My History of the Stockholm Players.
Written by Rose-Marie Bonnevier.
CHAPTER ONE:
In 1966 the group called B.A.D.S. decided to change their constitution ; previously it had been a very closed
society for British people only and mostly Embassy personnel. The new constitution said that the group would
be open for all nationalities interested in English speaking theatre, and the groups name was changed to THE
STOCKHOLM PLAYERS.
In the autumn of 1966 I went to see "The Love of Four Colonels " by Peter Ustinov at Apollo Theatre and was
enthralled with a brilliant performance by Ray Huldt , and contacted her to ask if I could become a member. In
those days there were very few Players, I have an auditors report from those days saying we had twenty members
paying a yearly subscription of twenty kronor! After Christmas the committee announced they were going to
perform "You Never Can Tell " by Bernard Shaw. Philip Benson directed and Ray Huldt was stage manager, we
rehearsed at the American Embassy and played at Narren Theatre, now called Comedi Teater, on Djurgården.
Two young Americans had arrived, Bob and Peggy Plotkin, who both proved to be a wonderful asset to the
Players. Peggy was a professional actress living in Stockholm with her husband who worked at the American
Embassy , Bob was a brilliant photographer and I have some lovely photos from the productions in which he was
involved. 1 was given a small part and for the first time in my life I played "in the round" quite an experience!
The Players gave four performances and we had a very good write up in Dagens Nyheter.
Peter Salzer reminded me that we did a rehearsed play reading of 'Under Milk Wood" at the British Embassy
and that we in fact played before Royalty in 1967.
In the autumn Peggy thought it would be fun to direct a real classic, "She Stoops To Conquer" by Oliver
Goldsmith. I was stage manager for the production as well as playing a small part Suddenly we found we had
problems, a shortage of men! Peggy was a very determined young lady and managed to talk round the various
men, who had said they wouldn't a) have the time, that b) his wife didn't like him to be out so much ,c) he didn't
think he could learn the lines and d) he didn't think his mother would approve of him playing the part! But Peggy
worked on them all, even took the wife out to lunch to explain how important it was that she allowed her
husband to play the part and rehearsals started. Once again we played at Narren Theatre, and once again in the
round , quite a challenge for the lighting chaps, and yet again a glowing report in Dagens Nyheter.
March 1968 it was time for another production and we decided to do two one act plays, again at Narren, we
liked it there, a small cosy theatre , pretty good dressing rooms and playing in the round was proving very
popular. Peggy Plotkin produced "The American Dream" and Brian Kemp, an Englishman working for Shell,
here in Stockholm, directed "A Resounding Tinkle" by N.F. Simpson. The second play was an Absurd Comedy
and very difficult for the actors to learn their lines! Luckily Dick and Van Saxton , a wonderful married pair ,
said they rehearsed their absurd lines at night in bed ! Our group was growing and we were all involved every
one had something to do to make the plays a success.
In December 1968 it was time for "Blithe Spirit" by Noel Coward, directed by Dennis Gotobed. Pelle Bonnevier
and Bob Plotkin had their work set out organising the spooky lighting but it all worked and once again "In the
round" Peggy was brilliant as Elvira , the part suited her perfectly with her beautiful red hair floating round her
shoulders, Ray played Ruth to delicious perfection , and Van as Madame Arcati had to be seen to be believed. I
had the part of the maid. Edith . I wanted to know where the prompt would be sitting and Dennis said that was
something we would have to live without. It really was a well produced play and imagine our suprise and delight
when we were approached by The Swedish British Society with a request for a shortened version to be
performed before a dinner at which King Gustav IX Adolf would be the honoured guest. Naturally we were all
very nervous and I said I was quite sure I would say "du" to the King, but we were reassured that he would talk
to us in English and on no account were we to talk to long in reply to his questions otherwise the dinner would
get cold! So my little claim to fame is that I have been presented to the Swedish King in my night-dress with a
bandage wrapped round my head. He talked to us all asking us each something about the play , my question was,
was it difficult to learn my part and I just stammered No.
This was an exciting start to 1969 and Dennis Gotobed suggested that we had a Play Festival during the year,
doing four short plays would involve all the Players. April 28th for a one night stand at A.B.F. Sveavagen, we
did 1 ) Extracts from Macbeth, 2) The Ladder by Howard 3) April Dawn by Johnson and 4) "The Lover" by
Pinter. Sadly I have no programme from that hilarious evening. Macbeth was directed by a very nice Indian
gentleman who had never done anything like this before, had a very mixed cast. Macbeth was played by an
American called Steve Benson , who was very good, I played Lady Macbeth but the supporting cast had never
been on stage before so it ended very abruptly when the five men on stage ALL forgot their lines! Pelle had
asked about the lighting and was told it had to be dark!!! He had also the script in front of him waiting for the
cue to close the curtains, but of course it didn't come and the cast fled from the stage, the audience where
STUNNED! "The Ladder" was produced by a very vivacious American girl , always well made up, always in
very up to date clothes we were so suprised to find out she was super religious , so her play had a religious moral
to tell. Then came my efiort " April Dawn" a very light comedy which the audience appreciated, so finally "The
Lover" directed by Bo Gyllenpalm, a young talented Swede who had joined our group.
It was a wonderful performance and the audience applauded long and loud a complete walk over for, directing,
acting, and scenery.
In the Autumn we produced four sketches at Medborgskolan " A Marriage has been arranged " by Alfred Sutro.
"Come and Go " by Samuel Beckett. "The stronger " By August Strindberg and "The Dear Departed " by
Stanley Houghton
So ended the sixties and we set our sights on productions for 1970.
CHAPTER TWO: The seventies.
In 1970 our production of "The Real Inspector Hound" was performed at A.B.F. house. Peggy Plotkin directed
this wonderful play, Steve , our American actor played in a wheel chair and Bo had built a ramp so that Steve
could roll down onto the stage. The ramp had to be pretty steep to fit onto the stage, and during rehearsals Steve
flew down and the hand grip snapped, luckily he wasn't holding it otherwise there could have been a very nasty
accident. At one point the Inspector had to come in "from the marshes" and the script called for "Swamp Boots"
I designed overshoes with a large piece of frigolite , shaped , painted and glued on to the soles. What I hadn't
realised was that the glue was the wrong sort so after a few days every one was going around wondering what the
awful smell was. It was the glue versus the frigolite, a smell never to be forgotten. Still we solved the problem by
having them firmly packed in a large plastic sack. Micheal Palmer put them on, walked across the stage and off
the other side where I was waiting with another plastic bag to catch them again! Martin Fowler and Kim
Loughran played the critics Roger Bone ,working at the British Embassy as third secretary returned in 1996 as
the British Ambassador here in Stockholm , Janet Enghardt, Ann Parsons, Florence Videmyr all gave great
performances. After the show was over Peggy announced that we had all been invited to fly to Umeå to give a
special performance, what an honour we all thought and excitedly started preparing for the big trip. We duly
arrived in Umeå and settled into our hotel, however a shock awaited us and the arrangers. Sweden was in the Ice
Hockey Final so who wanted to come and see an English play?
We had a very small audience and very red faced organisers, they've never dared ask us again, but we enjoyed
ourselves! On our return Peggy asked me what I had done with the famous Swamp Boots and I just grinned and
said I had put them in the rubbish bin at the hotel!
December 1970 we returned to A.B.F. to perform "The Hostage" by Brendan Behan, directed by Peggy and the
cast had great fun and once again we played to appreciative audiences. Looking at the large cast list I see that
there are four members from that time still active in the Players.
April 1971 we booked into A.B.F. house again for a performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee
Williams. It was directed by Martin Fowler, a brilliant mathematician who worked for I.B.M. Peggy Plotkin
played the lead, Blanche Du Bois and was breath taking. David Lones joined the Players and played a young
newpaper subscription collector , the scene between him and Peggy is one I'll never forget . He came on stage all
shy and blushing when Peggy greeted him with, "Oh Young Young Man" and proceeded to plant a long hungry
kiss on his virginal lips, David confided in me afterwards that he wished the play had had a longer run. Martin
Fowler was a very talented person, he had worked in the theatre in England as a stage manager and had many
stories to tell about being "on tour" with a company, rushing hours ahead of the rest to find all the necessary
props in the next town. He was a brilliant producer with very definite ideas, he could be quietly stubborn to get
his ideas across, but they always worked. He was also a phenomenal actor and we missed him very much when
he ieft for England in 1980.
December 1st 1971 we opened at A.B.F. house with "The Importance Of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde. Ray
Huldt was an impressive Lady Bracknell not having the programme sadly I can't say who directed, but I rather
think it was Dennis Gotobed, a writer, who wrote many scripts for English Course programmes for Swedish
Radio. I was not involved with this production having just produced my daughter Samantha in the September ,
but by January I was raring to go again and got the part of Sister Helena, in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie " by
Jay Presson Allen , adapted from the novel by Muriel Spark. Martin said I had to be on stage ALL the time, so I
was seated downstage right, in a high backed chair waiting for the story to move forward to the present time,
where I was being interviewed by a young reporter, telling him of my time at school. As 1 had just recovered
from a cold I found it very difficult at times to stop coughing. Sue Geddes played the young school girl who at
one point stood on a chair supposedly in the nude to be painted by a young artist, played by Rocky Molloy. It
was all very cleverly done though Sue came in for a bit of teasing about it.
ln my archives I have a telegram from Gustaf IX Adolf thanking us for our greetings sent to him on the occasion
of his 90t" birthday dated 18.11.1972. This was also the year when Ray stepped down from being Chairman and
Florence Videmyr took over.
In 1973 we gave a performance of "The Public Eye" by Peter Shaffer at the American Information Centre which
was then near Odenplan. This play was directed by Sue Geddes , stage managed by Janet Enghardt , an
American social worker and with a cast of three, Martin Fowler, David Lones and Jeanette Hicks, an English
school teacher. Then we had a "resting " period apart from play readings we did very little, due possibly to the
fact we had so few men in the group! So at one committee meeting I said we should go ahead and do a, women
only, play but of course which one? We finally found " The killing of Sister George" by Frank Marcus , Martin
read it, liked it and set about directing. It was a very good play and Florence took on the part originally written
for Beryl Reid. We hired in March 1974 , the Marionette theatre which was then on Rorstrandsgatan, now sadly
a shop. Martin insisted that " Alice" wore a blonde wig which we didn't really like but he was director! I notice
as I'm writing these notes the prices of tickets are slowly going up, from 5 kr in '66 now 10 kr in '74! The
following year, January 1975 , we once again performed at the Marionette 'Theatre, 4which had now moved to
St Eriksplan the price was l 5skr. "Blue Comedy" by Paul Ableman , two one act plays directed by Martin
Fowler.
Then in May that year (1975 ) we presented "The Reluctant Debutante" by William Douglas-Home at
Kagelbanan. Mosebacketorg , once again I designed the poster, but sadly have no programme (check this out) In
October of that year, we gave an evenings performance for Radda Barnens Lokalforening in Djursholm. "A
Marriage has been arranged " by Alfred Sutro "Come and Go" by Samuel Beckett, "The Stronger" by August
Strindberg and " The Dear Departed" by Stanley Houghton, I have got a very nice letter from the chairman Berit
Aman thanking us for our excellent performance.
1976 Jackie Crampton came into our lives. A very lively and dedicated actress with new ideas about production
and direction. In April we were at Marionette Theatre on St Eriksplan , I believe it is a disco now, such a shame.
She choose "Too True To Be Good" by Bernard Shaw , her set designs were very original and worked extremely
well. I remember crawling around the floor at rehearsals painting a huge gauze net that was let down over the
bed at the beginning of the play. Jackie and Martin did a translation of "Fordringsagare" that is "The Creditors"
by August Strindberg. They gave six performances at the Strindberg museum , in August and then two lunch
time performances for Stockhohns Kulturnamden at Kulturhuset and one for a private society. Looking at the
handwritten accounts I see they reckoned to make 5.476.kr 50 ore profit. We had a very good publicity piece in
Pa Stan with three lovely photos. Rocky Molloy, an American working with Martin at IBM looks so like
Strindberg it's fantastic.
Jackie left that year to continue her studies in America and we were sad to see her go and wondered what would
happen next, people go but some how things happen so that we can always continue. Martin Fowler was voted in
as Chairman and Richard Withers came on the scene. I-Ie was a qualified director and said he would be only too
willing to direct, so the choice was "Little Boxes " by John Bowen two one act plays that called for a house on
stage! Luckily Pelle Bonnevierjust happened to be the agent for Vectur scaffolding so that was no problem! i
The real problem was a long staircase which had to be built for the actors to walk down from one floor to the
stage. But it was made! We performed at Skarholmens Gymnasium and I remember being driven by Pelle in a
snowstorm with all the flats piled on the roof.
That was the first play where I "died" and I remember lying in bed on the stage keeping very still as I had just
died of a heart attack , I got teased by my "husband" as we started the scene tucked up in bed together! After the
show was over we struck the set but didn't know what to do with the stage staircase, so we tiptoed away leaving
it at the school, I sometimes wonder what they did with it!
Then came a real recession. several professional producers , our own David Lones among them, suddenly
realised that Stockholm was a gold mine for English T'heatre! All of a sudden there were , in addition to The
Stockhohn Players , two professional companies that were based in Stockholm competing for what was more or
less the same public as ourselves. They were playing in three pennanent theatres , The Regina, The King's
Theatre and the Princess Theatre of which Regina held on the longest. We could nothing against such
competition, professionai actors were imported into Sweden with complete plays and of course the public will
happily go to the theatre to see the actors they have seen on T. V. So we lay low with play readings and just
ticking over.
CHAPTER THREE : The eighties.
Then into our lives came Dee Bush-Bailey, a real fire ball of energy. "Why don't you do a Panto"? she
demanded." We can't sing" we said," Rubbish" was the answer! So we booked Folkoperan , February 1981, then
on Rorsrandsgatan, now a shop !i! But which Panto , we couldn't make up our minds so we decided to write our
own , revolving round the members we had . A charming English girl , married to a Czech, a professional actress
from Prague called Melinda MayCukic said she would direct and we sat and wrote the script ourselves. We
decided to create a script round "Aladdin", Lindsay Smith , an Australian ,working at the Australian Embassy,
was a wonderfully sympathetic person full of ideas and a great lover of Gilbert and Sullivan , he and David
Lones had the job of creating new lyrics . David was to be our first Dame , what fun it all was, Lindsay played
the Sultan , he was a small built man about five foot four and I , all of five foot ten ,was cast as the Royal witch,
and in very high heeled shoes and wearing a high witches hat, chased him throughout the whole panto, wanting
to marry him! Dee's husband played the Tiger, David had managed to scrounge it from Esso. He brought the
house down every night, when the audience screamed, "He's behind you." I had very long silver finger nails,
which made life rather difficult when I went to the toilet I had to have help from Linda Mennerdahl to hold up
my long costume as I couldn't do it myself!
Dee's son was a professional stage manager and he came over for the production from London and we managed
to get support from Lipton's Tea , Cadbury's , GB Glass and Fribergs Postorder. Janet Enghardt , our Chairman
at the time,was our Genie, but during rehearsals it came more and more clear that she was very iII, so she
decided to stay at home and rest and her role was taken over by Karin Kent, a school teacher. Our Premier on
February l3th was a fantastic success , and we felt so proud, then after the public had left David called us onto
the stage to give us the terrible news that that afternoon Janet had died of cancer . We were aIl very shocked,
only Karen Gott our secretary at that time and David had known how serious it was, Janet hadn't wanted us to
know, she wanted the show to go on regardless. So that Pantomime was really very special for us, we piayed for
Janet. That David was able to go on and perform knowing what he did was something we were all very proud
about, Janet's husband came with their son to see the show and afterwards thanked us for going on. After the
show was over I suddenly realised something, we had all written our own parts and the Genie at the end of the
Panto gave the final speech where she announced that she choose to go back into her Lamp, all of a sudden it
became very moving for me, she had written that " Live is very hard out in the big world and I'm so very tired,
all 1 want to do is go back into my Lamp and have eternal peace" Much later I told Karen about that speech and
she said she was just grateful that I hadn't said anything during the Panto otherwise she wouldn't have been able
to say the lines.
It was three years before we set up another production, as I've said, the competition was really hard and we
hadn't got the pulling power of a Star. We did one night stands for Radda Barnen,one I remember was a Gilbert
and Sullivan evening arranged by Lindsay Smith with Patricia Pratt, an English teacher, as Queen Victoria
presiding over the evening . However in 1983 our chairman Don Luscombe said we should have a go at
producing another play. "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" by Neil Simon was choosen, Don directed , and in
January 1984 we played at the IOGT.- NTO. Garden Theatre on Kungsgatan. Martin played Barney and stood
on the stage for two and a half hours, playing in three acts against three different women. 1 played Elaine, a
flaunting, whisky-drinking cigarette smoking "sexpot" Anna Parish was the pot-smoking young actress Bobbi,
and Patricia Wilson was the wife's best friend, a gloomy lady of sternest morality. My friends who came to the
play loved the set and said they felt so at home, then realised that most of the props and furniture had in fact
come from our house! Ticket prices are now going up 30 skr for advance booking and 35 skr at the door.
I have always liked Alan Ayckbourn's scripts , not only for their wit but also because they never have large casts!
So I said I would direct "Absurd Person Singular", Peter Maddock undertook the set design and so in April
1985, we hired Pan Theatre Gotgatan ll, now an Irish pub! I had an excellent cast to work with and there were
lots of laughs during rehearsals. Peter had a lovely little country cottage and he suggested a weekend solid
rehearsal just prior to production in April what a wonderful weekend that was, Peter's son took the delightful
photo that was used in the programme.
The funniest incident during this production occurred on the very first scheduled rehearsal which was to be at
our house, that is Viliavagen 13, Ekero. I had called four actors for a read through ,and was getting rather
annoyed. Victor Glenister, an Englishman over here working with a computer company, had arrived, but where
were Joe Armstrong, Helen Taylor, a young married English couple and Anna Parish, another English teacher?
Over an hour late the three of them tumbled through the door, Joe explained that Anna, sitting in the back seat,
had been given a cake to hold. Helen had covered the cake with a large saucepan which had two TINY handles
with LITTLE holes in them. Half way to our house, Anna had suddenly said from the back seat, "I've got my
finger stuck in the hole!" Then "It won't come out, I think you had better stop" So into the side of the road, and
the battle started, they pulled and tugged, I think Helen even tried to put some cream on Anna's finger, but
nothing worked, so they decided to drive on. We stared at the large pot, and Joe suggested a metal saw to
remove the handle , but as I pointed out the metal would get hot, Anna was feeling pretty weepy and then I had a
brain wave. We didn't have metal scissors in the house but the fire station would! Can you imagine the
conversation I had when I phoned the fire station, luckily I knew them there , but they were rather baffled, a
finger, stuck in a hole, in a handle of a saucepan ! There was a pause, then they said quietly did I think a pair of
metal scissors would do the trick? "We'll be round in a few minutes" they said, and Joe rushed to the window
wondering whether they would come with flashing lights and sirens!
It took two seconds and Anna was free, with just a rather swollen finger, and then Joe said "Bother we never
took a photo, put your finger in the other hole Anna " Needless to say she refused!
Pan Theatre was rather cosy but the dressing rooms were awful ,a hole under the stage so it was a good job we
only had a small cast. Our lighting technician was Patrik Werle a charming young man, who, when he realised I
hadn't a clue who his father was , realised we had taken him for his own abilities and worked even harder. How
was I to know his father was a famous Swedish composer ? Peter Maddock built a set that would have done a
"Mouse Trap" run, in fact the drawers he had built are still in use in the garage and cellar of the house!
Another humorous incident during this play , was after an interval I suddenly spotted some one creeping down
the aisle. I rushed forward and told the chap, who turned out to be Anna's husband that he had to wait to talk to
Anna after the show! Turned out he had had his jacket pocket picked during the interval and he wanted her keys
to get back to the flat! So when the show was over, poor Anna was yelled at by her angry husband and she had
thought he had come rushing up to tell her how good she had been. Striking that play was a NIGHTMARE,
every one disappeared leaving Pelle and I to struggle with the striking of the set, which as I have already said,
was very heavy, luckily we were able to get the owners of Pan to help, but Pelle and I were to say the least, very
cross. Still we learnt our lesson the hard way, strikes must be organised before the play is set up!
The English Church on Strandvägen had built a Church Hall which was available for hire, so we came up with
the bright idea of having a Music Hall . So October 1985 Peter Maddock and Janet Monk got things organised,
Peter Vowden played the piano and various acts were rehearsed. Pervin Larsson played her harp, of course
Gracie Fields " I took my harp to a party"! The tickets included a meal, chicken and ham pie or fish and chips. It
really was a successful event.
In 1986 we once again hired Pan Theatre and I directed "The Real Inspector Hound" . Malcolm Phillips and Joe
played the critics , Helen Taylor, Karin Matthews, Melvina Thompson. Vic Glenister, Don Luscombe and his
son Robert were the cast. As it is a delightful send up of all detective stories I thought it would be fun to have the
Paul Tempie signature tune as my curtain raiser, but alas only I knew the music " The Coronation Scott" by
Vivian Ellis so no one got my joke, oh well that's life I guess.
This programme had been hand-written by me, I gave it to the printers expecting them to type it out for me, but
he just printed it as it was, oh well, we have come far since then with expert people within the Players able to do
wonderful things with computers.
In the autumn of that year Malcolm Phillips said he would like to direct the Panto "Goldilocks and the 'Three
Bears"by John Morley, so January 1987 we once again played at The Princess Hall. Malcolm asked me if I
would design the set, and so I got out the drawing pad. The stage was minimal, about four metres wide and three
deep, so I had quite a problem to solve, I was rather proud of the result a long narrow box on wheels with double
doors on both sides, the clowns opened the doors and revealed a set painted on the inside, and then later on they
turned the whole box round to open the the doors on the other side for yet another set. The cottage scene called
for three beds, so I just painted two, in perspective on the back flat and Vicky Vowden climbed into our very
little cot! The table was just a very narrow plank set downstage. David Rollnick started his "Baddy" career in
this Panto, playing the wicked circus owner out to catch the three Bears who must have all been very warm in
their costumes . Don Luscombe began his "Dame" career, playing Sadie Spangle, the first of many Dames that
he was to play in the coming years. Alison Swain played the Clown with enormous boots, which hung over the
side of the stage. We were asked to give a performance for the International School and when the children tried
to grab Alison's boots she had to tell them off, otherwise she would have fallen off the stage. This was the year
that we welcomed Magda Freeman into the Players as our very own make up artist, what a wonderful help she
turned out to be, always there and doing the most beautiful make ups for the different characters.
That year we acquired another two new members Martin McGee and Joan Hughes, who joined after seeing
"Goldilocks " and proved to be fantastically enthusiastic and determined to put Stockholm Players on the map.
We in fact elected Martin to be our Chairman and in May 1987 he hired The Princess Hall and directed "Daisy
pulls it off' Jeremy Morton designed a brilliant set using one end of the rather small hall for the stage, and we
used the whole hall coming in through the audience which proved very effective. We played to full houses and
all of a sudden we seemed to have an awful lot of Players around , all eager to put The Players on the map. By
that time the English Theatres had disappeared, they couldn't keep the audiences and in fact the company that
David Lones was involved in went bankrupt, fortunately , though, David had baled out long before it went bust,
losing his investment but gaining some invaluable experience in the process.
In the Autumn of 1987 we produced "84 Charing Cross Road" directed by Daphne Duval-Smith, a professional
actress with more than twenty years in the theatre and who had been a member of the Royal Shakespeare
Company. Once again, Jeremy used the same technique for creating a stage at the end of the hall. The original
girl chosen for the part of Helen Hanff realised that she couldn't learn all the lines to her satisfaction, and
decided to leave the cast and at very short notice Joan Hughes hopped into the role, what a piay! I had read the
book and didn't really think it would be possible to stage it, but I was so wrong. It was a very moving play and
our audiences loved it.
February 1988 at Jarla Theatre we produced " Dick Whittington" this was directed by Joan and what fun that
was, one of the very best videos we've filmed comes from that Panto, I was stage managing this show and
designed the set. However coming home from rehearsals one evening, I fell heavily in the snow and sat there
staring at my hands. My left hand was at a very odd angle to my arm and my right hand was twice it's size, I
walked home and shouted to Pelle that I thought I had broken both my wrists, so it was off to the hospital .
Luckily only my left wrist was broken so I had one in plaster and the other bandaged for support, great fun, now
how was I going to cope? Then a couple of days later the phone rang, it was a young Norwegian girl saying she
would like to join the Players. I asked her what sort of experience she had had and she quietly said she had been
doing stage management in Norway and America for the past few years! So Kirsten Breder took over, what a
clever person she was, my wild ideas in her clever hands became reality and the set grew under my eyes. An
enormous balustrade was in one scene the prow of a ship and in the final scene reversed to show a gold staircase
for the triumphant walk down. Getting that huge piece of scenery thro the very small stage entrance was a feat in
itself. It was this year 1988 that Nigel Harvey walked into our lives, Martin had asked him to conduct an
orchestra, SL of course, and we never really knew how many of the orchestra would be free to play for each
performance, but some one turned up for every show. Nigel had great fun down there in the pit, but quickly
realised it would be more fun on stage.
No sooner was the Panto over than Martin asked Melvina to direct the next play, she choose "They Don't Grow
On Trees " By Ronald Miller, Puck Theatre on Sibyllagatan was booked for the beginning of May, and
rehearsals started. It had a rather large cast but once again we did a great show, Pervin Larsson, an English girl
married to a Swedish business man, played the "char" rushing around the stage with an old vacuum cleaner that
actually worked, well sometimes!
We had had letters from FEATS every year asking if we would like to participate, and every year I would write
and say sadly we couldn't afford it, but Martin was not to be put off, we were going! Even while "They don't
grow on Trees" was being rehearsed the Players had started on "The Orchestra" by J. Anouilh.
The set was incredibly simple, had to be, we were transporting it to Brussels, musical instruments were fairly
easy to transport, but a piano!! Even that problem was solved, with a dummy piano strapped to the top of one of
the mini buses we had hired. Jane Marquis a very qualified musician taught the cast how to hold their
instruments, Per Carlsson learnt the music and "played" in fact the cast were so convincing the adjudicator said
afterwards that she had been completely fooled for quite a few minutes and she was particularly impressed with
Else Luscombe's flute playing. I wasn't really involved but Janet Carlsson, the stage manager, asked me to go
along and help with set painting. We had ordered several blocks from the host theatre and they would have to be
painted when we arrived. I remember we worked to the wee small hours of the morning to get every thing ready.
The lighting was beautiful, the audience gasped as the Players started. Melvina was ill, but a very determined
young lady, and although she had a boil on the inside of her throat, she was determined not to let the Players
down. So her days were spent at the hospital but the show went on. 'The adjudicators made a special concession
to the rules, which said only stage crew back stage, I said I wanted to take Melvina off stage into a dressing room
as soon as she had come to the end of her part in the play, and I dragged a shivering , sweating Melvina off to the
dressing room for warm tea. We won two awards, the Best Set and a special award for Best Production, together
with nominations for Best Actor { Per Karlsson) and Best Actress (Melvina) we would probably have won Best
Play but sadly we were disqualified for running over time, BUT we had made a name for ourselves, so we
returned home triumphant.
FEATS is not for the nervous, a high tempo all the time, a strict schedule to be adhered to otherwise you lose
marks , the standard that year was very high and sets and acting really worth seeing. Though of course you sat
there critically watching every play waiting for your turn. Luckily the FEATS organisers realised that we were
coming a long way and put our play in a slot on the last day, which made life a little bit easier for us!
1988 Philip Deeks , managing director of TCC, was our chairman and in the November of that year Daphne
Duval-Smith directed " A Voyage Round My Father" with Philip in the leading role. Nigel Harvey played the
son, his first role in Stockholm Players. In the programme we announced that we would be playing "Jack and
The Beanstalk" by John Morley at Jarla Theatre in February 1989. Philip left Sweden and "Lark" Larsson took
over the Chairman role. The Panto was directed by Janet Monk and her husband Peter Maddock made the most
fantastic masks for the giant and the dragon. I had thought with a small part as the giant's wife I could take a rest
from set design, but Peter persuaded me to have a go! 1 still remember the enormous beanstalk Joe and I made
with hundreds of leaves cut out of floor paper, painted and each. one wired before they were fixed to the three
metre stalk. We solved the problem of "flying " the stalk in a black out, by suspending it in the flies and then
dropping it onto the stage , it really was effective. Peter wanted the audience to see the beanstalk actually
growing outside the window, so with a piece of broad pliable plastic covered with leaves was slowly pushed up
back stage behind the house flat. We had to have a small child to creep in the very little space , and every
evening Nicky Atkinson crept behind the set to push the "beanstalk" up past the window. Peter had made a
brilliant head and shoulders mask for our "Giant" I stared in amazement when he brought it along to rehearsals,
"How are we going to get Eva onto the stage" I asked, "What do you mean" asked Peter, I pointed out that there
is in fact rather a small door at the entrance to the stage, only about two metres high. We solved the problem by
Eva standing in the wings struggling to get into her costume in a rather small space. We did a very funny
gymnastic dance wearing sweaters from Friskis och Svettis and the Panto cow was hilarious.
As soon as the Panto was over rehearsals started for the FEATS entry, "A Sequence Of Events " by George
MacEwan Green which with "Cards" by Stephen Lowe we gave as a double bill at The Princess Hall on
Strandvagen, in April. I see from the poster that now the tickets cost 50 kr. The FEATS entry was directed by
Philip Deeks and "Cards" by Pervin Larsson. Two completely different plays, the FEATS entry was a very
strong and moving play, while "Cards" was a frivolous comedy taking place on a beach. The Players went to
Luxembourg that year, they did well but there were no awards. The Autumn production that year was
"Confusions" by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Daphne Duval-Smith and we played at Var Teater Bromma. Five
interlinked one act plays gave scope for lots of actors and some very ingenious sets.
The Nineties:
Now we are in the nineties and started well with "Cinderella" by Norman Reakes playing in March and once
again at Vår Theatre. This was directed by Pervin and Kirstin Breder designed and made a wonderful set, and
the panic was the magic coach which was delivered on the day of the premier ! But as always, the show got on
the road and we were delighted to welcome Queen Sylvia, Princess Lilian and the royal children to our show.
Time for FEATS again, and a double bill went into production, "Bang your Dead " by Paul Reakes and "Fluff'
by John Scholes. We played at Princess Hall and took "Fiuif' to FEATS, this time held in the Hague. It was a
very amusing play involving a double bed, a pile of stolen furs, a balcony and a drainpipe. A new member Stuart
Holland, played a con man and won the award for Best Actor , while David Lones, playing the other male part,
was given special mention for his "perfectly credible" mid-play switch from posh talking toffto heavily
Brummie-accented small-time criminal (Birmingham being David's home town)
Come the autumn Nigel Harvey choose to direct "House on the Cliff' by George Batson, and we played at
Narren now called Comedi Theatre on Djurgarden. They had filled the arena with chairs and re-created the small
stage, so this time it was not "In the Round". Alicia Hall a young New Zealander was stage manager and Ulf
Soderlind came into our lives. Ulf is a wonderful stage designer and carpenter, how did we manage without him
? Eva Jones had a very big role as the companion to a young girl paralysed in a wheel chair. As there was no way
back stage to get a wheel chair from one side to the other, we had to roll it out into Gröna Lund round the back
and in through the stage door at the other side! That was the play were I was "murdered" and had to fall onto the
stage through a "secret door" , it was rather difficult to squeeze through the opening , the stage is quite small.
1991 in the March it was back to Vår Theatre Bromma with "Sindbad" by Paul Reakes Peter Maddock created a
really wild camel which he and his wife played . David Rollnick played the "Baddy" and Susie Kempe made a
handsome Sindbad. For the second time, David Lones played the Dame . We have our regular audiences who
come back every year for our pantos so once again we played to full houses.
We were not choosen to participate in FEATS that year, so it was in Autumn when our next production started.
"A Chorus Of Disapproval" by Alan Ayckbourn was perfonned at Var Theatre Bromma. Don Luscombe
skilfully directed this very clever play about an amateur light operatic society trying to put on a play, with the
"director" David Lones getting mad with the members of his "cast". Vernon Gracie, an architect here in
Stockhohn, and Ulf Soderlind designed an ingenious set, and Vernon's wife, Caroline was stage manager.
1992 and time for another Panto ,this time "Sing A Song Of Sixpence" by Harold Robbins, directed by Pervin
Larsson and Nigel Harvey. The script called for a "Pie" and Ulf and I had fun and games getting that organised
and then during the performance getting all the "blackbirds" to be quiet before they had to make their entrance. I
think this was the Panto when the Queen made a wild entrance on roller skates, I used to think she would fly into
the audience but never did! That was the panto when we were asked to create a bed that would collapse at a
given moment and we had two strong men behind the set to pull the necessary ropes to make it double up. Don,
playing Dame Durdon and Eva, had a scene in the bed and at one performance the bed was giving trouble and I
stood in the wings trying to catch their attention to tell them to fall out of the bed, but Eva just waved at me from
the stage.
We gave a Music Hall in May that year at Fältoversten Föreningsråd under the chairmanship of David Lones.
Our Can-Can dancers were loudly appreciated, with Susie Kempe being our choreographer. Else and Don
Luscombe gave an unforgettable rendition of "Have some Madeira my dear" The FEATS production this year
was "The Proposal" by Anton Chekhov directed by Helen Atkinson and the cast gave a performance at
Brygghuset prior to going off to compete. The company came back triumphant with First Prize for Best
Production and Nigel shared prize for the Best Actor.
Once again at Vår Theatre Bromma in October, it was time for a real "Who Dunnit" "The Hollow" by Agatha
Christie directed by Clare Williamson living here in Stockholm with her research husband Phillip and their two
children. I had great fun designing this set and was very proud of the results , Ulf made it all look so real,
Daphne said she always felt so " at home" when she walked into her "lounge" . Philip made us a beautiful cake
for the "after Show " party, creating the picture he had painted for the set, in sponge cake!
We had always thought it would be fun to write our own Panto again, so when Philip Hale, and Irish teacher,
said he had already written one, the committee said, lets do it. So "Alice in Videoland" by Philip Hale and
directed by him, was performed at Var Theatre Bromma in March 1993. Alan Davidsson, a computer lecturer,
played the Purple Puma magnificent in purple tights, jumping through a paper hoop to make his stage entrance.
FEATS again, and Don Luscombe choose "Ritual of Dolls" by George MacEwan Green. This was performed at
Brygghuset along with "Womberang" by Sue Townsend prior to the cast going off to compete in Antwerp. Ulf
had built the most wonderful set as always very simple for travelling , folding boxes painted to look like huge
toy bricks, and the actors where in fact dolls, coming to life to tell a truly tragic and moving story. At the end I
was in tears, and rushed on stage to tell the cast that they would walk away with prizes, and they did. Best
Production and Best Actor , this time it was Alan Davidson who came home with the award. I think it the best
play we have ever done and I'm sure that Don was really proud of his cast.
In the autumn of 1993 I directed "Dead Man's Hand" by Seymour Matthews, a thriller in two acts at A.B.F.
House. It was a play within a play, fun to direct and with some rather clever sound effects. Getting the murderer
to confess with thunder, lightning and spooky figures.
March 1994, our chairman, Don Luscombe directed "The Sleeping Beauty" by Norman Robbins at Vår Theatre
Bromma. Looking at the cast lists over the years, I notice there are more and more members involved in
productions, every one joining in to get the show on the road. Then in October we hired A.B.F. House to
perform "Crimes of The Heart" by Beth Henley. A very strong American play, directed by Nigel Harvey. With
only one American in the cast the actors still managed to portray and convey an American atmosphere to the
play. Melvina had been ill but gave a brilliant performance and off stage her crutches were waiting in the wings.
March 1995 we hired Boulevard Theatre, a very interesting theatre. Melvina directed "Little Miss Muffet" a
panto by Paul Reakes. When we first visited the theatre Melvina was enchanted with the set , left from a previous
production, three different levels, so we designed our set around what was already there.Melvina wanted her
"spider" to fly and of course she did, the spider princess flew down from a constructed tree that hid pulleys,
managed by Kenneth Kling. Melvina rushed around on her crutches and I marvelled at her strength to get the
show on the road, she actually worked with the light crew tlu-ough one night to get the effects just right. She was
a hard task master, but the results were brilliant and on the final performance Melvina flew down onto the stage
herself to take the applause which she so well deserved.
We were elected at very short notice to go down to FEATS (where?) and Janet Raskin had to change her choice
of play at very short notice, when the author of the original choice refused to allow cuts in the script. So " Sour
Grapes and Ashes" by N.J.Warburton was rehearsed and a set designed in just over two weeks. A simple set on
the top of a mountain, Ulf busy cutting out tree branches and me at home in the garden constructing "rocks" from
small stools covered with chicken wire, apparently our set got a round of applause even if we didn't win any
prizes.
Discussing what play to do in the autumn of 1995, we remembered "Blithe Spirit" by Noel Coward which had
been such a hit in 1968 when we played at Narren, so I said I would direct and we played at Vår Theatre
Bromma in November. This was certainly a play to remember, Daphne played Madame Arcati to perfection , I
had very much wanted Melvina to play Elvira, but sadly she was too ill and had to refuse the part. We had been
joined by an Irishman called Gary Clarke who was only too willing to help with the set design . I wanted my
"box set" and of course the famous French windows which we have used in so many productions. Of course the
fun was arranging all the seance "tricks". Watching a rehearsal one evening, Gary told me to watch carefully, the
piano lid opening and shutting, books flying off the bookcase, pictures falling off the walls and suddenly the sofa
heaving up and down ! I roared with laughter when at the end of the scene, Gary popped his head out from under
the sofa and asked what it looked like from out front.
It was in this play that I had my first real experience of what an unthoughtful actor can do to a production,
temperament can be allowed to a certain extent, but rudeness and bad temper cannot be tolerated. Life got so
difficult that I phoned our Chairman, Martha Sterne and said I would have to cancel the production, with only a
week to Premier. She was horrified but I said I wouldn't put the other Players through any more painful
experiences. But once again, the Players pulled through, my replacement learnt the lines in forty eight hours and
we went on to do a fantastic show, I think my cast and crew worked all that much harder to get the show ready so
every thing ended happily.
During the run of the show we had discussed the Panto for the following year and Lynn Thomas said she was
willing to direct "Humpty Dumpty" by Norman Robbins, so rehearsals started and Jarla Theatre was hired for
March 1996. As always with the Players things got delayed , we had trouble with Folk University over rehearsal
times and we thought we would never get the show on the road, we were building sets up to the last minute.
Wonderful reversible flats on wheels with scenes painted on both sides. When every thing was finished it really
was beautiful, Gary and Vernon painted the most beautiful back cloths and flats and as always "It was alright on
the night"
Apart from being a very clever artist, Gary is a talented script writer and when he showed us the play "Hey Hey
Good Looking" we thought that this should be our play for FEATS. We were not chosen to go in 1996 but gave
a performance at the Theatre Academy to enthusiastic audiences. The idea being that after the performance the
audience would have a chance of discussing mobbing, which was the theme of the play. Gary directed a very
talented cast and we discussed selling the play to schools.
At the AGM that year I was very honoured when Martha proposed that I should be made an Honorary Member
in appreciation of my work for the Players and it was approved by those at the meeting.
In October the young members who had been rehearsing gave two short plays, "Battle in Budapest" by Ken
Whitmore and "Little Old Lady" by Arnold Wesker, againat the Theatre Academy.
We celebrated our thirtieth anniversary that year, with a wonderful dinner at Sjöholmen and after the dinner the
young members played their one act plays again. Jessica Davidson and Lovisa Cottrell directed and produced,
showing that the Players can give a great performance whatever their ages.It was a very successfizl evening and
a large gathering of Players, Eva Jones travelled from Skane especially for the event and Ray Huldt, our very
first Chairman sent greetings to us all from Edinburgh.
November 1996 we gave a Christmas Panto, BEFORE Christmas. We had been saying it was worth trying and
"Beauty and the Beast" by David Cregan was chosen, with Gary Clarke directing and helping to design the set.
We played in Jarla Theatre with all the usual problems with Folk University. Ulf Soderlind made the most
beautiful harpsichord and Vernon and Pat spent hours painting the set. David Hynes, being a professional
musician, took it upon himself to rewrite the piano score, orchestration is difficult, but David did a wonderful job
spending hours on the job. We had professional lighting for this show and Per Jonson was really interested in our
work and proved to be only too willing to give all his skills. For the first time we didn't have any children in the
cast, once again our public applauded our performances and our Panto was a success.
In February I997 Melvina died of cancer after a long illness, it seems so tragic that young talented people should
be taken this way. Many of the Players went to the simple funeral held at the hospital, Melvina was determined
to the end and had arranged her own funeral and chosen the music for the simple and very moving ceremony.
She is someone we shall never forget.
The Players were all feeling rather tired after the Panto and wondered what we should do for the spring
production. It was suggested that we should invite different people to produce different one act plays and so
"Potpourri" was born. We performed in the Drama Room at Folk University. Three very short one act plays, "
Bed and Breakfast" by Richard Dresser was directed by Janet Raskin "Pillow Talk " by John Pielmeier, directed
by Katharine Stuart and "Last Day of Camp" by Jeffrey Sweet was directed by Lynn Thomas. This last play was
about three teenagers talking about summer camp and once again the Players were shown what the younger
members could do. Nigel and Gary did "Brush up your Shakespeare" which was several very funny sketches,
being a frivolous view of acting in a Shakespearean play ending with an interview with the "Bard" himself. Then
the "Impro" team gave a demonstration of the theatre games the Players had been doing during the term , and
involving the audience.
At the beginning of May we performed "Hey Hey Good Looking" by Gary Clarke in the Drama room at Folk
University , prior to going down to Brussels on May 16th'. The cast set off and caused some merriment on the
plane as Alicia Hall was carrying the set in a ski bag! They came home triumphant, first prize for Best Original
Play, first prize for Best Stage Management, third prize for Best Production and clearly won the audience vote
for best performance.
Norraförening were celebrating 50? Years of providing space and help for various clubs in Stockholm , about
fifty in all ,and had decided to give a stipendium to a person who had helped their own club . When I produced
the letter at a committee meeting the committee said that I should be selected! Imagine my feelings when I was
told that I had been chosen along with two people from two other clubs. Pelle, Mugs and I went to a very good
dinner and I was given a cheque and a diploma. I felt very proud that the Players had nominated me and that I
was chosen for the award.
November I 997, David Rollnick directed a farce, "Panic Stations" by Derek Benfield and we were lucky to rent
Parian Theatre. It is an interesting experience to create a set on a flat floor. instead of a raised stage, playing to a
steeply raked audience area. The previous year Kirsten Carey had been in Sweden as an au pair and had decided
to study set design at Core College in Dublin. She asked if it were possible to do some practical work for her
college exams. We thought this would be a good idea and asked her college tutor's permission, which was
granted. Kirsten came over for six weeks and worked very hard designing a very nice set with wooden beams
created out of hard paper. Gary created all sorts of effects, the best being the moose hanging over the fireplace.
For the first time we carried the theme of the play, Army manoeuvres, into the foyer it proved to be a good idea
and defmitely something to work on for further productions.
The Players wanted to do a Panto in March 1998 but we didn't have a director, but Nigel stepped into the breach
at very shoit notice and ''Snow White" by Norman Robbins was performed at Gamla Filmstaden. Gary designed
a very original and simple set, once again the Players were performing on a large flat area with raked seating for
the audience. Still going strong, our panto "oldie" David Lones played the part of Chuckles, doing a hilarious
duet with Dame Goodheart, played by David Hynes, in which he scoffingly rejected the advances of his would be seductress as she begged him to "Take all of me", it was extremely funny. First time I have ever seen a little
terner quietly watching a show! Needless to say it wasn't my dog Peckham. The dwarfs were of various heights
and were delightful, then the Dame, arrived on stage in a tight modern costume, much to the delight of the
audience.
The 22’nd Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies FEATS took place in Antwerp in Belgium.
The Stockholm Players had not been allotted a playing slot but that didn't stop a group of enthusiasts travelling
down to watch the twelve plays which had been chosen to be performed.
We rented Rosenlunds theatre in the autumn , playing "Season's Greetings" by Alan Ayckbourn, performing the
first two weeks in December. Gary once again proved his worth as a director , taking a complicated set and
creating one that was incredibly simple and a joy to see. The stage was very small and no wings stage right
meant he had to reverse the script setting, all done so cleverly. Don Luscombe as the doctor was so funny and
coping with his puppet play was a sheer joy to watch. We had an excellent stage manager in Berkan who really
got the show on the road every performance on time and always so cheerful and helpful.
As we had played so late in the year no one felt like starting straight away into another production , we thought it
would be fun to do another "Pot Pourri" but only had one group wanting to perform so we sadly had to hop over
a spring show. Still we had been invited down to FEATS this time in Geneva so "The Ghost Sonata" by August
Strindberg was chosen by Gary. Rehearsals started and Gary was full of ghostly ideas! I was not involved in this
production so I was very curious to see how Gary had coped with yet another complicated set. Strindberg wanted
so much and how would Gary create a set that was clear and also small enough to pack in a suitcase to get to
Geneva. So I went to the Stockholm performance to see how all the problems had been solved. Brilliant , black
robed figures carrying flaming torches, courtesy of Stockholm's Opera House, an ice machine creating a misty
lake on the set and so the play began. David Hynes had to learn how to control a wheelchair and Nigel Harvey
had the difficult task of playing two characters at the same time. Rita Laurent created a clever costume, one half
smart and the other ragged, make up artists gave him two sides to his face. The costumes and make up were
really fantastic and a spooky play caught the audience's attention you could have heard a pindrop.
Then of course we had to get the show to Geneva, Lisen rode the wheelchair and "played " an invalid, and
Jeremy's cello had it's own seat on the plane! Four days with three plays each evening , we sat , watched and then
listened to the excellent adjudicator, Scott Marshall, who gave constructive criticism and listening to him was a
pleasure. Saturday we toured Geneva , Gary, Mugs and I took a boat trip and admired the huge fountain.
Monday was our day we were playing last and the day flew by getting everything organised and the two hour
technical went by all too quickly. The cast tip toed up to the balcony to watch the first play, there was a
spontaneous applause when the curtain went up. ESOC theatre group had actually built a box set, quite
incredible. Then the Players had to go backstage ready for their entrance. I sat by myself on #he balcony and
watched the next play , with two brilliant actors tearing each other to pieces had to be seen to be believed. Then
it was out turn . Gary and I sat tense, then I had to rush from the theatre as I got a nervous coughing attack.
Everything went very well , the opening was beautiful , I thought the lighting at one point was a bit too dark but
the play flowed, albeit a bit slower than in Stockholm due to a new stage and of course they must have been
nervous. Then came the critics, Scott obviously liked Strindberg and praised our play then a pause, then back for
the results. Best set, best stage management and best actor and actress all these prize were handed out and we sat
there... . Then Nigel won the Anthony Cornish Discretionary Award for his split personalities, Alicia and I
looked at each other and wondered if we would get a placing, not third, not second but FIRST! You should have
heard the yells and screams from 21 throats and needless to say not an awful lot of sleep that night.
It had originally been an idea to put up "Ghost Sonata" in the autumn but then it was decided to do a Panto.
"Aladdin" by John Morley directed by Don Luscombe. Don asked me to help with the set and Vernon and I put
on our thinking caps. Aiicia designed a very simple set and Ulf made some beautiful pieces which we painted.
Lisen had problems getting the Sphinx out of the door at Alvik but she succeeded! We played at "Parlan", and
we were very pleased when David Lones accepted the part of the Dame. He had played that part when we had
performed a version of "Aladdin" in I981, and I am sure it brought back memories of our very first panto, which
we had written ourselves. Once a Dame always a Dame , David played the part with his usual gusto much to the
delight of the audience. We had live music for that occasion and this time it was David Hynes working on his
computer with recorded music which he had arranged. I sat beside him at the back of the theatre and was very
impressed with the way the actors sang to recorded music. I had a letter from one of our most devoted fans,
Catherine Hagnell, and she told me that she thought it was one of the best panto's she had seen. Now it is time
for me to put down my pen and retire to England where I hope I shall find another drama group to join though
after thirty three years in The Players it will seem very strange to be starting all over again with new people, new
theatre and new ideas.
This story can be "on going", well I hope so and that in the future some one else will take up the pen and
continue to write our history.
The Stockholm Players Productions 1966 ------ 1999
1996 Apollo Theatre
"The Constant Wife"
by Somerset Maugham
1996 Apollo Theatre
"The Love of Four Colonels"
by Peter Ustinov
1967 Narren Theatre
"You Never Can Tell"
by G.B.Shaw
1967 The British Embassy
"Under Miik Wood"
by Dylan Thomas
1967 Narren Theatre
"She Stoops to conquer"
by Oliver Goldsmith
1968 Narren Theatre
"A resounding Tinkle"
by N.F. Simpson
1968 Narren Theatre
"The American Dream"
by Edward Albee
1968 Narren Theatre
"Blithe Spirit"
by Noel Coward
1969 A.B.F. House
Four one act plays
1970 A.B.F. House
"The Real Inspector Hound"
by Tom Stoppard
1970 A.B.F. House
"The Hostage"
by Brendan Behan
1971 A.B.F. House
"A Streetcar Named Desire"
by Tennessee Williams
1971 A.B.F. House
"The Importance of being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde
1972 A.B.F. House
"The prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Jay.P.Allen
1973 American Library
"The Public Eye"
by Peter Shaffer
1974 Marionette Theatre "The Killing of Sister George"
by Frank Marcus
1975 Marionette Theatre " Blue Comedy"
by Paul Ableman
1975 Kagelbanan
"The Reluctant Debutante"
by William Douglas- Home
1975 Djursholm
Four short plays.
1976 Marionette Theatre " Too True to be Good"
by G.B. Shaw.
1976 Rdda Rummet
"The Creditors"
by A.Strindberg
1977 Skarholmen
"Little Boxes"
by John Bowen
1981 Folk Opera
"Aladdin"
by Players members
1984 I.O.G.T.
"The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" by Neil Simon
1985 Pan Theatre
"Absurd Person Singular"
by Alan Aykebourn
1985 Princess Hall
A Music Hall
1986 Pan Theatre
"The Real Inspector Hound"
by Tom Stoppard
1987 Princess Hall
"Goldilocks"
by John Morley
1987 Princess Hall
"Daisy pulls it off"
by Denise Deegan
1987 Princess Hall
"84 Charing Cross Road"
by Helene Hanff
1988 Jarla'Theatre
"Dick Whittington"
by Verne Morgan
1988
"The Orchestra"
by J. Anouilh
FEATS
1988 Puck Theatre
" They Don't Grow on Trees"
by Ronald Miller
l 988 Puck Theatre
"Voyage Round my Father"
by John Mortimer
1989 Jarla Theatre
"Jack and the Beanstalk"
by John Morley
1989 Princess Hall
"Sequence of Events"
by G. MacEwan Green
FEATS
1989 Princess Hall
"Cards"
by Stephen Lowe
1989 Var Theatre Bromma "Confusions"
by Alan Aykbourn
1990 Var Theatre Bromma " Cinderella"
by Norman Robbins
1990 Princess Hall
" Bang you're Dead"
by Paul Reakes
1990 Princess Hall
"Fluff" by
John Scholes
FEATS
1990 Narren Theatre
"House on the Cliff '
by George Batson
1991 Var Theatre Bromma "Sindbad"
by Paul Reakes
1991 Var Theatre Bromma " A Chorus of Disapproval"
by Alan Ayckbourn
1992 Jarla Theatre
" Sing a Song of Sixpence"
by Harold Robbins
1992 Faltoversten
A Music Hall
1992 Brygghuset
"The proposal"
by A.Chekhov
FEATS
1992 Var Theatre Bromma "The Hollow"
by A. Christie
1993 Var Theatre Bromma " Alice in Videoland"
by Philip Hale
1993 Bryghuset
"Womberang
by Sue Townsend
1993 Brygghuset
"Ritual for Dolis"
by G. MacEwan- Green FEATS
1993 A.B.F. House
"Dead Man's Hand"
by Seymour Matthews
1994 Var Theatre Bromma " The Sleeping Beauty"
by Norman Robbins
1994 A.B.F. House
" Crimes of the Heart"
by Beth Henley
1995 Boulevard Theatre " Little Miss Muffet"
by Paul Reakes
1995 S.L.
"Sour Grapes and Ashes"
by N.J. Warburton
FEATS
1995 Vår Theatre Bromma " Blithe Spirit "
by Noel Coward
1996 Jarla Theatre
"Humpty Dumpty"
by Norman Robbins
1996 Folk University
"Hej Hej Good Looking"
by Gary Clarke
1996 Folk University
“Battle in Budapest”
by Ken Whitmore
1996 Folk University
“Little Old Lady”
by Arnold Wesker
1996 Jarla Theatre
“Beauty and the beast”
by David Cregan
1997 Folk University
“Potpourri” four short plays
1997 Folk University
“Brush Up Your Shakespeare” four short sketches
1997 Folk University
“Hej Hej Good Looking"
by Gary Clarke
FEATS
1997 Pärlan
"Panic Stations"
by Derek Benfield
1998 Gamla Film Staden " Snow White"
by Norman Robbins
1998 Myntet
Cabaret
1998 Rosenlund Theatre “Seasons Greetings "
by Alan Aykbourn
1999 Brygghuset
"Ghost Sonata"
by A. Strindberg
FEATS
1999 Pärlan
"Aladdin"
by J. Morley