The Cast
On Saturday, Sanday’s Drama Group took us back twenty years to a couple of the last sailings of the mv ‘Orcadia’.
The plot of ‘Two Ships Passing’ was entirely home-grown, and it began with bar steward, Robbie (Raymond Dempster) introducing us to a set that was simple but cleverly located across the middle of the Hall. We sat, on either side, looking up at the below-decks saloon as though sitting in flit-boats looking through transparent sides of the boat; a feeling enhanced by the low background throb of the engines. Next year, the boat would be replaced by the ro-ro Earls at Loth terminal; meanwhile we travelled with the ‘Orcadia’ on her way to Kettletoft pier.
But there were another two ships passing. Mandy (Kate Howe), a young mother escaping a ‘Rat’ rather than the ‘Rat-race’ in London, had a rather dreamy idea about the ‘country cottage’ her soon-to-be-ex husband had bought for her…
She had uprooted her two ill-mannered, streetwise teenaged daughters (Aelfleda Clackson and Lena-Alice Thomson) against their will from London, to start a new life which she imagined would be in a rose-covered cottage with a white picket fence, just like ‘The Little House on the Prairie’ video she carried in her bag. Mandy had just met Magnus (Graham Clarke, who has established himself as a ‘must’ in Sanday drama since one of his early, kilted appearances singing ‘Donald where’s yir troosers’ many moons ago). Magnus was a young Sanday man who had recently decided to sell his house in order to see a bit more of the world. Almost immediately it was apparent, though, that he had taken a fancy to Mandy and – despite ‘the brats’ – might be having second thoughts. He did his best to comfort the seasick Mandy, but couldn’t help rhapsodising about the full ‘Orcadia’ breakfast….
From the start we were aware of another passenger on the boat – a self-possessed young lady called Fran (Lesley McLean) surrounded by her research papers, busy writing, but listening too. We discovered that she was making her first visit to Sanday, to inspect the ancestral family home, to which she held the title deeds. Unlike Mandy, she had done plenty of homework before her visit.
Tony Cawthorne suited a cameo part as passenger Bill, who looked as though he might be interested in Fran. Instead he appeared to content himself with putting the cat among the pigeons by identifying the house-photograph as Newbiggin, thereby leading to the climax and fade-out of the first Act, with all three protagonists claiming “It’s my house/hoose”
After the interval, Robbie brought us up to date – it was a fortnight later, and the boat had just left Kettletoft. Fran had had her expectations confirmed – Sanday was not for her – but Mandy’s girls had fallen in love with the island. Their mother, despondent, was taking them back to London; it seemed that Fran was bent on keeping Newbiggin so that her unborn child would have a heritage. Magnus was not, after all, able to capitalise on a house-sale to enable him to expand his horizons. He’d persuaded the shipping company to give him back his job as purser on the “Orcadia’.
Curtain Call
It fell to Mona (Ute Clackson), a disillusioned small-farmer, to provide the denouement. Her inspection of the title deeds revealed that Fran had inherited the remains of an original Newbiggin. Magnus’ house had first been named Upper Newbiggin, over time it had become simply Newbiggin. So, after all, Magnus would be able to sell and Mandy to buy. But would they do so?
The ingenious plot gave us all pause for reflection on the ways in which ‘incomers’ are absorbed into a small population. The passage in the second act, with Magnus and Mandy alternating in their contrasting reflections of their recent homes, culminating in them both realising that island life brings a great sense of security as well as community, was perhaps the play’s strongest message. Another dimension was brought home to us when we considered that cast and stage-crew was a mixture of folk – some had been born on Sanday, and others had moved here within the last few years.
As the lights faded out, we were left with Mandy and Magnus looking at each other….. and Robbie asked us “Do you want to know what happened to them?” Would one be staying, the other leaving? Of course we wanted to know, but Robbie was firm – “You’ll have to work that out for yourselves.”
Many thanks and congratulations to all the cast and the technical crew, and to Director Alan Cameron, He explained that after their first meeting back in September, the team – working in three groups – developed their own ideas for a story, and then for a first scene. These ideas were shared until a vote was taken to decide on the most popular theme, and even after that it was possible to include the agreed best parts from all contributors. The evolution of the play was therefore a real educational experience, and the result a resounding success.
Roderick Thorne
Photographs:
1. At the Bar, L to R:
Graham Clarke, Ute Clackson, Kate Howe, Tony Cawthorne, Lesley McLean,Aelfleda Clackson, Raymond Dempster, Lena-Alice Thomson
2. Curtain call; L to R:
Raymond Dempster, Kate Howe, Graham Clarke, Aelfleda Clackson,Lena-Alice Thomson, Ute Clackson, Lesley McLean
