Smugglers
9-28th August 2008 at The Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis
In the dark of a moonless night, a cutter slips through the waves towards a secret landing. At the helm is the smuggler they call the Silver Rat, and onboard is an illicit cargo of the finest brandy. Shanty Theatre Company’s new production ‘Smugglers’ tells the tale of Billy, a clever young lad of Lyme, whose one ambition is to join them. Thwarted by a greedy and dangerous new revenue officer, the smugglers fight for their trade and for their lives. But who can they trust, when betrayal will lead them to the hangman’s noose?
‘Smugglers’ is Shanty’s first full length play. Directed by Martin Constantine it is based on the history of eighteenth century smuggling in Lyme Bay. This exhilarating show is packed with double-dealing, comic characters, vile villains, hopeless love and nail-biting suspense as the Silver Rat’s smuggler crew and his new recruit, young Billy, battle to outwit the revenue man and the hangman’s noose. The story is inspired by the old tales of Lyme’s ‘free traders’, Isaac Gulliver and Jack Rattenbury and boasts an original score of authentic folk music performed live by the ensemble cast.
As well as the production itself, the company is running a community project over the summer period, taking workshops to local youth theatre groups, and involving local children in open-air performances. They are hoping to capture the imaginative spirit of the British seaside by hosting sandcastle competitions, donkey rides (with the cast dressed as donkeys) and running bus rides for day-trippers from London. The cast will even be playing as a folk group, The Contraband, in various pubs around Lyme.
Credits: |
|
| By Harry Long and James Long |
| Cast Credits: | |
| Billy | Jack Beale |
| White / Roger | Tim Bell |
| Rose / Pete | Rebecca Crookshank |
| Silver Rat / Gulliver | Harry Long |
| Mayor / Bad Ben Fortune / One Eyed Jake | David John Watton |
| Production Credits: | |
| Director | Martin Constantine |
| Music | Stu Mcloughlin |
| Designer | Al Turner |
| Lighting Designer | Vivienne Clavering |
| Costumes | Suzanne Bell |
| Mask | Camille Cettina |
| Fight Director | Jack Beale |
| Rope Chorography | Kim Heron |
| Stage Manager | Aemelia Roe |
| ASM | Kate Fulton |
| For Shanty Theatre Company: | |
| Executive Producer | James Long |
| Producers | Harry Long / Tim Bell |
| Production Co-ordinator | Rebecca Pownall |
| Company Mum | Annie Long |