You’ll Exit Laughing at Rockdale

The Guild Theatre launches its 2016 season with a riotous comedy that unites both the old and the new. Veterans of the group work together with aspiring young actors in this fun play, to provide an evening of laughs and a little sentiment.

Exit Laughing by Paul Elliott is a comedy about starting afresh and living life to the fullest.

For 30 years four ladies meet for a weekly bridge game lead by the indomitable Mary. Connie, Leona and Millie are at a loss as to how to get on with their lives after Mary, the life-of-the-party and true adventurer in their close-knit group passes away. They embark on a desperate attempt to capture the memory of Mary for one last bridge game in her honour. What unfolds is an uproarious celebration of life’s possibilities, through unexpected events that promise to have audiences gasping and wondering where it will go next.

Exit Laughing is the first production for 2016, a year which heralds 50 years that The Guild Theatre has been situated at Walz Street, Rockdale. The very first production staged there was Quality Street and Allanah Jarman, playing Leona, was a part of that first production. A seasoned actress, Allanah says she still has to struggle to keep a straight face during the outrageously funny lines and situations in this play. While it is a comedy from beginning to end, Allanah points out that it also touches on something we all have to deal with at some time in our lives – the death of a good friend – and shows a novel and surprising twist that uplifts the spirit. She believes audiences will love how it all pans out and will be talking about it for a long time.

Allanah is joined by another veteran of the Guild theatre, Val Farrow, who plays the role of Millie. After 27 years acting onstage at the Guild Theatre, Val points out she still has her work cut out for her. The challenge in this play – to make the character believable, even though she is quite empty-headed.

Kathy Goddard rounds off the trio as the third member of this experienced group of actresses. Playing Connie, a single mum to her daughter Rachel (new Guild member Danica Taylor), Kathy says “When it comes to playing a comic role, I don’t plan anything. I run on instinct and let the character unfold.”

This is the type of play where all the actors enjoy the comic jibing and camaraderie as each of their characters are tested to the limit. The unexpected turn of events is largely represented by Bobby, played by Jack Stout, who arrives with some outrageous surprises.

Susan Stapleton