The Country Wife
by William Wycherley

21st, 22nd and 23rd March 1995
University of East Anglia Drama Studio, Norwich

Cast:
Richard Jones
Anna-Marie Currie
Steve Burnell
Bernard Allen
Hannah Boulton
Grace Deathridge
Warren Howard
Alastair Elliot
Tom Whalley
Roy Preston
Nina Conti
Emily Angle
Hajra Khan

Directed by Anita Frank
Produced by Steve Burnell
 

Thanks to the success of The Merchant of Venice, Next Best Thing was able to put two plays into rehearsal simultaneously to be performed within weeks of one another. Hot on the heels of The Master Builder came The Country Wife directed by Anita Frank. The scale of the production dwarfed our previous two - this was to prove an epic comedy, large sets utilising the huge stage of the drama studio. Set to some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s this was Restoration comedy given a "Dynasty" style makeover, complete with shoulder pads, designer stubble and unfeasibly big hair. Richard Jones again proved his versatility as the lecherous Horner supported by a cast of skilled comic actors, including the delightful Anna Currie as the country wife herself and the future star of the sitcom Black Books, and now an award-winning ventriloquist, Nina Conti as Alithea.