12th – 13th May 1948
A small advance party of staff arrive a fortnight early to the Greenfingers Palace Hotel to prepare the hotel for the opening season and find themselves snowbound as the weather takes a turn for the worse, roads become impassable and telephone lines go down. This, however, does not prevent surprise visitors arriving at the hotel, the first of whom is Mr Crowther, the hotel company’s detective. Mr Crowther is closely followed by the mysterious Miss Tracey who insists on being accommodated at the hotel with her companion, Mrs Jernigan, who soon disappears – presumably murdered – and leaves Detective Crowther with a cartload of mysteries to solve. Never one to shy away from the task, he immediately sets to work, interrogating and accusing staff members one by one, ingeniously discovering clues, and coming to audaciously clever conclusions – or, at least, so he thinks.
Standing: Alec Walton Florence Maskell Geoffrey Smith Edith Hill Brian Headley Peggy Simmons Ernest Golby
Seated: Peggy Heath M Brown P Person
| Characters | Cast* |
|---|---|
| Arnold Jordan | M Brown |
| Edna Sandars | E Hill |
| Keith Henley | P Heath |
| Helen Tennant | F Maskell |
| Sally Philips | P Pearson |
| Clara Packer | P Simmons |
| Rose Heaton | Mr E Golby |
| Fred Poole | Mr B Hedley |
| Robert Crowther | Mr G Smith |
| Miss Tracey | Mr A Walton |
* There is no record of who played which part!
Produced by Mr H J Johns
Newbury Weekly News review
Compton Players’ debut
The newly-formed drama group, known us the Compton Players, under their producer, Mr H J Johns, presented J B Priestley’s comedy of detection Mystery at Greenfingers, in the Village Hall on Wednesday and Thursday last week.
The excellent stage setting owed much to the skill of Messrs W J Hayward and P A Baker, who were responsible for the scenery and lighting respectively. Two large and enthusiastic audiences were greatly entertained by the clever dialogue and neat plot, well put across by the cast, comprising Mesdames M Brown, P Heath, E Hill, F Maskell, P Pearson, P Simmons; and Messrs E Golby, B Hedley, O Smith and A Walton.
Inspired by the welcome accorded their initial venture, the Players are hoping to produce another full-length play at the end of the year.