'The Soldier & The Woman'
by Elaine Morgan
venue
Shakespeare House
Dates
7th - 9th March 1996
Directors
Alan Smith & Mark Hopwell
Alan Smith would go on to direct many productions for Derby Shakespeare Theatre company but his first was this in-house production of Elaine Morgan's 'The Soldier & The Woman' which he co-directed with Mark Hopwell, also one of DSTC's leading actors of the 1990s.
The show marked the first time the newly refurbished studio theatre space in Shakespeare House had been used for a production and it was wonderfully suited to serve as the intimate setting of the stable where Rachel, mother to a murdered son during King Herod's massacre of the innocents, fatefully meets a soldier who has mutinied and fled the slaughter.
The cast were uniformly excellent and Shakespeare House has periodically been used for small-scale productions such as this ever since.
All photographs taken by Tony Eycott.
Crew
Directors - Alan Smith & Mark Hopwell
Lighting - Simon Ling & Steve Foster
Props - Nicky Lambert
Costume Design - Lynda Smith, Melanie Hopwell & Charlotte Palmer
Stage Manager - Pete Harrington
Set Design - Pete Harrington & Vicky Barker
Set Construction - Paul Harrington, Matt Sharratt, Melanie Hopwell, Charlotte Palmer, Flora Palmer & Richard Ault
Front Of House - Pete Harrington, Lorna Harrington, Brian Stokes & Martin Tepper
Refreshments - Flora Palmer
Cast
Simon - David Howes
Rachel - Natalie Lesser
Officer - Keith Walker
Soldier - Edward Wood