of Madame Bovary

He, being a widower and ten years her elder, resigned Delphine to an unsatisfactory life of boredom in the Seine-Maritime village of Ry. Disappointed with her banal existence, and falling in love with Narcisse Bollet and Louis Campion (in the novel, Leon Dupuis and Rudolph Boulanger respectively) she fell into debt and died from hydrogen cyanide poisoning by her own hand in 1848 at the age of 26.

This page shows the plan of Ry and the locations of all the buildings that mirror those that appear in the novel. So, let’s cross the cow-plank and take a stroll through Ry, past the pharmacy, the Golden Lion and finally to the churchyard and the stone commemorating the life of Delphine Delamare - Madame Bovary.

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5. Pharmacy - where Homais’ works. In Ry, the real pharmacist, Mr Jouanne, created a mutual insurance system for the poor and a school for the children

6. The Village Square - where the agricultural fairs take place

7. Lheureux’s Shop - literally, Mr Happy, he is a merchant and money lender

8. The Church and the memorial for Delphine Delamare

Craig Robb (Director)

Craig first joined the Cheriton Players in 2014 and has taken a few acting roles and produced a couple of rehearsed readings since then, Grave Concerns and YoungJane. Previous acting roles have included vicars, the eponymous aristocrat in Lord Arthur Saville’s Crimes and an unwilling benefit cheat in CashOnDelivery . He has written a few plays as well, including one, MysteryShopper , which was recorded during the pandemic as a radio play. Although, with the Cheriton Players, he has directed one full-length play – Alan Ayckbourn’s CommunicatingDoors in 2018 – this is the first play he has directed that involves actors playing multiple roles which is an exciting new challenge for him.

Tim Conway

Tim has appeared in a dozen or so productions with the Cheriton Players since he accidentally joined in 2005 by attending a play reading for A Christmas Carol. A natural for the downtrodden humility of Bob Cratchit, he fooled us into believing he was acting. His sister, however, observed he was just being himself, thus making his convincing portrayal of Julian, the psychopathic matricide in CommunicatingDoors all the more disturbing. Making full use of experience gained in his recent role as Rattlesnake the bewhiskered old fossil of a stagecoach driver in CalamityJane, Tim now looks forward to another opportunity to not actually ride on a horse drawn vehicle in the current production, TheMassiveTragedyofMadameBovary

David Cradduck

David has been acting with Cheriton Players for well over 45 years.

Title/lead roles include Charley’s Aunt, Wind in the Willows, Worzel Gummidge, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime (1994), Pride andPrejudice, OutsideEdge, TheImportanceof BeingEarnest, AnInspectorCalls, Oh Clarence! and AMonthofSundays. Other productions include Oliver!, TheRealInspectorHound/BlackComedy , JungleFantasy , TheNobleSpaniard, Out of Order , A Christmas Carol, Table Manners, Murder in Cheriton!, ’Allo ’Allo , The Ghost Train, Ten Times Table, Alice, Murdered to Death, Season’sGreetings, A Bolt from the Blue, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime (2015), CashonDelivery and The Game’s Afoot. He won the 2015 Curtain Call Award for ‘Best Actor in a Comedy’ for ThirdWeekinAugust and took part in both Cheriton Variety Shows, (Another)Murderin Cheriton!, Diamonds Are For Trevor and NeverSay TrevorAgain! Credits with other theatre companies include Noises Off , Under Milkwood, The Mikado , Relative Values, Tom Jones, Shadowlands, Far from theMaddingCrowd, The39Steps and Murdered To Death. Long retired from his ‘day job’ as a designer, David now spends his time as a film/TV actor.

John Weston

John is a retired petroleum geologist who still accepts consulting roles in dispute resolution. His career in amateur theatre began in an Aberdeenshire dancing competition, followed by revues in Rio de Janeiro prior to moving to Alresford where he took to the stage with the Alresford Community Theatre in Sandcastles, Under Milk Wood, AllQuietontheWesternFront and Annie Since joining Cheriton Players, John has appeared in Season’sGreetings, FallenAngels, Diamonds Are For Trevor (as President Putitov), An International Revue (in which he also took on many different accents) and most recently CalamityJane.

John is actively involved in local rugby as Chairman of Alresford RFC and is a keen kayaker, fly fisherman, hill walker and outdoor cooking enthusiast!

Natashia Berrio

Natashia (Tash) joined the Cheriton players only last year after moving to Alresford in September. From the ouset she immersed herself in the group and was able to offer her help backstage for our last show NeverSayTrevorAgain!. After attending a play reading of the A Christmas Carol she was determined to be a part in the next play. She says he has always had a passion for theatre from a young age and playing the lead role of Emma Bovary has given her the chance to jump back in. She was involved with theatre and improvisation classes at university and school where she played Miranda in a remake of TheTempest but hasn’t had another lead role – until now! Theatre is a great outlet for her creativity as she spends her professional life working in cyber security. Other interests include travel and art – she sells pencil sketches to pet owners (see advertisement elsewhere in this programme).

Jane Wilde

We are delighted to welcome Jane to Cheriton Players, coming as she does with a wealth of theatrical experience. Having recently moved to Old Alresford, she has a long association with the theatre and considerable experience both as performer and director. She has helped set up amateur theatre groups, with particular focus on youth drama. In addition, she had a 30 year career teaching English and Drama (amongst other things) during which she has piqued the interest and encouraged the talent of many young actors When off stage she can be found gardening, crosswording, singing, walking, ‘yoga-ing’, or wrangling grandchildren.

Tom Dangerfield

An award-winning actor with a decade’s worth of experience on both stage and screen, Tom says he is delighted and proud to be ‘a part of the fantastic team bringing you TheMassiveTragedy ofMadameBovary’.

This will be his first on stage performance with the Cheriton Players, if you don’t count his brief screen cameo as Tom Cruise in last year’s NeversayTrevor Again. He has previously appeared at the Chesil Theatre, portraying such characters as Lord Byron, and Konstantin from Anton Chekhov’s ‘TheSeagull’ , as well as a few productions with The Worthy Players. Aside from this and his work in a wide range of films, he makes a living voice acting for a variety of different platforms and genres.

Tom says ‘for me the chance to take on five different parts is both thrilling and slightly nerve-wracking, but this is all part of the fun. Doing it alongside such a fantastic group of performers and artists is the perfect cherry on top, one that I am very grateful for!’