Theatre by the Lake’s summer season in Keswick opens with two diverse plays.
There’s a madcap wartime farce in the main house and an intimate and gentle modern drama in the studio.
They are the first productions from their programme of six ranging from pure entertainment to intense tragedy.
The season begins with Philip King’s classic farce See How They Run!. True to the genre, it includes plenty of running, some spectacular falls and more than one instance of trouser-dropping. However, director Abigail Anderson is keen to stress the play is family-friendly and has more to offer than Benny Hill-style ‘running gags’.
The first play in the Studio could not be further from a genre famed for its silliness. Vincent in Brixton is an intimate drama by Nicholas Wright, which was written in 2002 and won the Olivier Award for Best New Play the same year.
It imagines the story of Van Gogh’s stay in London and his decision to leave. With a cast of only five, this nuanced play is suited to the 100-seat Studio.
From August, all six plays are performed on alternate days; which means audiences can see all six in just one week.