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| Cast | |
| Don Baker | Neal Flux |
| Jill Tanner | Nicky Corfield |
| Mrs Baker | Daisy May Mulcahy |
| Ralph Austin | Tony Donnelly |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Steve Marshall |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Gill Rafferty, Pat Martin, Eve Sutch, Sandra Holding |
| Set Design | Steve Marshall |
| Lighting | Toby Moore, Chris Monsen |
| Sound | Alan English, Glen English |
Reviews
Edward Alderton scores with ambitious American play
Blindness is a subject which can easily be over-sentimentalized. But the play Butterflies are Free offers a superbly balanced mixture of tenderness and humour.
Last week's production of this American comedy was undoubtedly ambitious, even for Bexleyheath's Edward Alderton Theatre, but everything, including the accents and the non-seeing gestures of the leading character, Don Baker, was handled masterfully. I was full of admiration for the way Don, played by Neal Flux, bravely and cheerfully coped with his blindness in setting up an apartment on his own in New York to escape the suffocating domination of his well-meaning mother.
Her stuffiness was an
amusing match for the zany and free-living style of Don's next door
neighbour, Jill Tanner, with whom he falls In love.
Only after his beautiful but fickle neighbour goes off to live with
another man do we feel sorry for him. And only then does he show any
self-pity. Nicky Corfleld's superb
performance as Jill compared well with that of Goldie Hawne In the
film version. Both actresses were equally well suited to playing the
delightfully effervescent and comical character.
The wealth of American-style humour was not lost on the audience, particularly as the actors' timing was perfect all the way through Leonard Gershe's fast-moving and witty script. Credit must also go to the professional direction of Jean Franks. Not only were Don's 'sightless' movements extremely realistic, because of rehearsing in a blindfold, but every detail, even down to the Saks of Fifth Avenue carrier bag, was authentic.
A D
Bexley Times | 23 February 1978
This love story is light, delightful
Everyone enjoys a love story — especially when it is a good, old fashioned weepy — and that's what captivated a packed hall audience at Bexleyheath's Edward Alderton Theatre last week.
Butterflies Are Free is a delightful simple tale for even the most reluctant theatregoers.
Starring Neal Flux as a young, blind songwriter, the play is easily summed up as a lighthearted love story. The blind man, predictably enough falls in love with a young girl who is taken away from him by the glamour of the showbusiness world and her determination to be a successful actress — even if it means pampering to the whims of the director.
And again predictably so, the blind man's mother is overprotective towards her son and would rather he never fell in love, than do so and get hurt.
But it is only the script when seen on paper that appears average to the point of being boring. The four in the cast turned it into a good, warm, humorous down-to-earth play.
All four are superbly cast with full credit to Neal Flux (Don Baker) and Nicky Corfield (Jill Tanner) who monopolize the stage for a great deal of the play. Both are extremely convincing, with Mr Flux as one of the most realistic actors I have seen portraying a blind man.
The set, although basic, was just what might be expected of a bachelor's bedsit in New York with most things untidily out of place. For me, this is one of the nicest plays I've seen for a long time — not spectacular — but a pleasant evening's entertainment, obviously enjoyable to all ages.
B E
Unknown newspaper
