Seven plays over seven weeks make up the 70th anniversary season at Chesterfield’s Pomegranate Theatre.
Derbyshire companies Rumpus and Tabs Productions will co-produce the season which features titles reflecting each of the Pomegranate’s seven decades since it opened.
John Goodrum from Rumpus said, “I recently received my annual Christmas card from Frank Williams who played the vicar in Dad's Army on television. This reminded me, as it always does, of my first visit to the Pomegranate Theatre in 1985 when I toured in Frank's thriller Murder by Appointment.
“In 1987, I first worked for legendary Chesterfield producer Colin McIntyre and my association with the Pomegranate was irretrievably established. The newly-formed Rumpus Theatre Company was invited to produce a short two-play season, Harold Pinter's Betrayal and Anthony Shaffer's Murderer, in 1995. From that time on I've been lucky enough to produce, write and act in productions for Rumpus at the Pomegranate every year since.”
The cast for the seven plays comprises Karen Henson, John Goodrum, Susan Earnshaw, David Martin, Anna Mitcham, Chris Sheridan, Susie Hawthorn, Christopher Brookes, Sarah Wynne Kordas, David Gilbrook, Jeremy Lloyd Thomas, Andrew Ryan, Michael Sherwin and Mark Huckett.
The season starts with Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace, originally presented at the Pomegranate in 1951, from Tuesday 22 until Saturday 26 January.
Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, staged at the Chesterfield theatre in 1962, runs from 29 January until 2 February. Frank Marcus’s The Killing of Sister George takes over from 5 until 9 February and is followed by How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn from 12 until 16 February.
An Evening with Gary Lineker by Arthur Smith and Chris England runs from 26 February until 2 March, Brian Clemens and Dennis Spooner’s Anybody for Murder can be seen in Chesterfield from 5 until 9 March and the season ends with Don’t Dress for Dinner, Robin Hawdon’s adaptation of Marc Camoletti’s play, from 12 until 16 March.