Hebden Bridge Little Theatre, Holme Street, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 8EE.

Theft

By Eric Chappell

Directed by Ray Riches

February 25- March 1

It’s everybody’s worst nightmare, you return home after a pleasant anniversary celebration to find that your house has been burgled. Worse still the burglar is still in the house and after you see through his pretence of being a policeman he begins to reveal all kinds of uncomfortable truths about you, your friends and your spouse.

Spriggs the burglar has used his time well in exploring the house and wastes no time in his attempt to escape by disturbing and challenging what seemed to be happy marriages and friendships.

This is Eric Chappell at his best milking the unusual situation to write a comedy – thriller packed with stinging one-liners, amusing reversals of morality and sharp comments on marriage, money and friendship.

 

Deathtrap

By Ira Levin

Directed by Sharon Kelly

April 21-26

Sidney Bruhl, once the toast of Broadway whose plays were masterpieces of murder mystery has dried up and it has been years since his last hit. When an unknown playwright sends him a script to die for, in his desperation he is faced with an interesting question, What lengths are you prepared to go to for a hit play? What if it meant you committing the perfect murder?

The audience continually have the rug pulled from under their feet as the plot continually changes directions and things take a bizarre turn when a dotty psychic turns up who is famous for pointing out murderers.

Deathtrap is a superb ‘play within a play’ and was one of the biggest hits in the history of Broadway. It also made a very successful Sidney Lumet film starring Michael Caine.

It’s a cleverly constructed thriller guaranteed to keep you guessing, laughing and surprised to the very end.

 

Rebecca

By Daphne du Maurier

Adapted by Clifford Williams

Directed by Jennifer Crossley

June 16-21

Based on Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel ‘Rebecca,’ which was made famous through Hitchcock’s film starring Laurence Olivier and Claudia Cardinal. Clifford William’s adaptation sticks closely to the basic romantic storyline where a lady’s companion meets a rich widower Maxine de Winter in Monte Carlo. They have a whirlwind romance, marry and he sweeps her off her feet, taking her back to Manderley his large home by the sea in Cornwall.

Here everyone is obsessed with the memory of Rebecca who was drowned at sea and whose unseen presence haunts the play. Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper fanatically loyal to Rebecca, will go to any lengths to make life impossible for the new Mrs De Winter. This battle and the gradual revelations about Rebecca’s real fate keep this intense melodrama moving stirringly onwards. Played against the moody atmosphere of Manderley the play is full of suspense and mystery, as riveting a drama as when it was first performed.

 

Curtain Up On Murder

By Bettine Manktelow

Directed by Alan Stockdill

October 6-11

An amateur drama company are rehearsing a play at the end of the pier. Storms roar overhead and the sea is raging, a fitting atmosphere for a thriller. Suddenly they discover that the doors are locked – they are trapped! Events take a sinister turn when a ghostly presence passes over the stage and when the assistant stage manager falls to certain death through a trapdoor deliberately left open the actors are thrown into disarray. Their panic increases when one of the actresses is poisoned. They are no longer acting they are in their own Agatha Christie play. A real murderer is in their midst. Who next?

This is a skilfully written piece of suspense, an engaging and entertaining thriller with plenty of laughs and suspense.

 

The Winslow Boy

By Terence Rattigan

Directed by Jenny Gore

December 1-6

Based on an actual legal ‘cause celebre’ in the Edwardian era The Winslow Boy tells the story of Ronnie, a 14-year-old cadet at the Royal Naval College being accused of stealing a 5-shilling postal order. He is found guilty without the benefit of representation and he is expelled. His father believes he is innocent and with the aid of his suffragette daughter, takes on the might of the Admiralty establishment. Their David versus Goliath contest gains strength with the support of Sir Robert Morton a leading barrister of the time. A seemingly trivial matter over a postal order becomes a matter of principle. What are you prepared to suffer to see right be done?

 The play has been described as ‘a courtroom drama with most of the action outside the courtroom.’ It’s a good, old-fashioned drama with strong characters facing sacrifices in their personal lives to see justice done. One of Rattigan’s finest, examining moral issues just as relevant today