A conversation with Ann Leake and Alison Broughton, directors of Party Piece by Richard Harris, the man behind the Darling Buds of May and Outside Edge, runs at the 200-seater Tynemouth Priory Theatre, Percy Street, Tynemouth, North Shields from 3 – 10 March.

Interviewer: What prompted you to do this play?

AL: Well it was actually a play Ali (Alison) had wanted to do a few years ago, and then because of work commitments she couldn’t do it. Also, it was by an author whose plays we have done at the theatre which have gone down very well, certainly the comedy ones but even Business of Murder, so he’s a good writer.

AB: Ann and I are delighted to have the opportunity to bring this play to Priory Theatre (some six years after it was first scheduled!).  As with other works by Richard Harris (such as ‘Outside Edge’, recently performed by Priory Theatre), the play is an odd combination of dark, confrontational situations that are, at the same time, very funny.

Interviewer: Have you directed before?

AB: No it is a first time for both of us in a way. I have directed some Tynemouth Priory Theatre Society monthly meeting plays and Ann has directed school children. So it’s a first adventure for us both.

Interviewer: Is it a complicated play to stage?

AL: Yes, it has some quite difficult elements which we hope our technical department will be able to manage: drain pipes with water falling down; a wig catches light; there’s a barbecue which is actually off stage but the smoke has to come on as if it has caught fire; music blaring, a pond on stage which has to be used, somebody has to step in to the pond and their trousers get wet; those sort of things. The set is quite challenging too because there are two houses and the upstairs windows are used so in our theatre that’s quite a challenge, because of the sight lines. We are assured it can be done; and there are a lot of props.

Interviewer: How would you categorise Party Piece?

AL: It’s a sort of comedy veering towards farce (towards the end itgets manic), a bit Brian Rix because there are two houses, there are people coming out of one house as they’re going into the other, that sort of thing. And there is an imaginary fence between the two houses and a little peep hole where they spy on each other. Sometimes there are people looking through from both houses, so there are people at this imaginary fence peering through an imaginary peephole at each other.

Interviewer: Is it a modern play?

AL: Yes it was written in the 1990’s and we are going to set it then because there are references to walkie talkies (technology before mobile phones) and there are problems with music which is on cassette tape so they wouldn't have the same kind of problems on CD if we updated it.

AB: Ann and I decided to set the play in the year in which it was written – 1990, which has proved quite challenging for the props and wardrobe department.  Although 1990 doesn’t seem that long ago – here a few reminders of what was happening at the time the play is set:

• A ban was lifted on anti apartheid parties and Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years in prison.
• Anti Poll Tax demonstrations ended in riots and Margaret Thatcher resigned from Number Ten. John Major became the youngest Prime Minister this century at the age of 47.
• French and English Channel tunnellers celebrated when they met up in the middle.
• The World Cup took place in Italy and the Three Tenors performed in Rome and made everyone familiar with Puccini's Nessum Dorma.
• Homer Simpson arrived on our TV sets, along with his wife and children and Supermodels refused to get out of bed for less than $10,000.
• ‘Pretty Woman’ was a massive hit
• Music saw the first influences of rap sitting in the charts alongside the old stalwarts such as Elton John and Madonna.  Also riding high in the charts was England’s World Cup song – World in Motion.

Interviewer: What about the characters in the play?

AL: There are some really good characters in /Party Piece/. We cast it fairly easily: We have some very experienced members and also two new people to the theatre. There are seven cast members. Nobody has a part with huge long speeches to learn like you get in some plays but there is a lot of quick interaction between characters. In the second act the action is possibly more important than the words.

AB: As well as being visually amusing, ‘Party Piece’ is essentially character-driven, exploring the relationships between husbands and wives, colleagues and friends, neighbours, and above all it portrays the familiar balancing act of one man trying to appease both his wife and his mother – a truly futile task. In fact, Mrs Hinson is the hub of the trouble, which should not make her endearing but does – she is a character you should not like but cannot help but feel a fondness for. Added to the mix an inwardly raging daughter-in-law, a weight-conscious hostess whose food intake is obsessively monitored by her husband, and party guests who are troublesome whether they turn up or not! Richard Harris’ perceptive writing ensures that we have to readjust our perceptions of each character as new information is introduced.

Interviewer: Will the audience see some home truths?

AL: There are some issues that you would probably think of happening in some families like the old lady who lives next door and feigns deafness when it suits. Her son and his second wife are trying to persuade her to leave the house and go and live. not in a home necessarily but somewhere nearer to them so they can keep an eye on her. She obviously doesn’t want to leave the house because it’s where she has lived all her life and her husband did all the work on it, which is an issue that affects a lot of people these days I think. Then you have got the young up and coming couple who want to do everything brilliantly but perhaps aren’t too popular because everyone keeps phoning up and saying they can’t come to their party. So there are those kinds of issues that I think are quite interesting to people.

Interviewer: And after this play?

AL: I wouldn’t like to say that I have got a huge ambition to direct a lot more plays but I’m hoping that the experience won’t put me off. It’s just for another angle on the theatre really because I love being in theatre, not just acting although I love doing that. In the last play I did backstage and I have prompted which I really enjoy. Someday I’d love to go and try and see what happens in the technical side; the lights and the sound, another angle!. All my family are into the theatre doing amateur dramatics.

Interviewer: How long have you been at the Priory Theatre?

AB: I have been a member of Priory Theatre for more years than I care to remember, and have been involved in many productions both on and off-stage.  Recently, my work commitments have meant that I have not been able to be as involved as I would like, but I am thoroughly looking forward to directing ‘Party Piece’ and working with Ann.

AL: I’ve been there about eight years now, since I moved up to the North East. I lived in Leeds before I moved up here and I was involved for years with amateur musicals . From the very first day everyone at the Priory has been so friendly, so keen to get you involved and so helpful. It’s just great having an opportunity to get involved in every aspect. I wouldn’t want to go and just act, although I do love it, I think you need to see all the other jobs that are around and it’s just a nice set of people.

Interviewer: And future productions?

AL: I would quite like to do some more modern plays like John Godber plays. Now I know they have the problem with the language and some of the subject matters but I have been to some of the amateur theatres around the north where they have been successful. I think something that we do well at Tynemouth is that we don’t always do big, well known, blockbuster plays that we know are going to bring people in. We also balance it with plays that are good for the actors to do as well. They may not always be the most well known or the most popular plays but they are good fun to be in and really good experience for the actors. It's getting that balance I think, so you have to do the great plays like `When We Are Married’ which is such a well known play and so popular and had really good audiences and do some plays that are just a little bit new or unusual.