Family Album by Alan Ayckbourn Alan Ayckbourn’s Family Album is an intriguing and thought-provoking exploration of family life, examining three generations of women whose lives are connected not only by blood, but by the same family home. Spanning seventy years, the play gradually reveals how relationships, expectations, disappointments and unfulfilled ambitions can echo from one… Read more…
Readings to cast our third play Pack of Lies by Hugh Whitemore Produced by Thomas Perkins This is a gripping Cold War drama based on the true Portland Spy Ring story. The Jacksons are an ordinary suburban family, living happily beside their dearest friends, the Krogers. But when a Scotland Yard detective arrives with a… Read more…
The Full Monty by Simon Beaufoy The Full Monty is a play based on Simon Beaufoy’s 1997 BAFTA winning screenplay of the film. It tells the story of a group of steelworkers from Sheffield who find themselves on the scrapheap when their local steelwork closes down. Produced by Donnamarie Stamp, we are taken on a… Read more…
Rumours by Neil Simon Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. This quote from Sir Walter Scott perfectly sums up Neil Simon’s absurd but hilarious farce of relationships, reputations and subterfuge. Producer Daniel Toyne has transported the witty script, which was originally set in America, to the affluent London… Read more…
The Whale by Samuel D Hunter The Whale is a deeply affecting story of a morbidly obese man’s final week in his journey to redemption and reconciliation. Directed by Paul Turner-Johnson, in his debut directing role for Retford Little Theatre, we are brought face to face with the day-to-day life of Charlie. Charlie is an… Read more…
The Unfriend by Steven Moffatt The Unfriend is a black as treacle middle-class British comedy, about the hilarious results of a crippling overpolite aversion to facing up to unpalatable truths – where good manners could literally end in murder. Written by Steven Moffat of ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Sherlock’ fame and fresh from a successful West… Read more…
Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore Aged 18, three women from different walks of life come together as lodgers during their years at university. The play, written beautifully by Amelia Bullmore, charts the ups and downs of these women through the years as they navigate their different paths. It is a play ultimately… Read more…
Ladies in Retirement by Edward Percy and Reginald Denham Ladies in Retirement by Edward Percy and Reginald Denham is a gothic thriller written in 1939 and set in 1885. I must start by talking about the design elements of the production as these were outstanding. First, the lighting, which was both subtle and dramatic at… Read more…
Breezeblock Park by Willy Russell Willy Russell’s play Breezeblock Park, set in a northern council estate, is about a working-class family Christmas in the 1970s. Christmas is a time when family tensions can sizzle and they certainly do in this piece. We see sibling rivalries over sofas and central heating, drunken sexism between brothers-in-law and… Read more…
Ladies Down Under by Amanda Whittington After a successful production last year of ‘Ladies Day’, the Little Theatre was honoured with the sequel, ‘Ladies Down Under’ by Amanda Whittington. Having won big on the horses, the foursome from Hull decide to celebrate with a trip of a lifetime to the land of Oz. As we… Read more…