The Good Doctor
1988 · Jacksonville Theatre Guild
In 1988 the Jacksonville Theatre Guild staged The Good Doctor, Neil Simon's warm, comic suite of one-act vignettes adapted from short stories by Anton Chekhov. A Writer (here the Narrator) ushers the audience through a string of self-contained sketches — a clerk who cannot stop apologizing for a sneeze, a governess cheated of her wages, a botched tooth extraction, a tempted husband, a drowning huckster, a desperate audition, a banker besieged, and a father's awkward "arrangement" for his son — each one turning Chekhov's wry humanity into an evening of small, knowing comedies.
Ken Bradbury served as the production's Narrator, the connective voice between the sketches, and also stepped onstage as the Father in the closing scene, "The Arrangement," opposite Greg Floyd and Stephanie Smith-Jarratt. For the interlude "Too Late for Happiness," Ken composed the original music heard in that number. The production was directed by Robert Crowe, with Luke Fry as artistic director and Sue Morrow coordinating.
Cast
- Narrator — Ken Bradbury
Act I
- Cherdyakov (The Sneeze) — Daniel "Doc" Holloway
- Wife (The Sneeze) — Leigh Ann Holloway
- General (The Sneeze) — Cal Verhoef
- Madame Brassilhov (The Sneeze) — Judith Beiderbecke
- Mistress (The Governess) — E. Muriel Shannan
- Julia (The Governess) — Kristie Savage
- Sexton (Surgery) — Luke Fry
- Kuryatin (Surgery) — Daniel "Doc" Holloway
- Man (Too Late for Happiness) — Bob Large
- Woman (Too Late for Happiness) — Judith Beiderbecke
- Peter (The Seduction) — Steve Todd
- Husband (The Seduction) — Roger Cannell
- Wife (The Seduction) — Brenda Wolfley
Act II
- Man (The Drowned Man) — Luke Fry
- Sailor (The Drowned Man) — Jacob Gent
- Policeman (The Drowned Man) — Steve Allen
- Girl (The Audition) — Kristie Savage
- Pochatkin (A Defenseless Creature) — Terry Karsgaard
- Kistunov (A Defenseless Creature) — Bob Large
- Woman (A Defenseless Creature) — Sylvia Burke
- Father (The Arrangement) — Ken Bradbury
- Boy (The Arrangement) — Greg Floyd
- Girl (The Arrangement) — Stephanie Smith-Jarratt
Production Staff
- Director — Robert Crowe
- Music for "Too Late for Happiness" — composed by Ken Bradbury
- Production Coordinator — Sue Morrow
- Artistic Director — Luke Fry
- Set Design — Rob Shaffer
- Stage Manager — Arlene Alexander
- Props — Susan Moreland & Sue Morthole
- Costumes — Laurie McCoy
- Programs — Connie Evans & Brenda Wolfley
- House — Mickey Olson
- Makeup — Kay Welsh
- Hair — Carol Perkins & Ruth Ann Donovan
- Lighting Design — Greg Floyd
- Lights — Mark Burnette
- Publicity — Jay Jamison & Sarah Green
- Photos — Jack Barwick
The program for this production was preserved courtesy of the Ken Bradbury Foundation.
See the full production record at JTG Memories.