The Rule of Three....

It's an old saying that everything happens in threes, and this has certainly proved true for the current Apollo production of The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter.

Shortly after casting, one member unfortunately had to turn down the offer of a role; then sadly Joe Plumb fell ill and had to relinquish the role of Stanley; now we have to report illness has also meant Rod Jones has had to step down as Petey, meaning three roles have had to be re-cast during the production. All for very good reasons, but a potential headache for the director, Marylyn Ford.

Thankfully, all the parts have been taken up by experienced and very talented actors, so the old adage that 'the show must go on' has remained true: the Apollo Players would like to welcome Simon Cardew to the role of Petey and thank him for stepping in at such short notice.

So if you do see him on stage with a script as a 'comfort blanket', please bear in mind that he has joined the show with two weeks to go before opening night! And if he is word perfect, he will deserve a huge accolade!

The teamwork and mutual support:onstage, backstage and front of house is a wonderful feature of the Apollo Theatre - it's one of the reasons why we enjoy being members. Another reason is that we can all participate in putting together a truly entertaining evening for our audiences.

So, on with the show - all we need now are audience members to come and enjoy the fruits of our labour: seats are being snapped up rapidly so with less than two weeks to go, make sure that you secure your tickets here:

http://www.apollo-theatre.org.uk/the-birthday-party/

The Birthday Party runs from 1 - 9 April. See you there!

Simon Cardew (right) as Petey, with Sue Edwards as Meg and Pete Harris as Stanley.
Picture courtesy of Paul Jennings