Written by Amanda Whittington
Directed by Garry Thomas

Season: 2 - 12 October 2019

Set in 1964 in a church-run home in the north of England, it follows the fortunes of Mary Adams, 19, unmarried and seven months pregnant. A story of hope, friendship and survival.

Performances:

• Wednesday 2nd October 2019 7:30pm.
• Thursday 3rd October 2019 7:30pm.
• Friday 4th October 2019 7:30pm.
• Saturday 5th October 2019 2:00pm (Matinee).
• Saturday 5th October 2019 7:30pm.
• Wednesday 9th October 2019 7:30pm.
• Thursday 10th October 2019 7:30pm.
• Friday 11th October 2019 7:30pm.
• Saturday 12th October 2019 7:30pm.

Prices:

• $25 Waged.
• $22 Unwaged.

Cast:

• Mrs Adams - Celia Breen
• Matron - Karyn Gibson
• Mary - Sammie M
• Queenie - Elisa Jones
• Dolores - Sarah Coursey
• Norma - Mathilde Walbom

• Director - Garry (Gaz) Thomas
• Stage Manager - Steve Millar
• Technical - TBC

By Philip Ridley
Directed by Garry Thomas

Season: 14 - 23 June 2018

Cast:
Steven - George Sharman
Barry - Josiah Morgan
Debbie - Nikki Bleyendaal
Liz - Marilyn Ollett

A sharp, complex play about two brothers and the grim hold that their memories have on them. Barry is an artist who works for his older brother Stephen; Stephen is a successful business man with a beautiful wife and house, but absolutely no interest in his wife’s pregnancy. A series of flashback monologues describe the brothers’ father and his suicide, and slowly uncover the depths of their grief and trauma. The characters of the play are haunted by the ghosts of lies that the family has told to keep going and by the pain they have not been able to bury.

By Amanda Whittington
Dir: Garry Thomas

Season: 8 - 17 June 2017

In July 1955, a blonde bombshell, Ruth Ellis, was the last woman was hanged in Britain. She was 28. As a working class night-club hostess in a club where there was more than drink on offer, Ruth Ellis had dreams about her future. She also had two children. Her passionate and tragic affair with an upper-class racing driver, David Blakely, ended in murder.

1955 was also the year when Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister, when Stirling Moss won the Grand Prix, when Princess Margaret broke off her engagement to Captain Peter Townsend, and when the aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal was completed. In short, Great Britain was in transition, struggling to find a new identity and to reconcile the old with the new.

The class system however, was still very evident, and it was a time of rampant sexism. Domestic violence and sexual exploitation had, as Amanda Whittington herself says “barely been named”. There was little recognition of mental health issues. Although the play tells a story, it also explores society’s perception of women, and how this affects the justice meted out to them.

This play was originally performed at the New Vic in 2013. Amanda Whittington is the author of a number of plays, including Ladies Day, Tipping the Velvet, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Be My Baby and Amateur Girl. It requires strong ensemble playing. The film, Dance with a Stranger also tells the same story, but from a different perspective.

Cast:
Ruth Ellis -Samantha Raines
Vicky Martin - Libby Wilson
Sylvia Shaw - Louisa Stewart
Doris Judd - Nikki Bleyendaal
Inspector Jack Gale - Julian Anderson

By Tom Basden
Directed by David Mitchell

Season: 28 September - 8 October 2016

An absurd, fast-paced comedy by Tom Basden, the writer of some of Britain's most acclaimed TV comedies (Fresh Meat, Plebs). Flight BA043 has crashed on an island. Stranded, three ill-matched colleagues en route to a work conference in Australia find themselves dumped in the tropics with 16-year-old Erin, whose parents died in the crash. But there’s no time to mourn Erin’s loss when there’s sunbathing to be done and other passengers’ suitcases to loot for goodies.

‘Masterclass of a show’ - (BroadwayBaby.com).

Cast
Marie - Anna Willows
Ian - Scott Morrow
Gus - Sebastian Boyle
Erin - Drew Thomas

By John Godber
Directed by Susan Cameron

Season: 8 - 18 June 2016

Bouncers can make or break your night – just by one simple lift of their arm the hand will either beckon you inside or stop you dead in your tracks.

Whatever the outcome you know that you don’t want to mess with them.

Have you ever given a thought to the lives that these men lead, the things that they see, the worries they have and what fantasies they lose themselves to.

Well set ‘oop north’ in a nightclub called Mr Cinders you are about to find this all out.

By David Auburn
Directed by Sam Primrose

Season: 10 - 20 June 2015

The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician recently deceased tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity.

Complicating matters are one of her father's ex students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settle his affairs.

Winner of 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.

Cast:
Catherine - Lisa Hall
Robert - Stephen Ingwell
Hal - Cameron Marriot
Claire - Nikki Bleyendaal

Crew:
Director - Sam Primrose
Prod. Manager - Becs Sandys
Stage Manager - Dave Mitchell

By Jimmy Murphy
Directed by Garry Thomas

Season: 8 - 15 April 2015

Set after the recent economic crash, the play represents a bachelorette party taking place in a rundown rural cottage some miles from Dublin. The newlyweds-to-be have purchased this country abode cheaply - the previous owners having suffered foreclosure.

Now looking forward to her new life in this out-of the-way little house, the bride, Una, celebrates the so-called Hen Night with her two closest friends, Kelly and Triona; her future mother-in-law Olive; and her future husband’s godmother, Anta. The revelry is short circuited, however, when troubling secrets surface. The bonds that connect these women are severely strained.

“Murphy’s piece is a subtle comedy that shades into poignant, thoughtful drama...”

“... the real crux of the play isn’t the overtly obvious subjects of abuse, promiscuity or relationship troubles, but the deep-rooted issues of loyalty, betrayal and acceptance.”

Cast:
Una - Nikki Conyers
Triona - Sam McKinnon
Kelly - Sheree Hawker
Olive - Felicity Watson
Anta - Elizabeth Woods

Crew:
Director - Garry Thomas
Production Manager - Susan Cameron
Stage Manager - Sonya Cameron
Prompt - Bec Sandys
Tech - Craig Blaikie
Wardrobe - Barry Tomkinson

By David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Garry Thomas

Season: May 2014

Rabbit Hole is the heart breaking story of Becca and Howie, a couple trying to recover from the accidental death of their four-year-old son, Danny. Becca's mother, Nat, and her younger sister, Izzy, try in their own ways to comfort the family.

When Izzy, always the family troublemaker, announces that she is pregnant, Becca and Howie must come to terms with the new life in the family while dealing with their grief. In the final act, Jason, the young man who accidentally killed their son, comes to their home. He has written a story about alternate realities in which those who die live on elsewhere. His visit helps Becca to realize the family must move on.

Deeply humane, occasionally funny and always heartrending, Rabbit Hole explores the ways we deal with grief, both individually and as families.

Recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nominated for several Tony Awards

Cast:
Becca - Anna Willows
Howie - Steven Barker
Izzy - Sherree Hawker
Nat - Amanda Shields
Jason - Matt Bonniface

Crew:
Director - Garry Thomas
Production Manager - Barry Tomkinson
Stage Manager - Dave Mitchell

Press Review - "Well performed very moving
and thoughtful production."

By Frank McGuiness
Directed by Marilyn Ollett

Season: 12 – 22 June 2013

Three men are held captive in Beirut. How do they survive and retain their sanity armed only with hope, humour, and sheer determination?
“We’re at their mercy” … “No, we’re at our own” Three civilian men are kidnapped; held captive and chained, and under the ever watchful eye of both captors and supposed comrades, how do they maintain their sanity – and humanity – armed only with hope, humor, and sheer determination?

Cast:
Edward, Irish journalist - Mike Adams
Michael, English professor - John (JB) Boyce
Adam, American doctor - ​Stephen Ingwell