Intrigue, romance and drama in seaside play

SussexWorld

Robert Winter is playwright, co-director and also an actor for the latest production from the Pagham Players.

Transcript

00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Now an

00:06 exceptionally busy time for Robert Winter with the Pagan Players. Robert, you are the

00:11 playwright, you are the co-director, and you are also acting in your own play Chatterbugs!

00:17 with an exclamation mark, which is at Pagan Village Hall on May 17th and 18th. Now, your

00:24 debut play, what prompted you to write this play then?

00:28 I think one of the main reasons was the fact I was looking to have a play available for

00:34 our group that would give everybody the opportunity to have a part in the play. And as it's quite

00:41 difficult to source a play script that incorporates up to 20 different actors, I really thought,

00:50 okay, I'm going to have to write something myself and try and include parts that I knew

00:56 would be a good fit for the people in our Pagan Players group. So, in a particular age

01:02 demographic, and yeah, just making sure that everybody would have a part to play and some

01:08 involvement.

01:09 At what point did it become clear that you weren't just going to be the playwright, you

01:13 were going to be in it and co-directing as well?

01:16 Yeah, I think at an early stage, I knew I wanted to be in my own play. So the parts

01:23 I wrote myself was probably a larger part than I had originally intended, but it kind

01:28 of grew from one thing to another as the story progressed. The co-directing aspect came as

01:35 a later decision. And it was suggested by a few people in the group, perhaps you'd like

01:42 to direct your own play. And the more I thought about it, the more I got used to the idea

01:48 and I thought, yeah, why not? Let's give it a go.

01:52 Absolutely. And we should say something about the play. It's a wartime drama, a Second World

01:56 War drama, in which clearly an awful lot seems to be happening.

02:00 Yeah, definitely a lot going on. It's set in a fictional seaside resort called Withersea,

02:07 not unlike Bogner Regis. So it's got its own pier, and there's a guest house and a hair

02:14 salon. So lots of places where the action can unfold. But it's about a hairdresser,

02:22 Lillian Kreswick, who's been separated from her son. And it's really about her battle

02:27 to be reunited with her son. And that takes her down various different aspects, such as

02:35 she's blackmailed into spying on behalf of the Nazis, giving away military secrets to

02:41 the Germans. She has a romance with a fellow called Alfred, who's a First World War veteran

02:51 suffering from shell shock. And there's a group of local women who are on the lookout

02:57 for clues of any fifth column or traitorous activity within Withersea. So there's a bit

03:06 of a Dad's Army aspect to the play.

03:09 So there are comedic moments, but it's not a comedy. It's a pretty serious drama, is

03:15 it?

03:16 Yeah, it's definitely got a serious side. So there are moments of extreme drama, but

03:22 there are a bit of light and shade. There's some lighthearted elements to the play as

03:29 well, without lots of outright joke telling. There are things that people, I think, find

03:36 quite amusing, based on the way characters work together and bounce off each other. So

03:43 I think it would be a fun laugh.

03:46 It's Chatterbugs then, from the Pagan Players on May 17th and 18th in Pagan Village. Robert,

03:51 lovely to speak to you. Congratulations on the play and good luck with the production

03:55 and all your various involvements with it.

03:57 Thank you very much.

03:59 [ Silence ]

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