NEED TO MAKE UP A FULL EVENING’S THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT?
WHAT ABOUT
A DOUBLE BILL
OFFERING A TALK PLUS A PRESENTATION
 

The enterprising UNDER GROUND THEATRE in Eastbourne requested a ‘full evening’s programme’,
suggesting a Double Bill with a TALK as the first half and a PRESENTATION after the interval.
They staged this on 3rd March 2017, and the local newspaper’s review is copied below.
 .

IT WOULDN’T BE EASTBOURNE WITHOUT A LIVE SHOW

Eastbourne’s Under Ground Theatre, beneath the Library, is not - as some assume - in receipt of grants from a benevolent Council. The truth is the opposite: enthusiastic amateurs pay a substantial annual rental to the County Council. And the quality of what goes on there is entirely dependent on the folk who get involved: happily there is considerable enterprise among those who give of their time.

On Friday 3rd March it all came magically together. BRIAN FREELAND was, for decades, deeply involved in the
theatre world, experiencing everything from Variety to Grand Opera. He spent time with the Royal Shakespeare Company,
the National Theatre, Royal Ballet and Nottingham Playhouse, and has toured extensively abroad - all remembered in
his memoir MEANDERINGS: A RIVER AND A LIFE.

Brian divided his Under Ground presentation into two parts. For forty minutes he shared some of the highlights
of his theatrical past in THE VIEW FROM THE WINGS as we, the audience, hung on his every word.
After the break he took us through FIFTY YEARS OF SEASIDE ENTERTAINMENT incorporating the life
story of Clarkson Rose whose ‘TWINKLE’ summer show so often entertained our town during those fifty years.
Brian had us falling off our seats with laughter time and time again. He even had us singing Clarkie’s chorus:
“A live, a live show; a live, a live show;
It wouldn’t be Eastbourne without a live show”.
His timing, his clever props, his ability to switch moods on demand showed him to be a real ‘man of the theatre’.
Perfect fare for a chilly March day.

 

REVIEW BY ROBIN GREGORY