Bookends Theatre Group stages lunchtime drama

Oct 21 2010 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

BOOKENDS Theatre Group may have been borne of financial necessity, but that hasn’t hampered the group’s creativity.

That’s the message from Hamilton playwright and group co-organiser Elizabeth Davidson.

The celebrated troupe are once again to stage an original play for audiences in Lanarkshire this weekend.

The play, “Out of the Mouth of Babes”, is a comedy written by 67-year-old Elizabeth and charts the lives of two characters from her previous production, “Tenement Tales”.

The story serves as a prequel, transporting the audience back to the characters’ childhoods, with two adult actors playing six- and seven-year-old children.

This week Elizabeth told the Advertiser how far Bookends drama group has progressed in the four years since its inception.

“I have been writing for the last 12 years, and I started directing too,” she said.

“However, Bookends came into being around four years ago as we merged with other independent groups.

“We were all working off our own backs, but we had to pay very high insurance premiums.

“So my older group joined up with others, run by my partners Jim Ewing and Jim McEwen, to beat the premiums and chip in to help each other out. We still get to work on our own projects, have a lot of creativity, and Bookends has been very successful over the past four years.

“We only had a few people working with us, but now we have around 60.

“The group really has come along leaps and bounds.”

Elizabeth explained that while the group rarely audition, they give people the chance to get involved in theatre who have not had the opportunity before.

“We can pick anyone because everyone is freelance, and act independently,” said the former local government officer.

“We give people interested in acting the opportunity to get involved.

“Bookends uses people from across the board, young and old.

“We have quite a few retired people taking up acting, but we also have many young actors.

“We are Hamilton-based, but we have actors from all over Lanarkshire in our productions.”

The new play will be performed at East Kilbride Arts Centre this Saturday, October 23, and Rutherglen Town Hall on Sunday, October 24.

The performances take place at 12pm, with a later showing at 4.30pm, and the admission charge includes lunch or high tea.

Tickets cost £8.50 and are available from East Kilbride Arts Centre box office on 01355 261000, or the Rutherglen box office on 0141 613 5700.