travel light. You will not usually find very much in the way of a set, or indeed a stage, in the normal sense. We currently average three productions over two years with at least one being an outdoor production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things are run by a small, but dedicated, committee, who tend also to act, direct, or form part of the backstage team. We have a simple approach to choosing plays and casting. Someone says they want to direct a play and we pretty much let them do so and cast it. The only exception is if the play is likely to cost far more to stage than it is likely to return. Unlike many professional companies, we have no public money or sponsorship to support loss-making ventures!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A sample of the glowing but unsolicited accolades our productions garnered:<\/p>\n\n\n
Roughcast Theatre\u2019s focus on classic texts \u2013 over half of their productions in the last ten years have been Shakespearean \u2013 has inevitably meant that the lion\u2019s share of significant parts on offer favoured male performers. The staging of Caryl Churchill\u2019s Top Girls<\/strong>, with its all-female cast, was therefore a rare and welcome opportunity to see other members of the company, while stalwarts Mark Burridge and Paul Baker served behind the scenes.<\/p>\n The play opens with the scene that Churchill is perhaps best known for, a hallucinatory night out for Catriona Macrae-Gibson\u2019s superbly drawn Marlene and key figures from history and literature. Full marks are due to the fine ensemble cast, and Mark Burridge\u2019s tight direction, for marshalling Churchill\u2019s signature overlapping dialogue. These women talked about themselves, to and over each other, deftly showcasing oppression, delusion and empowerment in equal measure. Annie McClaron\u2019s Pope Joan\u2019s tale was particularly chilling, as was Scarlett\u00a0 Fisher\u2019s self-regarding Lady Nijo. After a brief visit to the eponymous job agency, where we were treated to a comic turn from Dawn Briggs and Emma Mathews, we visit Marlene\u2019s sister, played by Pat Parris, who was particularly effective as stoic, understated Joyce, the perfect foil for brass necked Marlene. As two sisters, living either side of the tracks, they offered up a compelling and nuanced snapshot of Margaret Thatcher\u2019s Britain, exploring a time of huge change that still reverberates forty years on.<\/p>\n Top Girls pushes the boundaries of theatre, with elements of fantasy, time shifts, and frequently incoherent dialogue. It occupies that awkward space between period and contemporary drama, and Roughcast are to be commended for finding a way to present it in a way that manages to confront both how things were, but also how things are. The abiding message appears to be that things have changed, but they haven\u2019t changed much.<\/p>\n David Vass<\/em><\/p>\n <\/div>\n “Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the Stoppard plays last night. Comedy is really hard to pull off well and you all really nailed it, especially in such a small space! \u00a0Both plays were really good ensemble pieces – I particularly liked the first play so poignant as well \u00a0as funny.”<\/p>\n “I want to say congratulations to you and the cast for one of the best shows I\u2019ve seen In a long while. “Just returned from the Fisher theatre in Bungay after watching A Separate Peace and The Real Inspector Hound. They were both performed perfectly, characterisation was brilliant and the many lines were all delivered confidently and meaningfully. A fabulously funny night out.”<\/p>\n “Thoroughly enjoyed both plays last night at the Corn Hall. \u00a0Great acting in both of course. \u00a0A Separate Peace was unusual and thoughtful and Inspector Hound hilarious. \u00a0So good to have a proper laugh.”<\/p>\n “I just wanted to say that Inspector Hound was the funniest thing I\u2019ve seen since\u2026\u2026\u2026 well I don\u2019t remember seeing anything funnier. It got more and more surreal and absurd as it went on – & I loved it. The performances by all the cast were really strong \u2013 how you all managed to remember which iteration you were on amazes me!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n Measure for Measure \u2013 Rough Cast Theatre Company at Wingfield Barn A play that engages with predatory abuse in such a complex and contrary manner is undoubtedly prescient, but its uneasy tone makes for challenging theatrical decisions. Roughcasts solution was a distinct and bold emphasis on the comedic side of the play. Tim Hall had great fun as a pimped up Pompey Bum, as did Simon Evans as the unctuous Lucia, a character that can swiftly become tiresome in less skilled hands – and there were distinct shades of Malcolm Tucker in the manipulative skills of Mark Burridge\u2019s Vincentio. In this judiciously filleted version, the Duke\u2019s machinations were given centre stage, casting a long shadow over Angelo and Isabella, notwithstanding Peter Long and Cathy Wilson nicely understated performances.<\/p>\n There were occasions when the broad humour tipped over into pantomime \u2013 not least in an odd and distracting rumination on Brexit \u2013 but for the most part this was a coherent stab at a challenging play that held the audience\u2019s attention throughout.<\/p>\nThe Real Inspector Hound<\/h3>\n
\nWe really enjoyed both plays last night. \u00a0l felt a great affinity with Mr Brown, and his dream of private contentment in a hospital bed.
\nThe Real Inspector Hound was beautifully executed and hilarious.”<\/p>\nMeasure for Measure<\/h3>\n
David Vass, Diss Express:<\/h4>\n
\nDespite Shakespeare\u2019s prodigious output, only a relatively small number of his plays are regularly performed, so Roughcast are to be commended for tackling one of his trickiest, problematic plays, and for making such good sense of its Gordian knot of a narrative.<\/p>\n
\nCharlotte Valori, Operissima:<\/h4>\n