Dick Whittington and His Cat

January 22, 2014 · 0 Comments

He wrote it, produced it, directed it and acts in it-the talented Dundalk resident, Mr. Bev Nicholas!

Born in the United Kingdom, in Whales to be exact, Nicholas now has sixty years in theatre under his belt and can boast, although he never would, having a very rich and extensive acting career spanning countries and includes working with some of the most famous named plays in history. From 1987-2001 Nicholas found himself in Toronto involved in the very well known and extremely long running play, The Mouse Trap. Originally as part of the backup, Nicholas performed in the full time cast for the last three years of the play’s running.

The Tipling Stage Company will be performing under Nicolas’ direction at the Grace Tipling Theatre in Shelburne beginning January 24th. Since the company’s inception in 2008, Nicholas has been involved with the company in many different capacities and the Dick Whittington and His Cat production will be the company’s fourth pantomime performed.

“I was taken to a pantomime by my father when I lived across the pond,(in the UK) during World War II. There were a lot of experienced actors and they spoke to the audience, that is, they called the fourth wall as we say in the acting world when one engages the audience, interacts with the audience,” Nicholas explained, clearly still in love with the theatre and all the magic it has to offer.

Adding to Nicholas’ rich list of accomplishments, he remembers having written Aladdin, Jack And The Beanstalk, Robin Hood, his favorite, Waiting For The Parade and all were very well received.

“The Tipling Stage Company is a top class theatre group and its actors are very talented and dedicated,” commented Nicholas. “It’s a lot of fun and I think everyone really enjoys their work and their time together.”

In his Director notes, Nicholas reveals there was in fact a real person named Dick Whittington, born in 1358 in Gloucestershire in the Forest of the Dean. Whittington eventually actually did become Lord Mayor of London four times, a Member of Parliament and a Sheriff in London.

Whittington died in 1423. Without heirs, Whittington donated his vast amounts of accumulated wealth to charity and the amount is comparatively an astounding three million dollars! Six hundred years later, the charity is still helping people. Even though there is no evidence Whittington ever owned a cat, during a restoration of the church of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, where Whittington’s body rests, a mummified cat was located in its church tower.

Though Dick Whittington and His Cat is only based loosely on the real Dick Whittington, it’s a well loved English Folk tale about a poor boy who becomes the Mayor of London with the help of his ‘rattling’ cat.

Nicholas’ version of Dick Whittington and His Cat promises to be light hearted and a very entertaining pantomime. Surrounded by the talented actors of The Tipling Stage Company, Nicholas encourages those who attend the performance to laugh at jokes, boo the bad, cheer the goods guys, and enjoy the show!

How fortunate Shelburne is to be able to attend such a great quality performance! Attending the Pantages Theatre is certainly a treat but who needs Toronto when we have The Tipling Stage Company!

By Alex Sher