THEATRE Monkeys and Ghosts.
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from April 1989.
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In the next few months The Cayman Drama Society will be presenting two examples from this kind of literature; "The Monkey's Paw" and "Ghost Train".
In the annals of macabre literature, "The Monkey's Paw" by W. Jacobs, stands as one of the classics in the field. Written in the Late 1800s, it was first performed on stage at the Haymarket Theatre, London on 6 October 1903; as near to Halloween as they could get possibly. It tells the basic story of the granting of three wishes. An elderly couple come across a monkey's paw and naturally, being poor, wish for money. How it comes to them and what the last wish asks for, provides a somewhat different answer to those of us who have sometimes wished for a Fairy Godmother.
"The Ghost Train" by Arnold Ridley, was written in the early 1900s and first performed at St. Martins Theatre, London on 23 November 1925, again close to Halloween. This play is set in Cornwall, England, a place renowned for local stories about ghosts and hauntings. The action takes place in a lonely railway station waiting room. A train arrives and six passengers disembark. The station master warns them not to stay as the place is haunted. Soon afterwards, things start to happen. "The Ghost Train" is being presented at the Harquail Theatre the last three weeks in June. "The Monkey's Paw", being a one act play, is being teamed with another one act play and presented as "Two plus Food" dinner theatre in the last three weekends in May.
The venue is Lord Nelson Pub on West Bay Road. The other one act play is in complete contrast. "Chinamen" by Michael Frayn, is a fast-paced farce, telling the story of Stephen and Jo who have invited to dinner the wife of an estranged couple and her new "hippie" boyfriend. Unfortunately the husband has also been invited. The evening is spent in attempting to keep the couple apart. On Wednesday 22 March, auditions were held by the directors of all three plays. Penny Phillips for "The Monkey's Paw", Tony Osborn for Chinamen and Stuart Hurst for "The Ghost Train". A lot of new faces to the Drama Society as well as a lot of 'old hands' showed up for the audition. Although all parts were not cast that night, "The Ghost Train" will include Penny Phillips, Tony Rowlands, Sydney Coleman, Errol McLaughlin and Novellette Bodden. Hilda Bodden and Colin Wilson will star in "The Monkey's Paw" and Colin Wittingham and newcomer to the Cayman stage Sandi Cook are cast in "Chinamen".
