
The Chesil set building team are renowned for their skills. The November show, Rumours by Neil Simon, will certainly challenge them. The classic, fast-moving, and riotous farce about the dinner party from hell requires two storeys, a staircase and several doors all of which must open and close at inopportune moments.
An exciting new adaptation of, Ghosts by Richard Eyre, is the first play in 2020. Eyre, who led the Royal National Theatre for ten years, has brought enormous freshness and power to Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece.
A stunning version by Liz Lochhead of Dracula is the March production. Lochhead, who wrote Blood and Ice the story behind Frankenstein performed at the Chesil in 2017, has packed this classic tale with theatricality and energy.
In complete contrast May brings a perceptive and amusing play A Fine Bright Day Today by Philip Goulding. Margaret has been a widow for 30 years and is set in her ways. Her daughter persuades her to take an American artist as a lodger - with disruptive results.
The biennial outdoor production in July is A Midsummer Night's Dream, many people’s favourite Shakespearian comedy. The Bishop's Garden, Wolvesey Palace, is the perfect venue for the magical worlds of Oberon and Titania, young runaway Athenians and Bottom and his friends rehearsing their play, to come together in a night of midsummer madness. The large cast will involve members of the Youth Theatre.
The two groups, which meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from September, will also be having fun learning theatre skills as they prepare for their show in February 2020 : James and the Giant Peach and The Witches.
All auditions are open and publicised on the website. New members are always welcome to these and to the coffee mornings which take place on the first Saturday of every month. More details can be found on the website chesiltheatre.org.uk
Tickets for all these Chesil shows may be booked now online. Last season two shows sold out well before the opening night.