Theatre by the Lake’s Artistic Director Ian Forrest has unveiled nine “exciting and unmissable” plays that will be seen on the theatre’s two stages in 2015.
The year begins with a production of Two by Jim Cartwright (writer of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice). Two actors play 14 colourful characters who gather in their local pub to share their tales.
Like last year’s hit Not About Heroes, after its run in the Studio at Theatre by the Lake this production will go on tour to venues across Cumbria—including Torpenhow Village Hall, Wreay Village Hall and The Beggar’s Theatre in Millom.
The ever-popular summer season of six plays returns on May 23. It brings together 12 actors to live and work in Keswick for seven months, as they rehearse and perform the plays in rotation until November 7.
The three Main House plays are:
- The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the Hitchcock film, which was in turn based on John Buchan’s much-loved adventure novel.
- Abigail’s Party, Mike Leigh’s wincingly comic portrayal of suburban life in the 1970s.
- Fallen Angels by Noel Coward. This follows Theatre by the Lake’s previous productions of Coward’s Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit and Private Lives.
The three Studio plays are:
- Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams.
- The Lady of the Lake, the world première of a new play by Benjamin Askew.
- And Enlightenment by Shelagh Stephenson, whose dark comedy The Memory of Water was a big hit at Theatre by the Lake in 2009.
Ian Forrest also announced that the Christmas 2015 production will be The Snow Queen, adapted by Charles Way.