HAPPY JACK by John Godber
In 2008 our selection of "Happy Jack" for round one of the All-England One Act Theatre Festival was the start of an exciting journey for St Paul's Drama Group. This two-hander is semi-autobiographical, chronicling incidents in the lives of Godber's grandparents being re-told throughout his childhood. It weaves a fragmentary path through the lives of Jack & Liz Munroe who were born and died in Upton, a small mining village in West Yorkshire. It covers events from their sixties in 1975 back in time to their first date in 1931. Sometimes funny and sometimes sad, the play presents the drama of ordinary life in a series of vignettes.
Chris Butler played Jack and Sara Watkins played Liz, both rising to the demands of the play and its director, with consummate skill, dedication and artistry. David Boyd provided 37 lighting cues and Peter Magyar dealt with 26 sound cues. Rhodri Harris was our stage manager with Jill and Bryan Hirchfield as prompt and stage crew respectively.
From being fortunate enough to win the Southern Counties Festival in March, we then progressed to the Quarter Final at Walton-on-Thames. Then, after performing as part of the Group's Double Bill at the Adrian Mann Theatre in April, there was a long gap until 25th May before we faced the Semi-Final at Maidenhead and then the English Final at Grays on 7th June.
The review from 'Sardines' was very favourable:-
'Happy Jack was, however, the winner with the audience, with St Paul's Drama Group winning the Isle of Man Newspapers Award for Audience Appreciation"