Blue Remembered Hills

Info
The second half of Stage-door's double bill was Blue Remembered Hills, written by Dennis Potter. Written originally for Television Blue Remembered Hills is a story about childhood, the "land of lost content" of Housman's verses. The characters are young children but Potter's twist here is that they are not played by child actors. Instead it is adult actors that fill the roles, giving that ripple to the surface of naturalism we expect from Potter. The child characters portrayed are aged sevenat about the same time Potter himself would have been that age in 1943 and the play is set in the area where he grew up, The Forest of Dean. It is not however, nostalgically autobiographical. His vision of the childhood of the 1940's is far from romanticised and provides a deep insight into the way the human mind and emotions work - at whatever age.

"Into my heart, an air that kills

From yon far country blows

What are those blue remembered hills

What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content

I see it shining plain.

The happy highways where I went

And cannot come again."

Cast
Willie - Dave Humphrey Peter - Mark Roberts John - Dave Knight Raymond - John Perry Angela - Lyndsey Bowen Audrey - Fiona Humphrey

Donald - Marcus Carlisle

Crew
Director - Carole Davis Stage Manager - Ricky Davey Backstage Crew - Mike Gearing, Gary Boniface and Tony Makey Lighting - Sholto Pringle-Pattison Film Sequences and Sound Effects - Sholto Pringle-Pattison and Marcus Carlisle Fight Choreography - Chris Davey Set Design/Construction - Sholto Pringle-Pattison, Ricky Davey and Mike Gearing Publicity - Micki Darbyshire and Dave Humphrey

Posters/Programs - Joy Covey and Tony Makey

Awards
Stage-door Best Performance Award - Marcus Carlisle (Donald)