Titchfield Festival Theatre’s New Play Season continues with Lost & Found by Janette Evans, writer & director of last year’s successful production, The Last Secret. This play will be streamed as a film production.

Janette tells us what inspired her to write the play. You can also watch a trailer for the play  here or click onto the Titchfield Festival Theatre YouTube Channel.

Janette Evans on writing and directing Lost & Found:

“This play grew from the idea of how life has so many ups and downs. The belief that it’s not what happens to you that is important but the way you choose to manage it. Sometimes out of the ashes something beautiful can grow. In Buddhism the Buddha explains that suffering is caused by attachment to that which is always changing. We desire things to stay the same but they don't. Lost and Found explore the lives of ordinary people on the Wheel of Life and how they cope.

I have written three full length plays for TFT and several short plays. Unfortunately, last year we were unable to do the short play season, we were nearly ready when the first lockdown was called. This year due to the difficulties of online rehearsals and social distancing the short play season was postponed. Lost and Found is my third full length play at TFT.

It has been quite a journey this year. Last year was my first directing and writing. I worked with an amazing group of women and although It was nerve wrecking, I was so pleased with the performances and the feedback from the audiences was fabulous. This year it's a bigger cast, we have not met as a whole cast except once in early autumn for a read through in the Barn. Nearly all the rehearsals have been online. Due to filming the play, the order of the scenes has been modified to meet technical needs, so we will never actually run the play from start to finish, until it is edited. The cast have been incredible. Online rehearsals have their pros and cons. Glitching and lagging are definitely two cons. Not having the chance to run the play several times is disappointing. Live shows give you feedback as an actor and you can adapt your performance. As the director I need to give the feedback to the actors to try and get as good a performance as possible in just one take.

The main characters are three women, so no surprise there! Each woman has had a different experience of life. Janet, quiet, undersells herself, but is a strong loyal and true friend. Maureen, a harsh, bitter woman who uses her status to belittle others but why? And Vic, after experiencing a setback in her life through ill health, her journey takes a different route. She is like a spring flower open to the possibilities of a new season, only to find a late snowfall. All the characters have their own peculiarities and ways of coping which we just get to glimpse at during the play.

Is there an answer to what is the meaning of life? To be fair if I could answer that question, I would probably be earning a small fortune. Having said that I think the play does answer questions about meaning and purpose. You'll just have to watch it to find out if it speaks to you.”

Don’t forget to click onto our website for the streaming: 8^th – 14^th March 2021.