Dickens Birthday Programme
Tuesday 7 February 1928 Newcastle 7.45-9
Pr [Lee Dixon]
Dorothy Robson
Lee Dixon
Alan Thompson
Laidman Browne
Laura Wilson
Kendrew Milson
Other Information
Laidman Browne
Thursday 2 September 1926 Newcastle 9-9.20
The Station Repertory Company present
'The Idol of Jade' a dramatic sketch (John Wright)
Barecroft Hitchton - Alan Thompson
Reg Smolland - William Parrish
Rene - Sal Sturgeon
Burton - Laidman Browne'The Radio Times' 26 July 1946 p 4
article by Laidman BrowneThe first plays we did from Newcastle (5NO) way back in 1923-4 were performed into a telephone mouthpiece hanging from the centre of the ceiling - the actors jockeying for position like the players in a game of bob-apple. Then came the Reiss microphone, or meat safe, as it was called because of the blue gauze which protected the heavy instrument from the heavy tread of stray flies. This was active over a larger area and so gave greater latitude to the artists but it was very inclined to “blast” unless carefully humoured.
In those days the sound effects were always done by the actor themselves and I have a vivid recollection of a Children's Hour play we did from 5NO in which a stage coach was held up by highwaymen. Everyone in the studio was energetically producing sounds as well as yelling lines into the mike.
Imagine the scene: coconut shells galloping hard, chains rattling, whips cracking, and the 'pièce de resistance', a large wind machine - a thing resembling a butter churn, rotating violently while I held a roller skate against the spinning surface and produced the sounds of coach wheels rolling over the country roads. Truly we must have looked a lot of lunatics.
One of the first experiences we in the North had of sound effects coming from a separate studio was when 'Grace Darling' was produced by Victor Smythe. The play was performed in Newcastle and all the sound effects came from Manchester. We had to act as shipwrecked mariners clinging for dear life to the hulk of a ship being battered to pieces on the rocks - and there was not a sound to disturb the quiet peace of our studio.
An uncanny experience but we did get one laugh out of it. At the end of the dress rehearsalm Smythe had a long telephone conversation with Manchester about his effects, and his closing remarks were, 'Now you know the finale of the play, the morning after the storm … quiet waves … sea-gulls flying round the lighthouse … yes … but those sea-gulls, I'm not happy about them. What are you using? … I see … Well, blow through the other end.'
Finally came the ribbon microphone. …
NOTES
5NO Newcastle - Gordon Lea, R.E. Jeffrey, Lee Dixon - 24 December 1922
No sign of 'Grace Darling'
First production
Thursday 28 September 1923 Newcastle 7.35-7.50
Act III Scene 5 from 'Romeo and Juliet' (Shakespeare)Thursday 28 September 1923 Newcastle 10.5-10.15
'Hamlet' Act II Scene 5Saturday 22 December 1923 Newcastle 7.35
Mr. Lee Dixon and Party
dramatised version of 'A Christmas Carol' (Dickens)Tuesday 1 July 1924 Newcastle
Dramatic Night
Newcastle Players Repertory Theatre Company
7.45-8.20
'Makeshifts' (Gertrude Robins)
A Lower Middle Class Comedy
Caroline Parker - Kathleen May
Dolly Parker (sister) - May Johnston
Mr. Thompson (lodger) - Clifford Jones
Albert Smythe (stock jobber's clerk) - Fred H. Patterson
Scene: sitting-room of the Parkers' house
8.45-9.15
'Realities' (Gertrude Robins)
A middle class comedy being a sequel to 'Makeshifts'
Mr. Henry Thompson (nee Caroline Parker) - Kathleen May
Mrs. Albert Smythe (nee Rose Phillips) - Mary Pettie
Henry Thompson - Clifford Jones
Albert Smythe - Fred H. Patterson
Scene: parlour of the Thompsons' house in the suburbs
Time: two years after 'Makeshifts'Tuesday 9 September 1924 Newcastle
The “5NO” Repertory Company presents
(1) 8.55-9.10
'Love in a Railway Train' duologue (Frank Stayton)
pr Jennie Stevens
An actor - Fred Patterson
An actress - Jennie Stevens
scene: any room, anywhere
(2) 9.25-9.40
'A Maker of Men' duologue (Alfred Sutro)
pr Jennie Stevens
Captain Cuthbert Farmington - Fred Patterson
Edith - Jennie Stevens
scene: a little sitting-room in a small house in a far away street in West HampsteadTuesday 16 September 1924 Newcastle 8-9
'Me and my Diary' (Gertrude E. Jennings)
'Escape' (E.F. Parr)
Gordon Lea
Sal Sturgeon
Olive Zalva
Plays produced by Gordon LeaTuesday 30 September 1924 Newcastle 7.30-7.55
'The Heart of a Clown' (Constance Powell-Anderson)
Mary Pettie
Gordon Lea
Harold Earnshaw
Sal Sturgeon
8.30-8.45
'Honours Easy' (A.E. Drinkwater)Tuesday 14 October 1924 Newcastle 10-10.30
'The Man on the Kerb' (Alfred Sutro)
Vernon Brown
Jennie Stevens'Double or Quits' (George Paston)
Vernon Brown
Jennie StevensTuesday 28 October 1924 Newcastle 7.30-8
'A Duet' (Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle)
Jennie Stevens
Vernon BrownTuesday 4 November 1924 Newcastle 8.55-9.30
'The Man in the Street' (Louis N. Parker)
Kendrew Milson
Olive Zalva
Norman Firmin
Pr Gordon LeaTuesday 11 November 1922 Newcastle 8.50-9.10
'The Last Milestone' (Bernard March)
A Romance of the Great War
Kendrew Milson
Olive Zalva
W.M. Shewen
Philip MarsdenMonday 5 January 1925 Newcastle 8.30-9
The “5NO” Repertory Company
'Tilda's New Hat' one-act play (George Paston)
pr Gordon Lea
Mrs. Fishwick - Janie Stevens
Tilda - Sal Sturgeon
Daisy Meadows - Clive Zalve
Walter Emerson - Norman FirminMonday 12 January 1925 Newcastle 8.45-9.30
'Patsy For Granted' one act and two scenes (Theodora Wilson)
pr Gordon Lea
John Dearman - Kendrew Milson
Jean - Jennie Stevens
Mrs. Percival - Norah Balls
Paul - James Herdman
Jose - Mary Knybett
Patsy - Olive Zalva
Sir Stafford Dane - Gordon LeaFriday 16 January 1925 Newcastle 9-9.15
(1) 'Playing With Fire' comedy one act (Percival Wilde)
pr Gordon Lea
5NO Repertory Company
(2) 9.15-9.30
'A Game of Chess' duologue (Alfred Sutro)
pr Gordon Lea
scene: secluded corner in the drawing-room of a liner outward bound from AmericaFriday 23 January 1925 Newcastle 9.10-9.30
(1) * 'Light and Shade' a short comedy (L. du Garde Peach)
pr R.E. Jeffrey
(presumably) Players from 2LO London
(2) 10.30-11
* 'Danger' The Mine Play (Richard Hughes)
pr R.E. Jeffrey