On Saturday 3 November at 7.00 pm Rodney Bewes of The Likely Lads will light the first torch to lead the Torchlight procession down the Marine Parade in Lyme Regis.

The Lyme Regis Regatta and Carnival committee invited the popular actor as he is performing at the Marine Theatre later that night. He is delighted to accept but “They will have to accept me in my mascara” he said. “We’ll delay curtain up until after the fireworks” he added. “Everyone will want to see them and we can start at 8.15; the audience can watch from the theatre square or the bar, and we’ll start once the last rocket has been fired and the oohs and aaahhs have died down.”

Rodney Bewes is returning to the Marine Theatre with “On the Stage – and Off” based on “The Brief Career of A Would Be Actor” by Jerome K Jerome. Many will remember the extremely popular “Three Men in a Boat” that he brought to the Marine Theatre a few years ago. This new comic one-man show which premièred at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is a fun-filled solo adaptation of Jerome K Jerome’s first book, On the Stage – and Off.  Rodney enacts the true story of Jerome’s life as a jobbing actor in the 1880s.  A rare theatrical treat is in store for everyone and particularly those unfamiliar with Jerome’s superb writing. Tickets are available from the Lyme TIC 01297442138 at £10 or £7.00 for under 16s.

The young and idealistic Jerome decided to try his hand at acting, under the stage name Harold Crichton.  This is his story as he fights his way around the world of the late-Victorian theatre, battling with forbidding landladies and unsympathetic managers, touring with second- and third-rate companies and endeavouring to make himself a ‘star’.  It also embodies his observations on London theatres, his thoughts on the mysterious world of ‘behind the scenes’, and his views of the actors and management of that era.

Best remembered for playing ‘Bob’ in the long-running television series The Likely Lads, Rodney also wrote, produced and starred in the popular television series Dear Mother... Love Albert, which won a coveted Silver Bear at Montreux.  His first major film role was in John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar, his theatrical career covers everything from Shakespeare to Widow Twankey, and his West End credits are numerous.  Both his one-man shows, Three Men in a Boat and The Diary of a Nobody, have been smash hits at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and on nationwide tours.  A Likely Story, Rodney’s autobiography, was published in 2005.

In the grand tradition, of which Jerome himself would have been proud, the nationwide tour of On the Stage - and Off runs through to 2008, from the Scottish Borders to Barnsley to Bath and on to Barnstaple, with many stops in-between.

The torchlight parade will culminate in a wonderful firework display over harbour at the Cobb. A samba band will accompany the parade and bring a carnival atmosphere to this regular favorite

in the Lyme calendar. Collections for local charities will be made by the Carnival Committee during the parade. The bonfire is lit after the parade and firework display.

Rodney Bewes in

“On the Stage – And Off”

based on the work by Jerome K Jerome

Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis

Saturday 3 November

8.15 pm – new time

Ticket £10.00 and £7.00 for under 16s.

Call 01297 442138