28th April 2025
Thame Players’ next production, which opens at the Players Theatre, Thame on Tuesday 6th May, takes us all to the seaside, somewhere on the south coast of England. On the beach, as you’d expect, an Englishman's home is his sand castle. The play is a hilarious comedy, featuring two couples, posh William and Margaret Patterson and would-be posh Stan and Bernice Billet, who have been taking their holidays in the same resort for years. They don't exactly rule the waves, but they have turned the area around their beach huts into a cosy little fiefdom. And then along comes Doug, with his nubile nieces. They don't give a hoot for beach hut protocol - they just want to have fun in the sun.
With a nod to the era of saucy seaside postcards, Sand Castles by Bob Larbey gently satirises the English class system by transferring it to the seaside. Long-established beach hut owners find their way of life being eroded by newcomers who don’t conform to the unwritten rules. Even worse, other beach users start encroaching on their precious beach hut territory. Of Sand Castles, Larbey said, "It's about chaos on a British beach, full of strong characters, and hopefully a damn good laugh".
Larbey was a prolific writer of successful television sitcoms. He was best known for The Good Life (co-written with John Esmonde), A Fine Romance (providing a major TV role for Judi Dench), Ever Decreasing Circles, and As Time Goes By. Sand Castles, based on an idea by his wife, Trisha, was first performed in 2001. Amongst other projects, Larbey also enjoyed great success with his screenplays for The Darling Buds of May, a massive ratings hit for ITV. Larbey died in 2014 aged 79.
Carolyn Ross, director of Thame Players’ production, said, “It was the priceless characters which drew me to this play – some with a quiet twinkle in their eyes, some delightfully infuriating with their love of order, some gloriously and tastelessly brash, and some we just love to hate. And beneath the humour are traces of private stories that give pause for reflection – all taking place in the breezy, salt-sea air of the incomparable British seaside. This play is a delightful comedy, and I know audiences will enjoy every beach-front moment, perhaps being reminded of their own past seaside holidays! ”
This amateur production of Sand Castles is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
