Claybody Theatre has announced the cast for its première of Deborah McAndrew’s play Bright Lights Over Bentilee.
Bright Lights Over Bentilee will feature Polly Lister as Beverley Alcock. She played Old Major in the Octagon Theatre Bolton, Hull Truck Theatre and Derby Theatre presentation of Ian Wooldridge’s adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm earlier in 2024 and Fogg in Kate Ferguson and Susannah Pearse’s adaptation of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days at Bolton Octagon in 2023.
The Bright Lights Over Bentilee cast includes Jack Wilkinsonas Sidney Kettle, Kymberley Cochrane as Jean Mellor, Ava Ralph as Sylvia Alcock, Phil Corbitt as Albert Ferry and Eddy Westbury as Michael. There will also be a community cast.
Directed by Conrad Nelson, Bright Lights Over Bentilee is inspired by real events on 2 September 1967 when dozens of people witnessed bright lights in the sky and a UFO landing in a field beside the Bentilee housing estate. At the time, this was the largest council estate in Europe. Today, it remains a sprawling labyrinth of houses, churches, schools, shops and community buildings.
Bright Lights Over Bentilee will run at The Dipping House in Stoke from Friday 27 September until Saturday 12 October.