Tom Phillips' play has opened Theatre West’s autumn season to great acclaim with
Venue's reviewer giving four-&-a-half stars and declaring "The bar has been set cloud-high.' So I'm thrilled that next week my
Muffin Man will be the "short trip" before Tom's comedy
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100 Miles North of Timbuktu. Director Alison Farina has cast my couple: Andrew Kingston and Meghan Leslie, both members of the team who create
Closer Each Day, Bristol's "Improvised Soap Opera". Intensive rehearsals this Sunday!
And suddenly production involvements are coming not in single spies but in battalions, as Claudius might have put it. Salisbury Fringe next weekend is featuring our
Nevertheless Pub Theatre production of
When She Imagines, written by Frome Scriptwriters and directed by Rosie Finnegan, plus a Bootleg performance of
Girl with the Blue Hair written by Rosie as well as her new monologue
Sons of War, written especially for this festival. And before
Muffin Man finishes it's week-long run,
Diary of a Madman in a new touring production from Stepping Out is coming to The Cornerhouse, our pub theatre here in Frome. Wow.
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Meanwhile, my convalescence teeters on like a unicyclist on a slackwire, determined but unsteady. I've had to cancel loads ~ like seeing the excellent-sounding production of
Sweeney Todd here in Frome, as well as joining Rosie for her triple-triumph in Salisbury, and missed all celebrations for National Poetry day.
As a positive footnote: research reported in
The Guardian suggests a healthy interest in plays among younger people, who are far more likely to go to the theatre than 45-55 year olds. (87% compared to 63%) Ticketmaster, who carried out the survey, noticed a trend "towards a younger and less affluent customer base", and found that last year more people went to the theatre than to a music concert or a sporting events.
Nevertheless Pub Theatre is proud to play its part in keeping ticket prices down and quality up, so if you're anywhere near Frome October 11th & 12th, come and see Gogol's "surreal, heartbreaking, hilarious" masterpiece at
The Cornerhouse. Less than the cost of a couple of drinks... phone to save a seat or just turn up for 8pm.