Derby Theatre, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Salisbury Playhouse & Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg present
Wednesday 26 September – Saturday 20 October
Set in seventies Romford, with Donna Summer top of the hit parade and adults behaving disgracefully, this hilarious situation comedy invites you to a drinks party that you will never forget!
Beverly and husband Laurence are entertaining their newlywed neighbours. Joining them is twitchy divorcee Sue, banished from the party of her teenage daughter. Over a stack of cheesy-pineapple sticks, small talk and splashes of alcohol, the appalling host’s soiree soon descends into chaos. As the sniping begins, this delicious comedy cracks open social climbing suburbia to savagely funny effect.
Made famous by the BBC ‘Play for Today’ starring Alison Steadman, this fresh but faithful look at an iconic classic is directed by Douglas Rintoul (Made in Dagenham, The Crucible).
Derby Theatre and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch present
Saturday 29 September – Saturday 20 October
After one of her regular visits to see grandmother Abigail in hospital, 15 year old Abisheera (‘Abi’ for short) decides to throw her one last party, convinced it will get her beloved Nan back on her feet.
Struggling to face the imminent reality of life without the only family member she is close to, Abi throws her all into planning Abigail’s final party. But as Abi tries to clear her head and her grandmother’s flat, family secrets begin to surface. Will Abigail’s past threaten Abi’s already fragile present?
Abi stars Safiyya Ingar who is currently filming with the BBC in Stephen Poliakoff’s period drama Summer of Rockets. Her other credits include Holes; LAVA (Nottingham Playhouse) and Growth UK Tour (Paines Plough).
Part of RETOLD: a series of new one-woman plays commissioned by Derby Theatre and written by some of the most provocative female playwrights in contemporary British theatre, aiming to crack open classic tales and see the story afresh from the perspective of a female character.
East Midlands Theatre. 