Dennis Potter Remembered at Northern Stage

Published: 5 November 2012
Reporter: Peter Lathan

Northern Stage

Newcastle’s Northern Stage will produce Dennis Potter’s seminal play Blue Remembered Hills in 2013, playing in Newcastle from 19th April to 11th May and then on national tour.

The story follows seven children one wartime summer, who play, fool and make merry in the Forest of Dean. But their childish games, complex friendships and moral dilemmas lead them headlong into sudden and unexpected tragedy. The play is famous for its spirited playfulness and humour that is twisted into a shocking and brutal crescendo.

Blue Remembered Hills started life as a television Play For Today in 1979, starring Helen Mirren and Michael Elphick. Potter adapted his script into a stage play and the play remains one of his most enduring and popular works.

The production will be directed by Psyche Stott, who trained with Northern Stage in 2006/7 as part of the Regional Theatre Young Director’s Scheme, assisting on productions of Ruby Moon, Our Friends in the North and Son of Man, also by Dennis Potter. Other recent work includes Brian Friel’s Hedda Gabler for BBC Radio 4 to be aired in March 2013 from the Old Vic production, Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean (Old Joint Stock Theatre) and Calendar Girls (January-April 2010 New UK Tour).

The designer will be Ruari Murchison, whose most recent work—Headlong Theatre’s Medea—is currently touring the UK. Originally from the North East, he has designed for many prestigious companies, including the RSC, the National Theatre, and many international companies, but this will be his first time working with Northern Stage.

National tour dates—including visits to Poole, Watford, Guildford and Oxford—are to be confirmed later this year.

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