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Dateline: 5th October, 2003

News from the North East

Customs House Programme Change
Anyone waiting to see the new comedy play by Tyneside writers Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood will have to wait an extra two months before it makes its premiere at the Customs House in South Tyneside.

Raising the Stakes, which is the sequel to Good To Firm and from the writers of Dirty Dusting, was advertised in the Customs House brochure to run in January but difficulties getting the original Good To Firm cast together for the follow up has led to theatre bosses reluctantly rescheduling the play's debut until March.

The four actors, Ray Spencer, Trish Haws, Angela Szalay and Mark Allen, will be joined by a fifth in Raising the Stakes. Only Ray and Angela play their original characters - the popular Bob and Shirley Fletcher. The other three are new creations.

Trevor Wood explained: "We wrote Raising The Stakes earlier this year and we were looking forward to beginning rehearsals in January. However, in addition to Ray Spencer's day job as director of the Customs House, he is the writer, director and an actor in this year's pantomime. Despite his boundless energy and enthusiasm, Ray deserves to spend some time with his young family!"

Robin Byers, Customs House marketing manager, said: "We have had considerable interest in Raising The Stakes from all over the region because of the success of Ed and Trevor's other plays. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and have contacted everyone who has booked to change their tickets for the new shows."

Raising The Stakes runs from Wednesday, March 24, to Saturday, March 27.

The musical Cheek, which was due to play at the Customs House, has cancelled its tour.

You'll Never Hook a Haddock with a Pen Nib
As part of Live Theatre's 30th anniversary, the company is taking part in a region wide Tom Hadaway Festival, a celebration of the life of this remarkable writer who has had a long association with Live.

Orphaned at a young age, Tom was adopted by his auntie Mabel and her husband, a fish merchant in North Shields. Tom himself eventually followed his adopted father into the fishing trade, having had various jobs and having travelled the world whilst serving in the Navy during the Second World War. He became a writer in his 40s, when, encouraged by CP Taylor, he started to write plays and stories about the people and places he knew.

Plays such as The Filleting Machine were to mark the beginning of a long career of writing for theatre and television which has included some of the best loved plays written from and about the North East and its people. Tom's work is rich with the voices of the people he has known and with the stories and experiences of ordinary working class life. This event - which runs from 15th to 19th November - will take the audience on a biographical journey through Tom's life with extracts from many of his plays including The Filleting Machine, Seafarers, The Long Line, God Bless Thee Jackie Maddison and Francie Nichol.

Drama in Darlington
There are two shows of particular interest at the Darlington Arts Centre this month:

  • On 21st October Yellow Earth Theatre asks "What happened to the three daughters of King Lear before they made their entrances in Shakespeare's classic?" Lear's Daughters starts at 8.00
  • On 23rd October No Limits Theatre Company, the UK's leading professional company for people with a learning disability, presents Silver Street (8.00)

Meanwhile Marie Jones's hit comedy Stones in His Pockets comes to the Darlington Civic Theatre from 11th to 15th October.

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©Peter Lathan 2003