Past Glories
New Writing in the Studio Upstairs
Over two weeks, four brand new one-act plays will premiere in the Studio Upstairs. Each writer has an associations with the People's - either past or present - and they were commissioned to write a play on the theme of 'Past Glories' especially for the Centenary Season. The plays are staged as double bills on alternate nights, as below.
Past Glories 1 & 2
Performances: Tues 5, Thurs 7, Sat 9, Wed 13, Fri 15 April at 7.30 p.m.
A Spoonful of Honey by Tony Gannie
Lilian is aged 99. She was born in 1911 and is now bed-bound in a care home. Her grandson, a playwright, gives Lilian a tape recorder and asks her to narrate her life. During her recollections she slips back and forth between the poignant moments in her life. A hopeful, funny and moving story.
Tony has worked with Jimmy McGovern on the Bafta and Emmy Award-winning 'The Street'. He won a place on the Northern Voices scheme in 2010 and worked with 'Monarch of the Glen' and 'Grafters' creator and writer Michael Chaplin. Tony is currently working on the Eastenders Shadow Scheme.
For a review, click here (external link)
Cast
| Lillian (99) | Pat Haggerty |
| Lillian(30) | Nicky Dexter |
| Lillian(24) | Francesca Tomlinson |
| Director | John MacDonald |
Production Photographs: Jim Mohan
Never Rains but it Pours by Alison Carr
The Jensens are trapped in the attic room of their rapidly flooding house. Meredith has forgotten the concertina folder of important documents, Lyn's bridal shoes have just floated away and Cari is oblivious to the past bubbling up to bite her. As the water surges below, family secrets rise to the surface and resentments spill over.
Alison is a former winner of the People's Play Award ('My Mam Was an Ice-Cream Blonde', 2006) and has gone on to have work staged across the region as well as in London, Edinburgh, Prague and New York. Most recently, her play 'Can Cause Death' sold out at the National Theatre.
Cast
| Meredith | Louisa Shirley |
| Lyn | Jo Kelly |
| Cari | Emma Watson |
| Director | Kath Frazer |
Past Glories 3 & 4
Performances: Wed 6, Fri 8, Tues 12, Thurs 14, Sat 16 April at 7.30 p.m.
Wordsworth's Sister by Sue Saunders
Grasmere, April 1842 - young Dora Wells has come to Rydal Mount to 'paint the views' and visit the famous poet William Wordsworth, but he is too engrossed in his poetry. In an upstairs room, Dora encounters the 'exquisite' Dorothy - now a dementia sufferer. The ensuing half hour is full of laughter and tears as, together with Dot, her faithful carer, Miss Wordsworth relives her memories, revealing herself to be more than simply 'Wordsworth's Sister'.
As well as writing two volumes of poetry ('Angels of the North' and 'Installation' in collaboration with Tess Coslett), Sue has written plays primarily for youth clubs and schools. 'In Holland Stands a House' (about Anne Frank and published by Collins in 1990) has been performed worldwide and 'White Poppies' was recently performed at the Oast Theatre in Kent.
For a review of these two plays, click here (external link)
Cast
| Dorothy Wordsworth | Karen Elliott |
| Dot | Christine Holland |
| Dora | Kelly Godfrey |
| Director | John MacDonald |
Keeping up with the Joans by Philip Meeks
As a noted local drama group prepares to celebrate an important anniversary, two of its former leading lights, Zilla Mint and Kitty Feathers, find that looking back can stir up memories that would have been best left lying. With the help of their carer at the Rye Hill Rest Home for Professional Ladies, old grievances are tackled head on because a decision has to be made. Both Zilla and Kitty took it in turns to play St Joan in the glory days of the Gimcrack Players. But who was the greatest Joan of all?
Philip is a Fellow in Playwriting / Playwright in Residence at Leeds University. His theatre credits include 'Elsewhere' (York Theatre Royal), 'I Met a Man Who Wasn't There' (Lakeside, Nottingham) and 'Twinkle Little Star' (Nominated for Best Solo Stage Awards '06). His television credits include 'Doctors', 'Heartbeat' and over 40 commissions for 'Emmerdale' (2005-8).
Cast
| Zillah Mint | Val Russell |
| Kitty Feathers | Anne Cater |
| Gary Chitterling | Sean Burnside |
| Director | Kath Frazer |
Production Team
| Stage Management | Marina Cornish, Mike Cornish |
| Producer | Maggie Watson |
| Assistant Director | Beverley Warhurst |
| Production Assistant | Mary MacDonald |
| Lighting Design | Dave Bailey, Lisa Harrison |
| Wardrobe | Paula Smart, June Green, Margie Cook |
| Hair | Wiggy, Sally Cooper |
| Lighting | Jo Blackett, Laura Whittaker, Freya Tora, Tom Evans, Rachel Holland, Colin Cuthbert, Margarita Khoruzhenko |
| Sound | Tom Carr, Reg White |
