We are really pleased to announce the shows that will form the first half of our 2022 Season of Productions:
The Gift by Janice Okoh
January 29th to February 5th 2022
Directed by Christine Ingall
The gift of the title is a young black African girl rescued from native captors, brought to England and given to Queen Victoria. The Queen adopts her and names her Sarah, who is raised as the ward of a series of trusted guardians within royal circles. We meet Sarah at her Brighton home in 1862, on the eve of her departure for Africa with her businessman husband James. She is expecting a visit from her guardian Mrs Schoen, who brings unexpected and undesirable guests to tea.
In the present day, a middle class black British couple, Sarah an engineer and James an antique dealer, have recently moved to a Cheshire village with their adopted daughter. Sarah and James are discussing her coming to terms with a new project management job in Nigeria, when the doorbell rings. Neighbours Harriet and Ben have brought a “settling in” gift of homemade muffins. They stay for tea with surprising, shocking and hilarious results.
When the two Sarahs take tea with Queen Victoria the consequences are more than two of them could have imagined.
Casting: 4-6W 2-4M
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Two by Jim Cartwright
March 12th to 19th 2022
Directed by Helen Withers
14 different characters. 2 actors. 1 night. The local pub.
Meet your Landlord and Landlady as they guide you through an evening of antics at your local. As the lager continues to flow, the customers just keep coming in. Each vignette skillfully combines pathos and humour.
Casting: 1W, 1M
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Mary Stuart by Peter Schiller adapted by Peter Oswald
May 7th to 14th 2022
Directed by Hugh Sorrill
Schiller's play pits Mary, Queen of Scots against her rival Queen Elizabeth I in their full glory. The meeting never really happened but Schiller's Mary redeems her youthful crimes through an ordeal that lifts her into realms of spiritual serenity, while Elizabeth descends deeper into rage, revenge and deception. Oswald has written this striking new version in a mixture of prose and poetry making for exciting viewing.
Casting: 4W, 10M_
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Midsummer by David Greig/Gordon McIntyre
July 2nd to the 9th 2022
Directed by Peter Gillam
A midsummer weekend in Edinburgh. It's raining. Bob's a failing car salesman on the fringes of the city's underworld. Helena's a high-powered divorce lawyer with a taste for other people's husbands. She's totally out of his league; he's not her type at all. They absolutely should not sleep together. Which is, of course, why they do. A wonderful, comic tale of falling in love when you least expect it. A play where the two actors also play and sing original music in an extravaganza of playfulness, wit, colour, sound and song.
Casting: 1W, 1M