Outside Edge was first performed (at the Hampstead Theatre) in 1979, and 29 years later is still going strong. It will continue to go strong too, for it is just the sort of play which is made for a theatre group such as the "Milborne Players".

It is not, as Harris himself says, a play about cricket, but a play about people - or, rather, about types of people, and therein lies its appeal. Set in a cricket Pavilion, Outside Edge deals with an eventful Saturday afternoon in the lives of five men and four women. Roger struggles to keep together his team to play against the British Railways Maintenance Division Yeading East, while the wives and girlfriends of his players help and hinder to devastating and hilarious effects.

With its cracking comic script, imaginative set and a cast almost equally split between men and women, Outside Edge is not surprisingly a perennial favourite among amateur drama groups and their audiences.

First staged at Hampstead Theatre with a cast including Maureen Lipman and Julia McKenzie, Richard Harris’s hit comedy enjoyed a hugely successful West End run before being made into a TV play starring the late Paul Eddington as Roger. Later still, a TV mini series was spawned, featuring the characters that make up the cricket team captained by Roger.

The action takes place at the cricket pavilion before and during a match, with the pitch being offstage where the audience is sitting.

While the play is ostensibly about cricket, it’s actually about relationships - and Harris is soon lifting the lid on all manner of angst and extra-marital shenanigans among the lead characters.

Cast
Miriam - Caroline Nobbs
Roger - Roy Sach
Bob - Brian Parkinson
Dennis - Bill Preston
Maggie - Jo South
Kevin - Andy Coetzee
Ginnie - Helen Pugh
Alex - Gren Elphinestone-Davis
Sharon - Emma Deves

For the Milborne Players
Production Manager - Caroline Nobbs
Stage Manager - Peter Foster
Lighting & Sound - Ian & Ron Karley
Set Construction & Design - Andy Coetzee
Props - Marion Regan & Sid Coe
Prompter - Dot Karley
Programme & Tickets - Sid Coe
Front of House - Melva Coe and team.

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