READING: Friday 12th June 2015 at 7.45pm
AUDITIONS: Saturday 13th June at 10am and Sunday 14th June at 7.45pm
PERFORMANCES: 19th to 26th September 2015
The play is a witty, observant comedy set in a fictional Northern housing estate in the early 1980s. It is a story of class mobility, squandered dreams and mid-life crisis.
It was first published in 1980 and later revised and updated by Russell in 1985. The Chesil production will be a combination of the two versions, predominantly the revised text but integrating some material from the original text.
There are four roles, of roughly equal size, requiring playing ages of early to mid-thirties:
- Dennis – a dissatisfied, rebellious man hitting his mid-thirties and not liking what he has become.
- Pauline – his wife, who strives to be socially accepted and struggles to understand Dennis’ behaviour.
- Jane – a formidable woman who runs the social milieu of the housing estate.
- Roger – Jane’s husband, outwardly jovial. Occasionally his middle-class pretentions slip.
Jim Glaister has directed short plays for the Chesil stage in the past, as well as several low budget short films, but this will be his first full-length production as Director for the Chesil Theatre. Being of Northern stock and having vivid memories of formative years in the early 80s, the play’s blend of social comment, farce, Northern attitudes and occasional coarse humour proved impossible to resist. It’s going to be a blast – come along and join the fun!
Newcomers always welcome. Just turn up via the stage door.