Mad Bess
by Mark Kimsey
Director - Mark Kimsey
Composer - Duncan Sykes
Musical Director - Duncan Sykes
Mad Bess - Estelle Dunham
Mad Bess Villager - Joy Allcock
Mad Bess Villager - Dorothy Bentote
Mad Bess Villager - Barbara Higgs
Mad Bess Villager - Diane Maltz
Mad Bess Villager - Alison Marshall
Mad Bess Villager - Iris Mutton
Mad Bess Villager - Ann Sykes
Mad Bess Villager - Ann Taggart
Village Child - Thomas McCarthy
Village Child - Adam Rayment
Village Child - Alex Rawles
Village Child - Joseph Rawles
Village Child - Dolcie Reader
Village Child - Jackson Reader
Village Child - Louie Reader
Sister Mary - Sue Worker
Sister Theresa - Emma Kimsey
Abbot Herluin - Lionel Williams
Woodman - Duncan Sykes
Mary Brill - Jo Williams
Joan Skillett - Marian Lally
John Brill - Rhodri Leach
Henry Skillett - Ben Williamson
James Bray - Mark Kimsey
Thomas Lavender - Graeme Gibaut
Charles Lamb - David Bowers
Mr Churchill - Malcolm Bentote
Chorister - Gwenllian Leach
Executioner - Tag
Stirling - Roy Oldfield
Dagnall - Valerie Clarke
Mrs Meadows - Alison Wyatt
Dr Pattern - Brian Beeston
Jury Foreman - Barbara Williams
Lily May - Dolcie Reader
A play based upon true events that occurred many years ago, deep within Ruislip Woods
The play is set in the spring of 1837 and tells the story of an innocent farm labourer called John Brill. One day whilst exploring the woodlands, John and his dear friend, Henry Skillett, came across three peasants as they were out poaching. Caught red-handed, the poachers had no choice but to adminster 'summary justice'. However, in doing so, they disturbed Mad Bess!
Who was Mad bess? A headless horsewoman, a lost soul, or a demented old woman who prowled the woods? Wait and see...
If you wish to investigate the story further, please take a stroll around the woodlands of Ruislip. For, if you look carefully, you will find John Brill's house in Breakspear Road and, if you dare enter the woods themselves, you may find Mad Bess cottage, standing ominously at the edge of the trees.
But, if you do enter the woods, be careful - you never know who might be there!
