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We have no idea of the storyline at the beginning of the evening. And not much of a clue when it's all over! Fortunately there are enthusiasts out there who write in to remind us. You can leave your own comments about the show on our Blog (click at the left of the Home Page)
THE STUPENDOUS CARPENTER OF BEIJING (March 21st 2010, Leicester Square Theatre)
An enchanting story of turnips and woodturning that crosses the social divide
Ho Pee (Susan Bisatt) and Pee Ho (David Pearl) are poor peasant folk; with only a wheel-less cartload of turnips and a weather-beaten cabinet they struggle through the muddy roads outside Beijing.
In the city, the Empress (Morag McLaren) awards her favourite carpenter Thomas (Niall Ashdown) with the honorary title of Master of the Bookcase. Thomas vows to make furniture wherever he goes.
The peasant siblings receive more bad news. The empress has banned complementary medicine which means Ho Pee can no longer make her turnip remedy. All is lost.
Thomas arrives and offers to mend the cabinet. The empress finds Thomas. She is outraged. The bookcase he built has crumbled. He is no longer the Master of the Bookcase.
His confidence shattered, Thomas is unable to fix the cabinet. Ho Pee offers him her last turnip in medicine form and suddenly Thomas’s confidence is renewed. Upon the empress’s return she is amazed by the carpenter’s brilliance and Thomas offers her the cabinet if she improves the life of the poor. But so astounded is she that the empress anoints Thomas the King of Beijing.
And Beijing is never poor again. (Until the next time).
What the critics said:
‘A Turandot for our times’ Mrs. Pearl (no relation)
‘I particularly enjoyed the interval’ Clement Bijou-Hines (Catford Messenger)
‘Pas encore! Pas encore!’ M. Jean-Jacques Dimanche
And a few past story lines...
Geos
Dispossessed Greek prince Geos and his servant Kevin are freed from imprisonment on an enchanted island when sisters Matilda and Jocasta are shipwrecked on the island
Notable musical highlights include:
Jocasta’s aria 'Your voice is the Wind of Calm'
and Kevin and Geos' duet: 'Put your Ear to the East and your Hair to the West'
Matilda Morag
Jocasta/Venus Susan
Geos Niall
Kevin/ Zeus David
The Red Heart of Paris
The tormented Rolf trapped in a loveless marriage finds happiness in the arms of Pierre La Chaise, his boyhood friend, thanks to a supernatural intervention by his dead mother.
Rolf Niall
Pearl (his daughter)/the voice of Rolf’s mother Susan
Pierre La Chaise David
Rolf’s Wife Morag
The Blue Fork of London
Felicity Legg a maimed dancer with one leg shorter than another is saved from the clutches a corrupt police inspector who is schizophrenically possessed by the spirit of a murderous Blue Fork. This is achieved through the hard work of an assiduous but lonely police sergeant Bleasdale and the love of reformed criminal and publican, Shorty McGinnis.
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