Dusted With Sugar by Christina Balmer

In 2020 the Bedford Park Festival took place online because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Chiswick Calendar was pleased to be one of several digital platforms hosting events.

Dusted with Sugar, just 12 minutes long, is one of two radio plays written specially for the Festival that year.

The play is set, fittingly, at a church fete. Phyllis Logan, the actor best known for her role as the housekeeper Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey, plays a champion cake maker, embittered by being unexpectedly knocked off the top slot. Not for nothing was she crowned ‘Miss Leytonstone Light & Fluffy’ way back when, and she’s not happy.

The play’s other character, the vicar, is played by Fr Kevin Morris, vicar of St Michael & All Angels Church, who appears to be wasted as an actual vicar. The Church’s gain is theatre’s loss.

Listening to this, you do wonder what goes on behind the scenes in the organisation of church fetes. He plays the part with such feeling!

Images above: Phyllis Logan; Fr Kevin Morris

Production

Pamela Lumsden: Phyllis Logan
Reverend Fanthorpe: Fr Kevin Morris
Tannoy announcer: Christina Balmer
Sound design and editing by Matt Karmios, Apex Production Group

Creature Features and other plays

Dusted With Sugar is one of two radio plays produced by The XV Theatre Company for the Bedford Park Festival. The other, Creature Features is available to listen to here: Creature Features.

Creature Features has an all-star cast, including Lucy Briers, Phyllis Logan, Veronica Quilligan, Eric Carte, Adam Leese, Andrew Maud, Kevin McNally, John Rowe and Jeremy Vine.

The XV Theatre Company has been producing shows for The Bedford Park Festival since 2015:

Cast Aside 2015; Shakespeare On Love 2016; Relatively Speaking 2017; Perfect Pitch 2018.  In 2019 the company focused on new writing with the premieres of two plays by Freya Alderson: Baby Mine at The Etcetera Theatre and Thread at The Hope Theatre.

Read More Stories on The Chiswick Calendar

See also: Bedford Park Festival online talk: Frank Matcham and the Chiswick Empire

See also: Bedford Park Festival 2020

See all the latest stories: Chiswick Calendar News & Features

Support The Chiswick Calendar

The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.

We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.

To subscribe to the weekly newsletter, go here.