The Silent Appeal #6
Are you still downstairs? Come to bed, it’s almost two.
1:53 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Still working on the cast list.
1:54 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Sammy crawled in with me half an hour ago. Now she’s whining in her sleep.
1:56 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Those newbies have thrown a monkey wrench in the works. Looks like Emma will be left on the bench and she’s a friend of yours.
1:56 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
She’ll understand.
1:57 a.m. Kevin wrote:
I know, and I don’t want to not cast someone purely because they won’t give me a hard time about it. That would be downright cowardly.
1:58 a.m. Kevin wrote:
If only Fran’s three friends weren’t so damn good and apparently law-abiding.
1:58 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
More than that: they’re all young. If we can convince them to stay, they could be the next generation of Fairway Players.
1:58 a.m. Kevin wrote:
My thoughts exactly.
1:59 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Emma will take a backstage role whether she gets a part or not. We won’t see the newbies again if they aren’t cast.
To: Emma Crooks
From: Kevin MacDonald
Date: January 7, 2025
Subject: Heads-up
Sorry, Emma (not just for emailing in the middle of the night), but unless you’re happy to be considered for Gerda or Doris (the maid), it’s looking like I can’t cast you in The Hollow.
I’m gutted because you’re a star. It’s just we have so many amazing women auditioning for so few roles. Kevin
To: Kevin MacDonald
From: Emma Crooks
Date: January 7, 2025
Subject: Re: Heads-up
Kevin. You know me better than that. If there’s no part for me, I’ll do publicity and promo with SJ.
I believe in karmic shifts that shape the universe.
If I’m meant to have a part in this play—and you don’t cast me—that role will become available at a later date and I’ll be cast then. Namaste, Emma x
To: The Fairway Players mailing list
From: Kevin MacDonald
Date: January 7, 2025
Subject: The Hollow—cast list
Dear Fairway Players,
Thank you to all those who attended the auditions last night.
It’s the director’s great privilege to cast a play—but it can also be their greatest challenge.
Sarah-Jane will confirm that I was up till gone two this morning, and it’s no secret I was truly blown away by everyone who read for a part.
This cast is brimming with talent and charisma, and at this rate we’ll be walking away with every NADA going. So, with no further ado, here it is:
The Fairway Players present
The Hollow
by Agatha Christie
Henrietta Angkatell Amelia Stibson
Sir Henry Angkatell Joel Halliday
Lady Lucy Angkatell Fran Elroy-Jones
Midge Harvey Beth Halliday
Gudgeon the butler John O’Dea
Edward Angkatell Mark Digworth
Doris the maid Karen Payne
Gerda Cristow Georgia Taccuso
John Cristow Nick Walford
Veronica Craye Celia Halliday
Inspector Colquhoun Lucas Stibson
Detective Sergeant Penny Barry Walford
And there we have it. A healthy mix of new faces and old. May I extend a warm Fairway welcome to Georgia, Lucas, and Amelia—who are friends of Fran—and Mark, who is Karen’s boyfriend. He’s one of the sons at Digworth & Sons on the high street.
Of course, there are always players who are disappointed with the role they’ve been given, and others who would like to have been cast but weren’t quite right this time.
May I say that if you haven’t been cast, you can still play a vital role in this production, as there are plenty of backstage jobs up for grabs.
I’ll pop out this morning and deliver scripts to all those who haven’t bought theirs already. Please see John O’Dea to pay the discounted rate.
Play week is June 1–8.
June 1 Big Sunday—set-building and first dress rehearsal
June 2 Technical rehearsal
June 3 Rest day—get some sleep and review those lines!
June 4 Final dress rehearsal
June 5, 6, 7 Play nights
June 8 Clear out our things and tidy up the hall
Needless to say, please keep the whole of play week free. I don’t know yet when the NADA judge will be attending. Would the cast prefer to know he or she is in the audience, or not? That is a question for another day.
In the meantime, may I say: Fairway Players one and all—this is where it starts, and this time it’s going to be MURDER!
Kevin MacDonald, Committee cochair and director
Messages posted to Fran’s Hollow Play WhatsApp group on January 7, 2025:
Fran Elroy-Jones added Amelia Stibson, Lucas Stibson, and Georgia Taccuso to the group
10:44 a.m. Fran wrote:
Started this group so we can organize lifts to and from rehearsals. There’s no point taking two cars.
10:44 a.m. Amelia wrote:
We’ve all got parts!
10:44 a.m. Georgia wrote:
Am I murdered?
10:44 a.m. Fran wrote:
Haven’t you read the script yet?
10:45 a.m. Georgia wrote:
Too tired.
10:49 a.m. Lucas wrote:
My name tho—Agatha Christie drop something on her keyboard lol
10:50 a.m. Fran wrote:
Colquhoun is Scottish.
10:50 a.m. Lucas wrote:
How do you even say it?
10:51 a.m. Amelia wrote:
The director said Colloon?
10:53 a.m. Fran wrote:
It’s Co-hoon. The “lqu” is silent. I didn’t want to correct Kevin last night but might have a quiet word.
10:55 a.m. Fran wrote:
And Christie was writing a long time ago, Lucas. She would have used a typewriter and anything dropped on it would have fallen through the keys.
10:58 a.m. Georgia wrote:
Gerda is a weird name.
10:58 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Their surname is out there too.
10:59 a.m. Fran wrote:
Angkatell! Yes, very interesting what Kevin said about the origins of the name.
11:03 a.m. Lucas wrote:
I’m playing a cop!
11:05 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Henrietta has so many lines. More even than Roxie Hart.
11:09 a.m. Fran wrote:
Henrietta was the most contested part. She’s so multilayered and interesting. She’s like a swan, all cool and graceful gliding across the water, yet you don’t see her legs pedaling furiously beneath.
11:14 a.m. Amelia wrote:
1950s fashion is ripe. Hope we get to wear swishy printed wrap dresses and little white kitten heels.
11:15 a.m. Fran wrote:
Sadly, I don’t think so. That class of person would have worn tweed.
11:15 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Gerda is the dowdy one.
11:15 a.m. Georgia wrote:
She’s married to a doctor, she isn’t pov.
11:16 a.m. Amelia wrote:
No, but she’s special.
11:16 a.m. Georgia wrote:
Where does it say that?
11:16 a.m. Fran wrote:
Gerda is a character role. Not glamorous but interesting.
11:17 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Aren’t you playing the old woman, Fran?
11:18 a.m. Fran wrote:
Yes, but I like a challenge. Shall we get together every week to learn our lines?
11:18 a.m. Amelia wrote:
I’ll need it.
11:20 a.m. Lucas wrote:
So long as it doesn’t clash with work.
11:22 a.m. Fran wrote:
Round at mine—Thursday? Don’t worry about line learning. I’ll help you all.
Message exchange between Amelia Stibson and Fran Elroy-Jones on January 7, 2025:
11:32 a.m. Amelia wrote:
How did the date go on Saturday?
11:34 a.m. Fran wrote:
Awful. He was a LOT older than his profile said, and he kept looking at his phone or around the restaurant while I was talking. No connection whatsoever.
11:35 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Aw, sorry. But don’t get down. You’ll find the one for you, Fran. This will be your year of romance.
11:46 a.m. Fran wrote:
Thanks. Hope you’re right. Online dating is but how else do you meet single people? My office is all women, there’s no one at Fairways, and starting something with anyone in my counseling group would be unethical. So back to the dating apps it is.
11:47 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Feel so lucky Lucas and I found each other young. Plus because we had that rocky start, I know we can get through tough times. Even when his cousin dumps herself on us.
11:48 a.m. Amelia wrote:
If Lucas asks, I didn’t say that.
11:48 a.m. Fran wrote:
Thought you all got on?
11:48 a.m. Amelia wrote:
We do, she’s ok, but you know.
11:49 a.m. Fran wrote:
To: Rev. Joshua Harries
From: Fran Elroy-Jones
Date: January 7, 2025
Subject: Hello
Dear Reverend Joshua,
Your sermon on Sunday was so thought-provoking. Knowing the difference between helping and interfering is a big part of my counseling role. Sometimes people have to work through their trauma to emerge on the other side, and we shouldn’t interrupt that process.
In my sessions with recovering addicts, I want to help make positive change, but then find myself simply patching over the consequences of negative behavior, without impacting the underlying issues.
We can find ourselves sleepwalking into situations and before we have a chance to “wake up” the door slams and we’re trapped. I’m sure you recognize these dilemmas.
Thank you again for serving up such food for thought.
On another matter, the Fairway Players have just cast their next play—The Hollow by Agatha Christie—and I have a leading role (as an eccentric, sixty-something aristocrat).
I wonder, have you ever thought of joining the group?
You have a wonderful voice and that’s a good start for acting.
God bless, Fran
To: Fran Elroy-Jones
From: Rev. Joshua Harries
Date: January 7, 2025
Subject: Re: Hello
Dear Fran,
Thank you for your lovely email and kind words. I spend all week crafting my sermon, then the rest of Sunday wondering if my words have been heard in the way I intended.
I didn’t realize you worked with recovering addicts. As you say, difficult not to become so personally involved that one’s own well-being is eroded. Does your employer provide support?
I’ve never been tempted to join the Fairways.
They are not strictly a church group, although I understand from our treasurer that they’ve been resident at the hall for so long they enjoy a preferential rate of hire.
But amateur drama requires a good deal of commitment and I can’t become too involved in one community group to the detriment of others.
I never miss a show though, even those that deal with difficult content like the last one.
I look forward to seeing you master the eccentric aristocrat, which I have no doubt you will.
Yours truly, Rev. Joshua Harries
To: Rev. Joshua Harries
From: Fran Elroy-Jones
Date: January 7, 2025