Home on the Range - North Country Theatre December 2009

Last night Sat Nav, Amy and I went to see North Country Theatre www.northcountrytheatre.com perform Home on the Range in Hunton Village Hall, North Yorkshire.

The play, written and directed by Nobby Dimon, tells the tale of three strong women:
Annis Hawker played by Fiona Paul,
her sister May Buxton played by Vivienne Garnett,
and Annis's daughter Hope played by Amelia Newbould.
The likeness between the girls was uncanny.
This family have their roots here in North Yorkshire, England. They originated from Wensleydale, but emigrated to America because Annis's husband Sam saw a better life for them there.

Although they settled Sam uprooted them again to hit the Oregon Trail. Sadly Sam drowned shortly after they began their arduous journey and the women were left to struggle.
The audience were swept along with the women's emotions and we were all rooting for their success and happiness.
A truly brilliant performance.

The stage and props were incredibly creative; another huge success for North Country Theatre. Congratulations.

Nobby Dimon

Do you recognize this man?
Those of you who follow North Country Theatre will. He is Nobby Dimon the founder, and artistic director, of North Country Theatre, based in North Yorkshire.
Sat Nav and I have enjoyed many of his splendid adaptations/productions.

Last night Nobby was the guest speaker at our local Womens Institute meeting, and what an entertaining speaker he was. Although, in truth, we didn't expect anything less.

He spoke about the history of travelling players from way back when and how his company continues in that theme. He had us all laughing at the secrets behind the levitation scene in a recent production (I wondered how they did that).

He told us how he likes to include the audience in the performance; how he likes to include everyone in the lets pretend scenario. Of course Sav Nav and I knew exactly what he meant because part of North Country Theatre, and Nobby's magic, is to involve the audience and sweep them up into a fantastic fun lets pretend bubble.

The next production is Home On The Range. Check out their website for details. www.northcountrytheatre.com

The Prisoner of Zenda

On Tuesday North Country Theatre came to Fearby Village Hall and transformed it into Ruritania.

You might ask why.

They came to perform Nobby Dimon's ingenious adaptation of The Prisoner of Zenda - a novel by Anthony Hope.

It was billed as 'An hilarious ripping yarn of swashbuckling romance' and it was right on the button.

The cast:
Rudolph Rassendyll - Josh Boyd-Rochford
Melbecks, Col Sapt & others - Nobby Dimon
Rose, Lady Burlesdon, Antoinette de Mauban - Vivienne Garnett
Lord Burlesdon, Kind Rudolf of Ruritania, Rupert of Hentzau - Simon Kirk
Heidi, Princess Flavia - Victoria Brazier

Audience participation is always a big part of North Country Theatre productions, and tonight was no exception. We were asked to show our support by choosing either a red or a black flag to wave at the appropriate times. I was a royalist so waved a red flag. Sat Nav (Gloria) waved a black flag in support of Black Michael (who incidentally was a puppet) . . . you had to be there! We also had a line to remember and this made us very much a part of the action.

The audience were in fits of laughter when the improvised horses appeared and galloped around the hall. And there were loud oohs and aahs during the sword fencing scene, which was extremely cleverly done.

This is the third production I have seen by North Country Theatre, and already I am looking forward to the next one.