Long-time Nanango Theatre actor Ben Richardson has stepped out for his debut as a playwright.
Mr Richardson has around 30 years of community acting experience, but this year has been his first venture as a playwright.
His play, The Monkey’s Paw (Adaption), was performed for the first time as part of the Nanango Theatre Company’s Fourplay performances on Friday, 25 July.
The play was one of four one-act plays performed by the amateur theatre group on the night.
The Monkey’s Paw is an old tale on the saying ‘be careful what you wish for, which intrigued Ben Richardson who has 30 years experience as an actor and director in community theatre in Brisbane and at the Nanango Theatre Company.
The Monkey’s Paw story has been the subject of films and earlier plays, but Mr Richardson decided he wanted to give it his own spin.
Mr Richardson was attracted to the play because it was an unusual genre for a one-act play, which he designed the staging to make it portable and easy to bring along to one-act play festivals.
His vision was then handed to director Janet Margaret, who guided actors Ben Richardson, Stewart Gray, Kelsey Anderson, Matthew Jordan and Danee Lindsay through the play.
The audience showed their appreciation of Mr Richardson’s craft, laughing along with the humour, and maintaining absolute silence as the characters’ disastrous implications were revealed.
The Monkey’s Paw actors were welcomed with a rich applause at the end of the play.
Nanango Theatre’s Jon Fearnley was excited about Mr Richardson’s writing.
“I thought of his writing as a thriller… and the audience effect, they were all holding their breath because they could see the pending doom,” he said.
“It was good, atmospheric, I was excited about his writing.”
Audience member Linda Hall praised the quality acting, and the actors’ rich Northern English accents.
Meanwhile, Des Moore enjoyed the play’s suspense and described it as a thriller rather than just a drama.
Fellow audience member Lotus Arnold liked the message to be very careful what you wish for, sharing the play had her petrified.
Theatre fanatics will be able to see The Monkey’s Paw performed during the Heritage NananGO PLAYfest during the Father’s Day weekend, 5 to 7 September.
