HERE FOR THE BIER

performed at Cumbernauld Theatre, 19 & 20th May 1995

FRED DOYLE	Gerry McGladrigan	WALLY	Bill Green
ADAM ARMSTRONG	Joe Thomson	SAMUEL ARMSTRONG	James Keenan
ALEC ARMSTRONG	Allan McPhail	WILLIAM ARMSTRONG	Robert Grice
AGGIE MUNRO	Leigh Pirret	LIZ CRUICKSHANK	Moira Goldie
CLEMENTINE	Stephanie Dodds	DORIS	Anne Gray
JESSIE DUNN	Pamela Moir	MARY DEWAR	Claire Wilson
SIR RANDOLPH CLEWS	Peter Capaldi	CEDRIC MARLOW	Drew Anderson
MAGGIE ARMSTRONG	Betty Naismith	CHARLIE PERRY	Derek Green
FLORA GIBBONS	Karen Moir
PUB CUSTOMERS	Janice Gordon, Ann McTaggart, Lynn Robertson, Ann Wilson, Janice Ferguson

The Apex Players served up fun in good measure at Cumbernauld Theatre on Friday and Saturday night with their production of "Here for the Bier", by local playwright Joe Simons.

Unfortunately the attendance at the opening night was poor -a great pity since the cast obviously put in a great deal of time and effort.

The play was set in a Glasgow pub in the early 70s, with mini-skirts, hot pants, Billy Connolly music, and whisky at 21p a nip. Those were the days! The plot was fairly straightforward, with self-made businessman Adam Armstrong, played competently by Joe Thomson, conducting all his business from the pub, which he also owns. When he dies suddenly, his will endeavours to sort out all his family's and friends' problems and instead causes chaos.

All the cast members handled their roles well, though some first-night nerves made a little prompting necessary.

Gerry McGladrigan was excellent as Fred Doyle, a philosophical Irish barman, though his accent tended to slip occasionally. Bill Green got a lot of laughs as boozy Wally, determined never to pay for a drink but with a host of dodges to get plenty of drink from other customers.

Adam's three sons were played by James Keenan (Samuel), Robert Grice (William) and Allan McPhail (Alec). Robert Grice was especially convincing when he had to play a drunk scene. A touch of 70s nostalgia was provided by the mink-skirted Karen Moir as Flora Gibbons, while Anne Gray shone as Doris, the possessive English wife of one of the Armstrong sons.

Stephanie Dodds ably played teetotal Clementine, another of the Armstrong wives, who was required by Adam's will to drink at least one short every day. Alec Armstrong's various admirers were played by Leigh Pirret as trendy Aggie Munro, Moira Goldie as highbrow Liz Cruickshank, and Pamela Moir as 40-something neighbour, Jessie Dunn.

Other roles were taken by Claire Wilson as May Dewar, whose pregnancy causes all sorts of misunderstandings; Peter Capaldi as pompous London property developer Sir Randolph Clews (the type of role Peter excels in); Drew Anderson as Sir Randolph's twittish PA Cedric Marlow; Betty Naismith as Adam's wife Maggie, and Derek Green as stuttering undertaker Charlie Perry.

Pub customers were Janice Gordon, Ann McTaggart, Lynn Robertson Ann Wilson and Janice Ferguson.