{"id":653,"date":"2016-07-04T14:40:07","date_gmt":"2016-07-04T13:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/?page_id=653"},"modified":"2016-12-23T17:13:46","modified_gmt":"2016-12-23T17:13:46","slug":"november-2016-edith-in-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/drama\/2259-2\/november-2016-edith-in-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"November 2016 – Edith in the Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"

This play and was performed in Morganstown Village Hall from 24th to 26th November 2016.<\/p>\n

A fairly recent work by author\/playwright Philip Meeks, \u2018Edith in the Dark\u2019 was commissioned by Harrogate Theatre, who presented its first stage performance in 2013.<\/p>\n

This fictional story is based on the \u2018other side\u2019 of the character and work of children’s writer Edith Nesbit, author of \u2018The Railway Children\u2019 and numerous other lesser-known titles for young people. She also wrote poems and books for adults, often of the ghost story\/minor horror genre, and it is this aspect of her work which forms the basis of the play.<\/p>\n

The scene is set in Edith\u2019s attic writing room of the large house she shares with her then husband, Hubert Bland, shortly before Christmas 1909. She has invited a young male admirer of her work, just to see where most of her creative work is done, while a party organised by her husband \u2013\u00a0 which she prefers to escape – goes on downstairs. A discussion takes place on the nature of the author\u2019s work, but this soon reveals a side to Edith which her \u00a0male guest \u2013 really a \u2018gatecrasher\u2019 \u2013 finds surprising and slightly unnerving.<\/p>\n

Some time into the conversation, they are joined by Edith\u2019s housekeeper and companion who, prompted by consumption of some of her own notorious punch, encourages Edith to grant the young man\u2019s request for a reading of the author\u2019s work, by reading some items from her adult ghost\/horror story writings. Several thought-provoking tales of the kind are read, with each play character reading in the voices of characters in the stories.<\/p>\n

These readings take place against the background of an unknown young woman who, having taken unwell after arriving at the party, was saved from collapse by \u00a0Edith\u2019s young male guest, and who is now resting in an adjacent \u00a0room. She herself is never seen, but as the tension mounts, both her identity \u2013 and that of the young male guest \u2013 become clear, resulting in a quite unexpected ending.\"13-j-i\"<\/a> \"14-i-p\"<\/a> \"19-j-i\"<\/a>\"21-p\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Characters:<\/p>\n

Edith Nesbit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Julia Hallinan<\/p>\n

Guasto\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Ian Ogden<\/p>\n

Biddy Thricefold \u2013 Pauline Watson<\/p>\n

Directed by Ian Ogden<\/p>\n

Assisted by Gill Evans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This play and was performed in Morganstown Village Hall from 24th to 26th November 2016. A fairly recent work by author\/playwright Philip Meeks, \u2018Edith in the Dark\u2019 was commissioned by Harrogate Theatre, who presented its first stage performance in 2013. This fictional story is based on the \u2018other side\u2019 of the character and work of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":784,"parent":12,"menu_order":-201611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-653","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656,"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653\/revisions\/656"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radyr.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}