Bitter Sanctuary

Venue : Redditch Palace Theatre

Date : June 1991

Genre : Play

Director

Angela Smith
Assistant Director

Cast

Roger Warren
Carol

Estelle Shutkever
Mme Kapek

Mike Beamish
Stefan

Paul Cherry
Michael

Jenny Turton
Maria

Mark Beavon
Jan Kapek

Val Archer

Val Archer
Miss Carpenter

Crew

no profile image

Bill Arris
Set Realisation

Gerry Solomon
Stage Manager

Jonathan Prior
Assistant Stage Manager

Steve O’Hara
Assistant Stage Manager

Anthony Pullen
Assistant Stage Manager

Anne Cherry
Properties

Joy Rodgers
Costumes

Val Archer

Val Archer
Choreography

Jack Parramore
House Manager

Crew

Bill Arris
Set Realisation

Gerry Solomon
Stage Manager

Jonathan Prior
Assistant Stage Manager

Steve O’Hara
Assistant Stage Manager

Anthony Pullen
Assistant Stage Manager

Anne Cherry
Properties

Joy Rodgers
Costumes

Val Archer
Choreography

Jack Parramore
House Manager

Production Gallery

Production Reviews

Bitter Sweet Tale of Refugees

Imagine sharing a room the size of your lounge with two other families, jostling with them for the bathroom every morning, listening to their rows and love making.

Try putting yourself in this position and you'll be half way to understanding the misery and frustration of the latest production from the Wythall Theatre Company at the Palace Theatre.

Bitter Sanctuary by Rosemary Anne Sisson is set in a refugee camp somewhere in Europe in the 1960s.

The play focuses on one family's attempts to stay together and maintain dignity and pride in the inhuman surroundings.

All this would have been fine except for the fact the families in question were English. I sat through it trying to think of a time in history when the English were driven from their homeland.

In the end I decided it would have been more credible if the cast had donned some sort of mid European accents.

Saying all that, the group made the best of a slow and quite depressing play.

Mike Beamish and Beryl Linforth with Paul Cherry and Jenny Turton as their children gave excellent performances as the main family, struggling through until they could start a new life in Australia.

Also worthy of praise was the set which was cleverly and attractively constructed, despite being on a tight budget.

Jane Tyler, Redditch Advertiser