Study in contrasts for Keswick plays

Published: 9 May 2014
Reporter: David Upton

Rookery Nook
The Winterling

Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake opens its summer season on May 24 with two very different plays—a family-friendly comedy in the main house and a blackly comic thriller in the studio.

The first play is Rookery Nook by Ben Travers. This continues the theatre’s tradition of including a show which can be enjoyed by all the family, and follows the success of See How They Run! last year.

Among a rogues’ gallery of characters are a gossipy housekeeper, a drunken admiral, a hen-pecked husband and a ferocious German stepfather. Throw in the obligatory running, falling, trouser-dropping, wordplay and general silliness...

The first offering of the season in the Studio could not be more different; The Winterling by Jez Butterworth is a twisted thriller about people living life on the edge.

It is set in a derelict farmhouse on Dartmoor. Ex-gangster West is waiting for his associates from the city; but the dog is missing and there’s a mysterious girl upstairs.

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