HALF A SIXPENCE
Directed by Mark Jones

CAST

Kipps - Keith Madden
Ann - Brainne Edge
Chitterlow - Barry Callander
Sid - Dax Owen
Buggins - Miles Cahalin
Pearce - Paul Carr
Flo - Lorraine Sullivan
Victoria - Zoe Duffin
Emma - Julie Norris
Kate - Lesley Nicholson
Mr Shalford - Alan Pearson
Mrs Botting - Kathleen Ashworth
Mrs Walshingham - Renee Clitheroe
Helen - Karen Thompson
Young Walshingham - Tom Cohen
Edith - Stephanie Brown
Mr Jones - Alan Levesley
Photographer - Allan Mayer
Gwendolin - Alison Mayer


The time is the turn of the century and the place is an attractive seaside resort in the south of England. Young Kipps and his fellow apprentices work for a businessman whose tightfistedness inspires the song, "All in the Cause of Economy"
Kipps' main concern is his girl Ann, to whom he gives half a sixpence as a lover's token. At this happy moment, they sing the lilting title song. Their romance is upset when Kipps suddenly inherits a large fortune and is swept away by new friends
Asked what he'll do with his fortune, Kipps sings an exciting song entitled "Money to Burn." As he is about to marry a society girl, he encounters his first girl and she offers him back the half sixpence
Kipps comes to a maturity out of his true love and finds both happiness and himself

NODA review by Colin Magenty

At the best of times this show would be difficult to present on a small stage like the one at the Little Theatre, but this time the minimalist set did not help. They are used a lot these days, but it didn't totally come off this time. We had lighting gremlins on several occasions during the show which left the faces of the actors in the dark. There are nine scenes in the first act alone and we lost continuity during the scene changes. This was the first night so I'm sure some of these things will be rectified. The long scene changes especially.
We had some good performances and those of the shop boys, Dax Owen, Milea Cahalin and Paul Carr were good examples. The harmony of the boys in ‘Economy’ was spot on. The shop girls were smashing, especially their dancing which was up to their high standard. My congratulations to Lorraine Sullivan, Zoe Duffin, Julie Norris and Lesley Nicholson.
The stage and pace lifted when Chitterlow came on, played very well by Barry Callander. All the three Walshingham family members gave creditable performances; Renee Clitheroe as the Mother, Tom Cohen as the son and a lovely performance by Karen Thompson as Helen. We had a strong portrayal of Shalford by Mr Alan Pearson and an excellent performance by Brainne Edge as Anne and a sustained if not a convincing performance by Keith Madden as Kipps. I thought that the lack of a cockney accent made it hard for him and us, as his accent was not much different from that of the ‘posh people’ plus the part was played on one level throughout and needed much more light and shade emotionally. As it was, it gave him nowhere to go when his world falls apart. Still a very entertaining evening. My thanks to all concerned and for the society’s hospitality toward Enid and myself.