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| Cast | |
| Tom | Sam Oatley |
| May | Carol La Roche |
| Arthur | David Hampton |
| Reggie | Jamie Williams |
| Ralph | James Morris |
| Eva | Coralie Perry |
| Annie | Cath Bateman |
| Sarah | Kellie Risby |
| Bertha | Helen Bezer |
| CSM Rivers | Dave Webster |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Jerry McKeon |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Dinah Williams |
| Set Design | Claire Kingshott, Amanda Whittle |
| Set Construction | Paul Lay, Jak Morris, Sharron Turner, Mark Headley |
| Set Painting | Claire Kingshott, Tricia Morris, Brenda Winn, Sharron Turner, Colin Rayment, Christine McKeon, Jerry McKeon, Carol La Roche |
| Backdrop | Amanda Whittle |
| Costumes | Tricia Morris |
| Wigs | Jill Little |
| Properties | Brenda Winn |
| Lighting & Sound Design | Bernard Tilley, Claire Kingshott |
| Lighting Operation | John Buckle |
| Sound Operation | Bernard Tilley |
Please note that the production contains strobe lighting and gunfire sound effects. A collection box for the British Legion is available in the foyer for anyone wishing to contribute. Thanks to the Accrington Library, and Flower Barrow, Bellgrove Road, Welling for the loan of the barrow.
Review
Pals carries poignant message
In the first month after the outbreak of World War I, Kitchener's call for a volunteer army was answered by the young men of Accrington. It was the smallest town in the country to muster a full battalion of troops, known affectionately as the Accrington Pals. In 1916 the battalion was sent to France and took part in the first offensive on the Somme. In one day 584 of the 720 soldiers were listed as killed, seriously wounded or missing.
Last week the Edward Alderton Theatre in Bexleyheath presented a revival of Peter Whelan's play The Accrington Pals, directed by Claire Kingshott. The piece drives home two poignant messages: that before live television and radio, people at home had no conception of the true horrors of war and that those who went out to fight were very, very young and unprepared for what awaited them.
The production was full of theatrical invention. Bernard Tilley and Claire Kingshott created sound effects that worked unusually well. Their lighting design added real atmosphere to the action and the cleverly designed three-part set allowed the action to flow smoothly. As a spinster, Carol La Roche excelled throughout in a restrained but deeply emotive performance. Sam Oatley impressed as a young soldier whose intellectual bent is to analyze the process of war rather than war itself. Cath Bateman, Coralie Perry, Dave Webster and David Hampton featured in a strong cast that did justice to a play which ultimately becomes a little too philosophical for its own good.
Roy Atterbury
Kentish Times | 30 March 2000
