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Dateline: 13th July, 2008 News from the Midlands
Maids in search for truthNon Stop Cabaret Theatre Company will be staging Jean Genet's modern classic of secret rituals, hatred and revenge, The Maids, this week at Buxton Festival Fringe. The play asks the question: what is the truth? The characters are so involved in a game that they've lost sight of what truth and reality really are. Do the two maids left alone in a house know they're playing different games? The cast includes Tom Phillips, Andrew Travis and James Swift. The Maids, directed by Simon N W Winterman, is on at the Paupers Pit in the Old Hall Hotel, Buxton tomorrow (Monday) at 2.30pm, Wednesday at 10.15pm and Thursday at 3.15pm.
Comedy exposes networking risksRuth E Cockburn's third play, Saturday Boy, is a dark, one-act comedy which examines the dangers of internet networking sites and the flippancy of friendships made at the click of a mouse. Gordon, the Saturday boy in question, spends his Saturday night learning how not to pull the woman of his dreams. It will be performed by RuthEBlue Theatre Company, formed in 2005 and making its first appearance at Buxton Fringe. The company will also take Saturday Boy to Edinburgh and it will soon go on a nationwide tour. The Paupers Pit will host the comedy on Tuesday (July 15th) at 4.30pm, and on Friday and Sunday at 6pm. Dark comedy is second natureManchester Evening News theatre award-winning company Second Nature will be premiering a dark comedy about unconditional love and identity, ContreCoup. The play is a "moving tale of a husband's struggle to adapt to caring for his wife after a serious road accident - despite her interfering father. Accidents happen on the road - not in love." Written by Ross Andrews, Contrecoup is directed by Sue McGeorge. The cast includes Ian Curley, Hazel Earle, Amanda Leigh Owen, Katie McArdle and Richard Sails. It will be performed in the Old Clubhouse next to Buxton Opera House at 10.45pm from Wednesday to Saturday (July 16th to 19th).
Gloves are off in funeral parlour comedyPatricia Hartshorne and Michael Elphick, otherwise known as Gloves Off Productions, have added a new play to their touring repertoire - a black comedy by Patricia's late husband Raymond, When You're Smiling. "It's set in a funeral parlour and has never been staged before, so we're delighted to be getting the opportunity to do so," said Patricia. Born in Manchester, Raymond Hartshorne lived the last twenty years of his life in Glossop. He was caretaker of Glossop Town Hall until he took early retirement to concentrate on his writing. Earlier this year Patricia published a collection of his poetry, Once Around the Maypole. "It's very much a mixture of the dark and the humorous," said Patricia, "as were his plays. Black comedy was definitely his forte and When You're Smiling is a fine example." Patricia joins George Titley, John Churnside and Ted Taylor in this one-act play. When You're Smiling will be staged in the Old Clubhouse on Water Street, Buxton from Wednesday to Saturday at 9.30pm.
How Richard III suffers from claustrophobiaStaging an epic tale of bloody English civil war in one of Buxton Fringe's smallest venues is the challenge facing Liverpool's Black Box Theatre Company. "The venue, one of the smallest the company have ever played in, lends itself perfectly to our 80-minute adaptation of Richard III," said artistic director Karl Moore. "Like the play, and particularly its central character, the venue has masses of charm but a very claustrophobic quality which lends itself well to what was the Bard's second-longest play." An eight-strong cast will be performing Richard III in the Pauper's Pit on Wednesday and Friday at 8.45pm and Thursday and Saturday at 6.30pm. Black Box will also be staging Five Go Mad In Buxton Again, a sequel to Five Go Mad in Buxton which sold out at Buxton last year. It will be performed in Nice One at the Old Clubhouse from Wednesday to Saturday at 4pm. Play about miners and brass bands to make a splashRLT will be bringing back to life 7:84 Theatre Company's original piece of physical theatre about miners and brass bands, One Big Blow. Twenty-five years ago 7:84 toured village halls with this production which was later picked up by Granada Television. Six actors play several characters and create a brass band using only their voices in One Big Blow which will be staged in the activity room of Buxton Spa Swimming Pool on Saturday at 7.30pm and also from Thursday to Saturday, July 24th to 26th, at 7.30pm. After playing at Buxton, One Big Blow goes in August to the King's Head Theatre, Islington.
What's on this week
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