LADIES IN LAVENDER AT THE CHESIL THEATRE - A GENTLE TALE OF LONGING AND LOSS

The poignant and bittersweet period drama Ladies In Lavender by Shaun McKkenna comes to the Chesil Theatre Winchester’s stage from 10th to 18th April 2026. Tickets are available from www.chesiltheatre.org.uk.
 
Based on the hit film, with screenplay by Charles Dance, starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, and on the original short story by William J Locke, Ladies In Lavender tells the tale of the two elderly Widdington sisters, practical Janet and whimsical Ursula, who live in a remote close-knit fishing village in Cornwall in 1937. Their younger lives have been limited in scope: they do not remember their mother, their father has now died and Janet’s fiancé was lost in the Great War.
 
Into their quiet existence comes a handsome stranger. Andrea is a gifted young Polish violinist, sailing to America, when he is washed overboard from his ship in a storm. Rescuing him from the beach below their house, the sisters nurse him back to health, where he comes to disrupt their peaceful lives, bringing hidden longings and regrets to the surface: the denial of romance and the promise of children. Andrea becomes an essential element in the sisters’ daily lives, but one day, will he have to leave?
 
Director Sarah Hawkins comments:
“Ladies In Lavender has been praised for its emotional depth and delicate exploration of the elderly spinsters’ feelings. Music, too, plays an important role, resonating throughout the action.”
 
Ladies In Lavender runs from 10th to 18th April 2026, nightly at 7.30pm with a matinee on Sunday 12th April at 2.30pm. Tickets are selling fast from www.chesiltheatre.org.uk