The Cicala Players - Who goes there?

The Cicala Players in: Who goes there? By John Dighton Staged: - 13-16 April 1955 at Chanticleer Theatre London For their Spring 1955 performance, the Cicala Players choose a play by John Dighton “Who goes there”. A three-act comedy, the production is staged over three nights in April. We have seen that since setting sail in 1947, this amateur group has chosen a variety of venues in and around London, ranging from West End theatres to much smaller theatres. In 1955 – being somewhat strapped for cash – the group chooses a small theatre, the Chanticleer, which belongs to a local acting school and is situated not far from Gloucester Road Station. Here they find that despite only having an audience capacity of about a hundred, the Chanticleer is accommodating, friendly, and much suited to the needs of the Cicala Players. The following write-up from Martins Bank Magazine heaps much praise upon the group, and the quality of their actors, and judging by the photographs of the production there certainly seems to have been a high degree of drama on offer… In an earnest endeavour to cut their coat according to the cloth the Cicala Players found the Chanticleer Theatre, two blocks away from Gloucester Road Station. This cosy little theatre, which seats about 100 people, belongs to the Webber-Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art and, especially in its social amenities, is a distinct improvement on anything the Players have yet used. Everything is so friendly and homely and although away from the West End the theatre is very easy of access.
The play chosen for the Spring Show was John Dighton's ‘Who Goes There?’ and it was presented for four nights, April 13-16. This three-act comedy was excellently performed and provided healthy evidence of the independence of the company of any monopoly of talent, for although the loss of Ernest Yates, following his promotion to Guernsey, seemed grievous at the time from the point of view of comic roles, we have in Tony Garland a truly excellent successor, albeit different in style. His portrayal of the Guardsman made him the star of the show. George Kent, who played the part of the Guards Officer, seemed more natural, more convincing and more at home in the part than in anything else in which we have seen him. He looked every inch a soldier and his bearing throughout contrasted admirably with that of the Guardsman—the officer class as against the private soldier. Helena Fones, better known to some of us as Helena Currie, gets full marks for her portrayal of the Irish girl. She never once slipped up on her accent, sustaining it admirably throughout a long part.		Helena Fones, John Cross and Tony Garland

Helena Fones, John Cross, Margaret O’Neill, George Kent and Tony Garland	Surely, she must have some Irish blood in her somewhere, for it all came so naturally! But she says not. John Cross also gave us one of his best performances as the Fourth Secretary with a weakness for a pretty face. His scheming sister was played by Margaret O'Neill naturally and easily, as though managing a wayward brother was an everyday occurrence.		Helena Fones, Clive Hamilton, Margaret O’Neill and Eric Webster
The part of the father of these two was played by Clive Hamilton. It was only a small part but he played it with dignity, and the incident where he borrowed the tobacco with which he had just presented his son and then absent mindedly pocketed it was a little gem. The serving man was portrayed by Eric Webster who had no easy task on this tiny stage, but he managed it acceptably nevertheless. We understand that even under the new conditions it is impossible to avoid a slight loss which will be covered by membership subscriptions, but it would be nice if we could solve the problem of selling all the seats on the first two nights. M Sep3M