We step back in time in this romantic tale by Mary Kettlewell, and also step backstage to witness the behind the scenes drama of a Victorian seaside theatre, as The People’s Friend Presents… Comic Capers.
Would bumping into Sidney, the owner of the variety show,
turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Ruby?
This humorous story turns the spotlight on the world of variety theatre, and, appropriately enough, our readers, Lesley Mackie and Terry Wale, both know exactly what it’s like to be in the spotlight themselves.
Husband and wife Lesley and Terry first met as actors in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Perth Theatre. Lesley was born and bred in Dundee, going to Hawkhill Primary School and Harris Academy. She has performed on stage, television – and even in one notable cult film, The Wicker Man. A Londoner by birth, Terry’s career as an actor, director and occasional playwright covers six decades, and includes visits to the USA, Canada and New Zealand.
In 1986 Lesley won a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance as Judy Garland in the West End play Judy, written for her by Terry – his first stage play, having previously penned a number of plays for television and radio. As well as radio roles, between them they have recorded over 360 audio books. More than 40 years since they first met there, Lesley and Terry now live in Perth.
Click on the image below to hear the story.
From next week, our regular weekly installments of The People’s Friend Presents… will be taking a short break over summer. But we’ll be back in a few weeks’ time with more audio readings of some of our favourite stories from the pages of the weekly People’s Friend and The People’s Friend Special.
All of our existing story readings will still be available, so if there are any you’ve missed here’s a good chance to catch up. You’ll find them all at our page on SoundCloud, where you can listen to each installment online, or download them to listen to whenever you choose.
