Laura Wade’s Home I’m Darling is in its second week in the Wharfeside Theatre, running until Saturday, September 23.
Winner of the 2019 Olivier award for Best New Comedy, the play was first performed in 2018 by Theatr Clywd in Wales and The National Theatre, London. Don’t be fooled by its comic disguise; this is a play which will not only entertain, it will also make you think. The play centres on “appallingly happy” couple Johnny and Judy who despite living in the 21st Century, have decided to embrace a retro 1950's lifestyle. Judy has resigned from her well-paid job to be a perfect housewife. She convinces her husband that life will be easier with a clean house and cooked meals to come home to every night. Her passion becomes a reality and she creates a world full of vintage dresses, home cooking, cupcakes and cocktails. We are challenged to think those bygone days were so much better – and the play deals with 21st Century gender politics, career choices, financial survival, honesty in a marriage and the changing roles for men and women. The play is littered with 1950s music, vintage clothing and a superb 1950s-style set to create a firm sense of an authentic 1950s world.
There is still time to book onto the six-week History of Modern Art course that started on Wednesday, September 13. The course tutor is Dr Simon Marginson, an independent art historian and curatorial researcher. He specialises in twentieth century art and has published on various aspects of British and European modernism. Each session starts at 10.30am and finishes at 12pm.
Our first fringe production of the Autumn/Winter season is Evan Placey’s Girls Like That running from Thursday, September 28 to Saturday, September 30 in the Wildman Studio. Girls like That is a play about girls, boys, feminism, friendship, following the crowd, self-image, online sharing and the pressures on today’s digital generation. When a naked photo of Scarlett goes around the school in a matter of minutes, the fallout reveals the underlying social dynamic as her peer group react to what’s happened. As the girls, previously her close friends, distance themselves from Scarlett, we see their own vulnerabilities and anxieties about self-image and sexuality exposed. And when a photograph of Russell also circulates, the double standards for girls and boys are revealed. The playwright Evan Placey says of the play “adults, for the most part, have made up their mind about the world around them. The play will appeal to teachers of Drama, English, Theatre Studies, PSHE and of course, parents and teenagers. Advisory age 12 plus.
On Friday, November 17 Roisin Ban return to Ilkley Playhouse following a sell-out show last year. Meaning White Rose in Gaelic, Roisin Ban is a Celtic folk trio playing a mix of mainly traditional Irish and Scottish folk songs and tunes. This accomplished, professional band is well respected on the UK folk scene, having performed at numerous folk festivals in the UK, including their annual fixture at the Whitby Folk Week where they play for the set dance night as well as other concerts. Join this talented trio for an evening of lively Celtic folk music and song. The bar will be open from 7pm, the performance starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10.
Stagefright returns to the Wildman Studio on Friday, November 18. Frontlining this event is Stephen Bailey described as ‘a superstar in the making’ (British Comedy Guide) and ‘charming, sassy and very funny’. Also performing is Welsh comic Vix Leyton. Discovered by Mark Watson on Twitter in 2019, she is an affable and ebullient storyteller with a keen eye for observation. Northern comic Ben Silver will be joining this line-up of talented comedians. He will deliver tales of the human spirit through an absurd kaleidoscope of impressions, mis-directions and sprawling vignettes. The evening will be compered by the fabulous Anthony J Brown.
As soon as the set has been struck for Home I’m Darling, our talented Ilkley Playhouse set builders will be busy constructing the backdrop for our next Wharfeside play - wonderfully compelling real-life crime drama The Incident Room. This fast-moving play goes behind the scenes of the hunt for Britain’s most notorious serial killer that nearly broke the British Police Force. The play highlights the failures, prejudices and limitations of policing in the 1970s that enabled Peter Sutcliffe to take the lives of thirteen women and terrorise countless others. The play runs from Thursday, November 2 until Saturday, November 11.
To book tickets for all our plays and events visit www.ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk or contact Ilkley Playhouse box office on 01943 609539.
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