Hovering:

Hovering was first presented as a one-act play by BAB Productions, and was nominated for an award at the 1994 Edinburgh Festival with the following cast.

THE  MAN  -  Malcolm Ward

Directed by Ron Aldridge
Set and lighting designed by Ron Aldridge

Hovering was then first presented as a full-length play by BAB Productions in September 1995 at the Green Room Theatre Club, London, in association with Suzanne Rayner, with the following cast.

THE MAN  -  Richard Derrington

Directed by Ron Aldridge
Set and lighting designed by Giles Derrington

Since then the full length version of the play has been presented by BAB Productions at numerous venues throughout the country, including the Stephen Joseph theatre in Scarborough.
The play has also been translated into Hebrew and was first presented in Tel Aviv in 2001.

‘Hovering’
A humorous story of life and the ‘afterlife’.

“Highly entertaining”  GLOS. ECHO

Are there really Pearly Gates?  Are there really bright lights and tunnels?  Will St. Peter really be standing there with his questionnaire?  Whatever happened to Lord Lucan?  Are dentists and surveyors really responsible for all that’s wrong with the world?  Why can’t we have a brothel for ladies?

“Romantic, tender,......and very funny.”  TODAY (EDINBURGH FESTIVAL)

These are just some of the thoughts racing through the mind of the man in Ron Aldridge’s comedy as he waits in hospital for news of his wife who lies in a coma ‘hovering’ between life and death.
This highly entertaining play effectively combines two theatrical extremes.  A strong dramatic and emotional storyline interspersed with stand-up comedy routines.

“… a tour-de-force,..........at times it is achingly funny, at other times it makes the audience hold it’s collective breath.”
THE SCOTSMAN  (EDINBURGH FESTIVAL)

Why was Tony Hancock so miserable?  How do you become a guru?  Why do we have to hit a crisis before we express our true feelings?

“Quirky, funny and fanciful,.........don’t miss this performance.” 
DAILY EXPRESS

As the story unfolds we discover how a most unusual extra-marital moment led to the row with his wife which landed him where he is now,.........but where exactly is that?  What is he waiting for?  Is there more, or indeed less to him than meets the eye..........?

“A haunting piece of theatre with fresh and lively material,........sparkily put across by Derrington in the guise of a Norman Wisdom like character,.............we are teetering on that ill-defined border between laughter and tears.”
THE STAGE AND TELEVISION TODAY

“Go and see it..........NOW!” 
BBC RADIO BERKS.

REVIEW

BRETFORTON
Hovering
Ron Aldridge’s one-man play at the Theatre Room creeps up on you unawares:  a hospital waiting room, an anxious man pacing up and down, distracting his attention from “what’s going on in there” by chatting to the audience.

Just a new setting for a stand-up comic’s routine, you think.  Indeed, the early material leans more towards the well tried than the brand new, though sparkily put across by Richard Derrington, in the persona of a Norman Wisdomish little man whose life’s ups and downs are defined by the moods of his bank manager, his mother-in-law, sex and football.
Then, towards the interval, writer/director Ron Aldridge gives the scenario an unexpected tweak upsetting all our preconceptions.
When we return it is to uncharted territory with fresh and lively material to match, which has the audience laughing in recognition as it plumbs many of our own fantasies.
Where can it go from here you begin to wonder and the answer comes swiftly, shockingly, plunging us into the entrails of a real life tragedy.
Suddenly we are teetering on that ill-defined border between laughter and tears, aware that reality lurks disturbingly close to this highly entertaining theatrical fiction.
ANN FITZGERALD