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The winners of the Giant Coarse Acting Festival with their trophy – Front Row: Tony White, Neil Edwards (author), Richard Gaunt (director), Sukie read, Alison Ruddy Middle Row: Jessie Stones, Kym White, Matt Baker, Linda Mumford, Caroline D’Cruz (musical director) Back row: Neil Harrison, Rob Stephenson, Chris Bailward, Oscar Shave, Gemma Kiddle, Peter Mumford
A group of 15 actors from the Milborne Port Opera carried off the “Best Production” trophy in the Giant Coarse Acting Festival at the Questors Theatre, Ealing on Saturday 25th November. Masquerading as a fictional church hall am-dram society, The CLODS, the MPO triumphed over 7 other groups, including one professional company.
The MPO’s challenge was to write and produce a spoof 15-minute “Coarse Operetta” in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong! MPO’s Neil Edwards distilled his show The Murder at Shakerley House into the world’s first bite-sized drawing room whodunit operetta, which the company proceeded to ruin with wrong notes, missed entrances, over- (and under-) acting and general incompetence. One actor, MPO Chairman Tony White, stole the show with his inability to rise from a kneeling position – he was marooned on stage until the intermission, when he was rescued by the stage manager.
Timothy West, the chief adjudicator, made the award to a delighted cast. The evening was a hilarious assortment of different acting styles and genres as each act vied with the others to create on-stage mayhem with well-intentioned performances that go awry.
The show was directed by MPO’s Richard Gaunt, a veteran “Coarse Actor” who was in the play which won the first World Coarse Acting Championship back in in 1972. Musical director was Caroline D’Cruz.
The company included SFD adjudicator Chris Bailward and MPO founder members Peter and Linda Mumford
The competition was to celebrate the 90th year of author Michael Green, whose hilarious book The Art of Coarse Acting (still in print after 52 years) is a textbook on how to ruin an amateur performance.
“The Art of Coarse Acting” inspired three successful Edinburgh Fringe shows (Richard Gaunt appeared in 2 of them), TV spin-offs by Morecambe and Wise and the Two Ronnies and, of course, Victoria Wood’s Acorn Antiques. Lately, The Play that goes Wrong has been enjoying enormous success in theatres around England, including a successful run at Salisbury.
Richard Gaunt
MPO in action on stage at the Questors Theatre. From the left, Jessie Stones, Oscar Shave,Sukie Read,Neil Harrison, Richard Gaunt, Matt Baker, Neil Edwards, Peter Mumford, Chris Bailward, Alison Ruddy, Tony White, Linda Mumford and Gemma Kiddle.