The evening’s award winners gathered together on stage. Picture by Peter Boam.
PICTURE GALLERY
CP IW AMATEUR THEATRE AWARDS
A HUSBAND and wife team who between them have clocked-up hundreds of television appearances over the decades were the star guests at the 11th County Press IW Amateur Theatre Awards.
But their celebrity status did not stop John Woodvine, star of cult movie An American Werewolf in London and his wife, Lyn Farleigh, from enjoying a fish and chip meal at Chubby’s in Shanklin.
Veteran actor John joked: "It was wonderful."
The couple had enjoyed their meal before joining a packed audience at Shanklin Conservative Club. All the leading lights from the Island’s vibrant theatrical scene gathered to learn who had won the sought after amateur theatre awards, adjudicated by showbusiness writer and radio broadcaster John Hannam.
The guests had been welcomed by County Press editor Alan Marriott, who said coverage of the Island’s theatre life was an ever important feature of the paper.
Mr Woodvine, recalling his time shooting John Landis’s hit comedy classic about a young American who horrifyingly transforms into a wolf, told of his favourite line which gets one of the biggest laughs in the film. He said: "It was after we had seen all the mayhem in Trafalgar Square, hundreds of cars had crashed and everything and my line speaking on a telephone was 'There is some sort of disturbance in the square.’"
Lyn, appeared in TV classics including Z-Cars and a memorable scene in the classic comedy Steptoe and Son as well as more recently in Wycliffe and the BBC hit Pride and Prejudice.
She recalled her famous waterbed scene with Harry H. Corbett in the classic episode of Steptoe and Son and how the much loved actor had been scared in case his toupee came off.
Opening the awards, John Hannam told the assembled actors, actresses, directors and other people involved in the Island’s lively theatre scene that 2009 had not been a vintage year.
He said: "There were some strange choices for plays in the past year. The question is, were they chosen for the public or the indulgence of some of the players?"
However, he praised the contribution of some fantastic young people who were emerging on the Island scene.
Reporter: davidn@iwcpmail.co.uk
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