Bed Among the Lentils - 2016 Performances

Paul Rapsey presented “Bed Among the Lentils”, the award winning script by British playwright Alan Bennett in various venues in Ontario, Nova Scotia and England in 2016. The performances were a resounding success.

Paul returned to his first passion of acting after retiring from a thirty-year career in social justice law in 2015. During the 1970s he performed in many genres including summer stock, childrens' theatre, avant garde, classical theatre and mime. He gave up his professional theatre memberships (ACTRA and Equity) in 1995 when law seemed to offer him all the theatrics he needed at the time. He has now chosen to only undertake roles that challenge his mind and his skills, and that also challenge society’s stereotypes. He prefers simple sets and relies on the power of a playwright’s words and the engagement of an audience’s imagination to create vital characters and mood.

The play is a one–hour monologue written by Mr. Bennett in 1987 as a screen play for the BBC series “Talking Heads”. It is the story in five acts of Susan, a disaffected Vicar’s wife in the north of England. Susan faces life with passive aggression. She is unhappy in her relationship with her ambitious and self-centred husband, with her role in the church community and the people who impose on her. She touches upon clandestine moments of passion and intellectual stimulation, but retreats to mediocrity, at least temporarily. The story touches on dysfunctional relationships, racism, sexism, religious faith, integrity, substance abuse and despair, but it does so with humour and poise.

Paul admits to having been too old for this role by 15 or more years, too heavy by 50 or more pounds, and being a man, also admits to various other obvious physiological shortcomings. However, although the audience would see a man walk onto the stage, he hoped they would soon perceive Susan. That is the actor’s art. Indeed, the accolades he received clearly indicate they did. This is a rehearsal video of Scenes 1 & 2 of the play: Lentils - Scenes 1 & 2.

“Bed Among the Lentils” was presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

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Samuel Benefit a Success

The sold out performance of Desperately Seeking Samuel was a success. The production raised $800 for the Champlain Elementary School breakfast and lunch programme. The cheque will be presented to the school at the end of month at the school assembly by request of the principal, Jan Ross. Paul Rapsey performed both the role of Samuel in the main play and of Marianna in the Epilogue. The powerful Epilogue was not in the film version. Audience members who had already seen the film, repeatedly said how different the play was from the film version. It had more energy and less darkness. Paul says that is because an actor feeds off an audience. An actor cannot do that in a film. In his brief introduction, Paul said the play was not a linear one. He described it as like a slow paced road trip of discovery. It starts off in the early morning darkness. Sometimes the road is smooth and straight. Sometimes one is dodging potholes. There are curves and bends. Sometimes the scenery is stunning...

One's Company Now a Film

I am not a filmmaker. But Covid has forced me to become one, to a degree. I decided to turn this stage play into a one-hour film in the "talking head" genre. I have not decided what if anything I will do with this film other than make it available to my few fans on YouTube. I am not sure exactly how to categorize this film. At 61 minutes, it seems too long to classify as a "short", and too short to classify as a "feature". As was Fiddelity , the film is made with no budget and very basic equipment. I am, essentially a story teller in the old sense. It is the words and the way I use and express them that are intended to ignite the imagination of the audience, rather than reliance on pyro-technics and the like. I was particularly touched by this comment by one viewer: " I watched One’s Company last night and loved it. A graceful insight into alone-ness. Am I not being understood….or is it I who misunderstands? Small worries looming large. The growth...

Playwright Turned Author

BOOK LAUNCH There is murder in the air in a sleepy, unsuspecting village on the banks of a tidal river in Nova Scotia. “ Murder on the Pony Express Way ” by Paul Rapsey, a resident of Granville Ferry, will be released in paperback format at a book launch at Bainton’s Mad Hatter Bookstore in Annapolis Royal on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Stay on for Happy Hour at the Mad Hatter Wine Bar. The book is a whimsical murder mystery that takes place in the early 2020s. The historic village is located on the roadway travelled briefly by the mid-19 th century Pony Express riders carrying mail between Halifax and Victoria Beach in Nova Scotia. The characters may be flawed, but they are loveable. Although Paul has published other works, this is his first fictional novel. Josh Anderson at Amazon Books, which will be releasing the book for online purchases and e-readers in the late spring or early summer, wrote that the book is “ …a delightful read… W...

One Actor - Another Show

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