Entertaining Angels

by Richard Everett

Directed by Margery Jackson

5 – 14 September 2024

As a clergy wife, Grace has spent a lifetime on her best behaviour. Now, following the death of her husband Bardolph, she is enjoying the new-found freedom to do and say exactly as she pleases, usually to the new – female – vicar, Sarah.

The return of Grace’s eccentric missionary sister Ruth prompts some disturbing revelations, which force her to confront Bardolph’s ghost and the truth of their marriage. At the same time Sarah reveals some un-clergy-like credentials of her own to Grace’s therapist daughter Jo.

Entertaining Angels asks whether God can be trusted to do anything right at all, “Or is the whole thing a divine exercise in trial and error?”

The Dresser

by Ronald Harwood

Directed by Murray Lindo

17 – 26 October 2024

It’s 1942 in a war-torn provincial theatre, and Sir, the last of the great, but dying, breed of English actor-managers, is in a very bad way. As his devoted dresser, Norman, tries valiantly to prepare him to go on stage, Sir is having great difficulty remembering who and where he is, let alone Lear’s lines.

For sixteen years Norman has been there to fix Sir’s wig, massage his ego, remind him of his opening lines and tonight more than ever, it’s up to him to make sure the show must go on. The Dresser is a bracing, heartbreaking drama of love, loyalty, and a love letter to a by-gone theatrical era.

The Game’s Afoot

(or, Holmes for the Holidays)

by Ken Ludwig

Directed by Martin Kempton

4 – 14 December 2024

It is December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. It is then up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. 

The danger and hilarity are non-stop in this glittering whodunit set during the Christmas holidays.

The Truth

by Florian Zeller
Translated by Christopher Hampton

Directed by Rachel Pearson

23 January – 1 February 2025

Two couples. Friendship, suspicion, deceit… and the truth.

Michel and his wife Laurence are happily married. Michel’s best friend Paul is also happily married, to Alice. But Michel and Alice are having an affair, and Laurence seems to know that something’s going on. How far will Michel go to hide the truth? Why is Alice so keen to reveal it? What does Laurence actually know, or not know? And is Paul just pretending to be bad at tennis?

Through the eyes of the two couples, this biting comedy explores friendship, suspicion, deceit and, ultimately, The Truth.

Pressure

by David Haig

Directed by Jess Edwards

20 – 29 March 2025

June 1944. One man’s decision is about to change the course of history. Everything is in place for the biggest invasion ever known in Europe – D-Day. One last crucial question remains: will the weather be right on the day?

There are two opposing forecasts. American celebrity weatherman Colonel Krick predicts sunshine, while Scot Dr James Stagg, Chief Meteorological Officer for the Allied Forces, forecasts a storm. As the world watches and waits, General Eisenhower must decide which of these bitter antagonists to trust. The decision will not only seal the fates of thousands of men, but could win or lose the entire war.

An extraordinary and little-known true story, Pressure thrillingly explores the responsibilities of leadership, the challenges of prophecy and the personal toll of taking a stand.

Home I’m Darling

by Laura Wade

Directed by Jeremy Radburn

1 – 10 May 2025

Every marriage needs a little fantasy to keep it sparkling. But behind the gingham curtains, being a domestic goddess isn’t as easy as it looks…

Judy and Johnny lead a thoroughly immersed colourful 1950’s lifestyle at home: clothes, décor, music, appliances. Of choice, she stays at home while Johnny works: she always ensures his egg top is removed at breakfast and his cocktail and slippers are ready for his return from the office. But he realises they have financial problems; the house might be repossessed. Three years earlier Judy had taken redundancy from a job in finance. He says he isn’t happy. They need to change. 

Home, I’m Darling from Laura Wade is a dark comedy about sex, cake and the quest to be the perfect 1950s housewife.

Love From a Stranger

by Agatha Christie & Frank Vosper

Directed by Thomas Atkinson-Joy

5 – 14 June 2025

Cecily has led a staid and proper existence. After winning a large amount of money in the lottery, she desperately yearns for a life of adventure. Enter Bruce Lovell, a handsome and charming stranger who sweeps her off her feet. In a whirlwind romance, she recklessly abandons her job, friends and fiancé to settle in the remote and blissful surroundings of a country cottage.

However, her newfound “love from a stranger” is not what it seems and in an astonishingly tense final scene, Cecily discovers the ghastly truth of her new love. 

Originally written in the 1930s, Agatha Christie’s Love from a Stranger is a remarkably contemporary thriller brought up to date to 2025.

Much Ado About Nothing

by William Shakespeare

Directed by Alan Long

17 – 26 July 2025

Shakespeare’s classic comedy in a new production set in 1940s Britain. 

After years of war, an idyllic Kent town is finally back in bloom. But young lovers Claudio and Hero, and sparring singletons Beatrice and Benedick, soon discover that all is not as it seems in their beautiful surrounds as they become entangled in a series of mischievous games, pranks and plots.

One of Shakespeare’s most frequently performed comedies, Much Ado About Nothing includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid.