Spring 2007: 3 One-Act Plays

“Expert in Flowers” by Krista Jaquet
Directed by Krista Jaquet
Expert in Flowers is a fresh mix of a  psychological drama and a musical play. It's about four mid-lifers dealing with the sudden death of their wife / close friend, Vivi. They are shaken; the shock pushes them out of their familiar behaviours and roles. Through tears and giggles, excitement and numbness, they realize that a part of them is gone. Their relationship to Vivi brought something out of them all - good and bad - that no one else ever will. Nothing is the same as before.

Cast (in order of appearance):
Vivi – Deirdre Hertog-Buurman
Pascal – David Cox
Sonya – Zuzana Cox
Larry – Michael Clarke
Tammy – Sasha Buff

Muisic composed by Helen Super and Ueli Afflerbach
Lyrics by Krista Jaquet

NOTE: "Expert in Flowers" was Semi-Circle's entry into the 2007 FEATS (Festival of European Anglophone Theatre Societies) in The Hague.

“Shop for Charity” by Charles Mander
Directed by Diana Zuger
This amusing play is about the value of charity shops: do they really help the Third World or are they a sop to the consciences of the middleclass people who run them?  Brenda needs the shop as a refuge from her imaginary attackers.  Her fellow workers need it to give them a sense of importance. Mr Galbraith visits it because no-one else will tolerate him, and his biblical ranting provokes Doris to consider the true nature of charity. If it begins at home, where does it end?

The cast:
Hilda (Susan Aeschbach) - The manageress. Middle-aged.
Brenda (Joy Scherer) - Extravagant-looking woman gone to seed because of alcohol.
Doris (Penny Rettig) - Middle-aged, kind hearted woman.
Mrs. Pike (Valerie Walder) - Frail elderly woman, very deaf.
Mr Galbraith (Eric Collino) - Elderly scruffy, tramp-like person

“The Celebration” by Anton Chekhov (translated by Eric Bentley)
Directed by Jamie Sievert
Anton Chekhov is one of the greatest playwrights to have ever lived. Chekhov wrote a number of one-act plays. They are generally farces and "The Celebration" is no exception. A bank president is derailed in his attempt to celebrate the bank's anniversary by an insolent employee, a frivolous wife and a demanding client.

The cast:
Kuzma Nikolayevitch Hirin - (Andrew Thompson) - cashier of the bank. An irritable old man.
Andrey Andreyevitch Shipuchin - (Chris Morrison) - president of the bank. A vain, middle-aged man.
Tatian Alexeyevna - (Deirdre Hertog) - Shipuchin’s wife.
Nastasia Fiodorovna Merchutkin - (Natacha Berthelon) - A client of the bank.
Bank Board Member - (Peter Hilton)