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 A Bridge Game Too Far
For the residents of a local retirement home, the weekly bridge game is more than just a way of life, it's a way of staying alive, so when Mabel Shepherd announces she's sitting the game out for the night, the news travels fast as her fellow bridge partners plan their next moves and play their cards a little too far from their chests.
 
A Bridge Game Too Far was inspired by a New York Times article reprinted in the Observer on 7 June 2009. The article focused on bridge players at the retirement community of Laguna Woods, California. Playing contract bridge was seen as helpful in preventing dementia, but slipping up in games may lead to people having to drop out, and to quote one resident ‘when they stop playing, they don’t live much longer.’ 
 
The play won the 2011 Roy Purdue Trophy for new writing at the Roy Purdue New Playwriting Festival at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. Tower Theatre will be performing the play on 30 March 2012 as part of their New Writing Programme.
 

Previous productions 

 Ovation Theatre Awards
 
The play was first performed at the  Ovation Theatre Awards 2010 where it was chosen as one of the finalists. Writers are asked to submit 7 minute plays for the Awards, which are designed to bring new writing for theatre to the forefront. Andy Moseley submitted an extract from the play to the competition. The final was held at the Pavilion Theatre, Whitby, North Yorkshire on Saturday 20th November 2010. 
 
The cast for the play were: 
 Mabel: Anna Dimdore 
 Bob: Tony Wredden 
Judy: Sue Catten 
 
   Andy Moseley directed of the play
 
 
 OHADS
 
The full one-act play was first performed on Wednesday 2nd March 2011 by Old Hamptonians Amateur Dramatic Society for the 2011 Elmbridge Drama Festival.
 
Cast for the play were: 
Ted: John Bellamy
 Mabel: Carol Stratton
 Bob: John Pyle  
Judy: Sue Birks
Celia: Clare Cooper
 
Andy Moseley directed the play
Jess Andrews was set designer 
 
  Sue Birks won best supporting actress at the festival awards on Saturday 5th March and John Bellamy and Carol Stratton were nominated for best actor and best actress.   
 
The play was then performed at the Roy Purdue New Playwriting Festival at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond and in a double bill with Are You Lonesome Tonight by OHADS at Hampton Hill Playhouse from 6 to 9 April.  Cath Messum took over the part of Celia for all of these performances. Andy Moseley played the part of Bob for the last two nights of the production at Hampton Hill.