Derby Theatre’s first professional-produced show, the dark comedy Cooking With Elvis, opens this week.
Lee Hall, writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, has set the Olivier Award-nominated play around the lives of four people: Jill, a fiendish cook who whips up one exotic dish after another; Mam, a troubled anorexic alcoholic; Dad, an Elvis impersonator forced to watch life from the sidelines; and Mam’s lover Stuart who has his cake and eats it.
Mam’s appetite for sex, Jill’s obsession with food and Stuart’s fascination with the family are ingredients for trouble.
The play has “a dash of witty dialogue, a dollop of fantastic performances and a good glug of bawdy humour”.
Mark Babych, recently appointed artistic director of Hull Truck, said, “I'm really pleased to be working with Sarah Brigham and the team at Derby Theatre on Cooking With Elvis and honoured to be asked to direct the inaugural show of Sarah's first season.
“It's a brilliantly-told, intelligent and edgy comedy that boldly deals with issues of family and relationship challenges in both familiar and surprising ways—it’s thought-provoking, entertaining and occasionally outrageous and an evening that’s sure to delight and excite audiences about the ambition that Sarah's inspirational leadership will bring to this superb theatre".
Sarah Brigham, Derby Theatre’s artistic director, added, “I saw a number of Mark’s productions while he was artistic director at Bolton Octagon, and subsequently during his freelance career.
“I like his bold theatricality coupled with his ability to really develop performances which reach out to audiences.
“When selecting our first produced show I was looking for something that would sit well alongside the rest of the programme.
“Cooking With Elvis does that magical theatrical trick of moving you immeasurably but also giving you some real belly laughs. I think our audiences will really enjoy it.”
Jack Lord will play Dad, the Elvis impersonator. His credits include Ratty in The Wind in the Willows at West Yorkshire Playhouse; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth for the Royal Court, Liverpool; and a national tour of Our Country’s Good for Original Theatre Company.
Polly Lister will play Mam. She was recently in The Heretic at The Lowry, Salford and The Blue Room at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick. She has just finished filming Coronation Street in which she plays Grace Hudson.
Adam Barlow will play Stuart. His recent credits include Curtain Up and Star-Cross’d for Oldham Coliseum Theatre and Seasons of Love: A Celebration of the Calendar Girls at the Royal Albert Hall.
Laura Elsworthy will play Jill. A relative newcomer, her credits include The Accrington Pals at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and The Kitchen Sink for Hull Truck Theatre.
Cooking With Elvis runs at Derby Theatre from Friday (26 April) until Saturday 18 May.