Two of the Island's brightest theatre stars have decided to leave Bermuda to start anew on another island -- that of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

Ken Morgan, who has made Bermuda his home for the past 26 years, will become executive director of a joint venture with Rawlinson & Hunter and Guyerzeller (Swiss) Bank.

He met his wife, Tricia, who has been here for 17 years, when she joined the BMDS where he was already holding sway as one of the Island's leading actors.

Since then, they have earned rave reviews in many of Bermuda's major productions -- although, ironically, there is a sense that Tricia Morgan found her greatest success only very recently, when she all but stole the show with her brilliant performance as the Countess in Joel Froomkin's Bermuda Festival production of "A Little Night Music''.

"I do think that the long-term future here for foreigners is not very certain -- the ability to put down roots is severely limited so, as you get older, you have to think about where you are going to end up and to do the best for your family,'' said Mr. Morgan.

The father of three year-old Brittany believes that Tortola has an exciting future. "The offshore industry there is a lot younger than Bermuda, of course, but offers a lot of potential. It's a small population, so the infrastructure is not so developed but it has a lot going for it and actually has much in common with Bermuda. It is a British colony specialising in tourism and, now, offshore business. I see Tortola as just another example of the competition that Bermuda now faces, and will face in the future -- and there is far more room for growth. It's a very beautiful place, so people will like the idea of doing business there. I have a great opportunity to build up a new job in a very attractive jurisdiction, and I think it will be an interesting experience to see international business develop there from the grass roots and to be a part of that process.'' Paying tribute to the "wonderful productions'' they have been involved in during their years in Bermuda, the Morgans admit they have had opportunities here that would not have come their way in the UK.

"Just imagine,'' reflects Mr. Morgan, "meeting Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice when I was in `Jesus Christ Superstar', as well as Robert Stigwood who donated the rights to perform it, and then working with Harold French who directed Terence Rattigan's `The Winslow Boy' because he was a great friend of Rattigan who lived here! Not many places could boast that sort of thing.'' He is also proud that he appeared with Elsbeth and the late Don Gibson in "On Golden Pond'', their last play together.

"I played his son-in-law. I had known about the Gibsons for years, so it was very flattering to be asked by him to be in their show. I remember we rehearsed in the old Coral Island Hotel. It was such a great opportunity to see them both in action and to be able to work with them was a fantastic experience,'' recalls Mr. Morgan.

Arriving here from the Cayman Islands where he made his first stage appearances in the farces "See How They Run'' and "Doctor in the House'', Ken Morgan went on to create some memorable roles on the local stage, among them "Whose Life Is It Anyway?'', "Educating Rita'', "What the Butler Saw'' (which he also directed) as well as starring in a long list of farces and murder mysteries.

He was also in "The Elephant Man'' (directed by Nigel Kermode), where he acted Treves to Brian Webb's title role : "He didn't need any makeup,'' he quips of his old friend. One of his favourites roles, he says, was when he played Roosevelt in Gavin Wilson's production of "Annie'' for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

" People thought my resemblance to the President was uncanny -- and I remember, that first night when we walked into the Monte Carlo restaurant after the show, I got a standing ovation!'' Tricia Morgan's love affair with the theatre began as a teenager. As a singer, she started the hard way, in the pubs and men's clubs of her native Yorkshire, and also performing in festivals all over the north of England where she was three times voted `most promising talent'.

The diminutive blonde was known as "Trish the Dish'' when she occasionally performed in a rock band with a bunch of scientists from the Bermuda Biological Station. She also sang before an audience of 5,000 when she reached the finals of a talent contest at the London Palladium.

Bright lights in local theatre head for BVI From Page 29 When she auditioned for RADA, she was told to `come back in another year and try again.' "But I was only 18, and a bit cocky, so I didn't bother,'' she laughs.

As an actress who has found her good looks a distinct disadvantage in getting meaty roles, Mrs. Morgan says that for most of her acting career here, she has become best known as the "panto princess''. Acknowledging this was partly her own fault in that, as a Montessori teacher, she particularly loved performing for the children in the audience, she adds, "Brian Webb, whom I admire very much, told me years ago to stop doing those roles and it was good advice, even if I didn't listen! So did Carol Nichol, another gifted director who nurtured me along the way and to whom I owe a great deal. I would also like to thank Susan Levasseur who gave me voice lessons and convinced me I could really sing, and how to present myself onstage. They both saw through that `dumb blonde' image.'' So, obviously, did the gifted young director Joel Froomkin who, six months before he was due to start rehearsing "A Little Night Music'', rang Tricia to ask her to audition for the role of Countess Charlotte.

"He said that part was made for me. I had never even remotely thought of myself in that role, but he saw it at once. He said my performance `blew him away' -- but I think I had to prove to myself as well as everyone else that I could succeed in a role like that.'' Succeed she did, and no one who saw the show is likely to forget her tragi-comic rendition of "Every Day a Little Death''.

"I am so grateful I was able to do that as my last show in Bermuda -- it was a wonderful role to go out on -- people I had known for years just didn't recognise me.'' Although they appeared together quite recently in "Murder by Misadventure'' for BMDS, the Morgans have tended to take it in turns, treading the boards.

"Especially since we had Brittany, it's difficult for both of us to be out, night after night during the rehearsal of a show,'' explains Mrs. Morgan.

Her first big starring role was in "The Boy Friend'' for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society at City Hall and she also played the Madonna role in "Speed the Plough'', and appeared with Ken in "An Inspector Calls''.

Besides taking the lead in most recent pantomimes, she has also worked with the BMDS Youth Workshop, directed plays for Amnesty International, and was producer for Cleo Laine in Concert for the BMDS 50 anniversary concert at the Marriott Hotel.

Ken Morgan is also well known as a director, especially for the hilarious sketch revues known as "Gums'' and for two "Um Um Shows'' and a total of six Clayhouse Inn productions of "Not the Um Um Shows''.

They are full of praise for the standard of local theatre, having both worked with BMDS, G & S and the Jabulani Repertory Company.

"The City Hall productions have been wonderful,'' says Mr. Morgan, "but I do think that BMDS has gone from strength to strength since they established Daylesford in 1975. They have a great facility, and it's important to have a place where money doesn't drive everything. They have these huge budgets now at City Hall so it's become a big deal and if your show sinks there, it's a very big deal indeed! So it's very encouraging for people to have Daylesford.

Bermuda is very fortunate to have these kinds of facilities and so much talent. There were some amazing people around in the old days -- people like John profit, Len McFarlane, Don Gibson and then Brian Webb. There's still a strong core of `old-timers' like John Instone, George Rush and Gavin Wilson who give so much. I wish that more young people would get involved, as it's a wonderful training ground and it's important that any group like that continues to attract new blood.'' Adds Mr. Morgan, "Oh yes, there is no doubt we are going to miss Bermuda very much!'' And are there plans to set off a thespian revolution in Tortola? "We shall have to see about that,'' laughs Tricia. "I suppose you could say we are going as a package -- two for the price of one.''