Classic! is a new comedy play directed by Joyce Branagh that Hope Mill Theatre and HER Productions are taking to the Edinburgh Fringe this year (Hope Mill’s first foray into the Fringe).
It will have a pre-Fringe run in Manchester next month.
A cast of six romp through all the classic novels you never had time to read in just 60 minutes and, via multiple costume changes, the company races from Wuthering Heights to Moby Dick.
The play started life as a 15-minute piece of new work at the Manchester JB Shorts sharing platform. With Arts Council England funding, it was then workshopped at HMT in 2020, and has now become a full-length piece.
The play is set around a group of actors out to break a record for the most novels ever shared on stage.
Joyce Branagh said, “Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens et al will be disco-dancing in their graves!”
It’s in Manchester June 14–18 and Edinburgh August 3–28.