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NOW BOOKING: LADIES’ DAY
Ladies’ Day
By Amanda Whittington
16th - 25th June 2022
An exuberant comedy about four likely lasses from the Hull fish docks on a day trip to the races. Work, love and life are just one long, hard slog for the fish-filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, but their fortunes are set to change when Linda finds tickets to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot the year it relocated to York.
Out go the hairnets, overalls and wellies as the four ditch work, do themselves up to the nines and head off to the races for a drink, a flirt and a flutter. If their luck holds, they could hit the jackpot - and more besides... Amanda Whittington's play Ladies’ Day premiered at Hull Truck Theatre in 2005 and has been revived many times since, including at the Royal Court in Liverpool and the Oldham Coliseum.Book your tickets to see this unmissable production.
This production is presented by special arrangement with Nick Hern Books.
AUDITION NOTICE: TAKING STEPS
by Alan Ayckbourn
Playing dates: 4-15 October 2022
Auditions: 8pm, 7 June, Copley Room, Medway Little Theatre
This is a unique play. It is Ayckbourn's only farce, quite unlike the rest of his work and deliberately modelled on the inter-war Aldwych farces by Ben Travers, who wrote classics such as Thark and Rookery Nook. But, this being Ayckbourn, Taking Steps is like no other farce you've ever seen.
It's set in a tumbledown old house, reputed to be haunted and not unlike the house he lives in at Scarborough. The stage area represents three levels so that, for example, when the wife is dancing in the bedroom and her husband is looking up at the ceiling, worried that it'll fall in, the actors are near each other but the characters can't see each other. It takes the audience about seven minutes before they cotton on.
The play, which will require a lot of teamwork and careful timing, is a six-hander and the parts are:THE OCCUPANTS:
- ELIZABETH, a former dancer, who pretends she was in ballet but was probably in the back row of the chorus. She's in her 30s, has been married for three months and is continually trying to leave...
- her husband ROLAND, a self-made millionaire whose fortune comes from selling buckets. Fond of wine and much older than his wife, they apparently have a difficult sex life. Has a regional accent (Northern in Scarborough of course, but could be a Medway accent at MLT).
THE GUESTS:
- MARK, Elizabeth's brother, also in his 30s, is a pompous, stiff-upper-lip upper-class twit, with so little brain that he often can't finish his sentences. Over-confident and very good at handing out unwanted advice. Has a fiancee...
- KITTY, who's getting right fed up with him. He dumps her in the attic, where she gets locked in a cupboard. (The cupboard, by the way, is indicated by mime; she's seen hammering on the door, desperately trying to get out.) In her 20s.
THE LANDLORD
- LESLIE, an impecunious builder, who's constantly trying to please Roland in the hope of making a killing by selling the house to him. Arrives wearing full motorbike gear. In his 30s/40s.
THE VISITOR
- And on a dark and stormy night, to this house full of eccentrics, comes our hero TRISTRAM, and even he's a bit odd, because he's a young solicitor who's shy and tongue-tied. (Ever met a lawyer like that? Nor have I.) What happens to him that night will change his life forever and give him the confidence he needs.
Finally, on a personal note, I saw Ayckbourn's own production in Scarborough in 2017, which gives me some idea of what he intended. I thought it was a hoot, and as I left I overheard an elderly female holidaymaker say, in a heartfelt tone, 'Oh, I DID enjoy that!' Clearly he'd gven her, and the rest of the audience, including me of course, one of their best nights of the year. It was at that moment that I thought I should put it forward as a production at MLT; and at last I have.
Copies of the play will be available at MLT on Tuesday 31 May from 8pm. Please ring me on 01634 402598 to reserve a copy.
Michael Bath
PLAY SUGGESTIONS FOR PRODUCTION COMMITTEE
What would you like to see at Medway Little Theatre? Production committee are currently planning the coming season and in order to best represent our members we need your ideas. Please get in touch via info@mlt.org.uk with your suggested play, if you have a script we might be able to have a look at, and if you would be interested in directing.
Tickets
You can book tickets to attend any upcoming productions in our current season as they become available. Please note that at present tickets are only available online via Ticketsource.
Bookings can be made in person at the box office with contactless payment during the run of a show from 7pm to 7.30pm.
Credit or debit cards may be used at the box office or online.
Ticket prices:
Special prices apply for youth productions.
Please direct any other enquiries to our Box Office on 01634 400322. If the box office is unable to answer please leave a message with a contact number and we will call you back.
Medway Little Theatre gift vouchers are available from the box office. They can be for any amount and exchanged for seats at any of our shows. They could be a real problem-solver - an unusual present for ‘the person who has everything’!
Image Archive
Click here to check out selection of images from some of our recent productions. There are plenty more to be found on our Facebook page.
If you would like some more information on past productions you can see a selection of programmes from the last few years here.
About Us
Medway Little Theatre is situated in historic Rochester, at the heart of the Medway Authority in North Kent. It was converted from a disused warehouse into a 100 (now 96) seat theatre in 1958. In 1995 we acquired the freehold to our premises with the aid of a generous grant from the old Rochester City Council. We are now in our 62nd season, a fully-equipped public theatre, with well over 400 productions behind us.
There is always a welcoming atmosphere in our friendly auditorium with its integral bar. Anyone interested in joining the company in any capacity is invited to come along to meet us at our social nights, every Tuesday from 8pm onwards, except during productions.
We have two active Youth Sections:
We organise a one-act play festival annually for visiting youth and adult groups throughout North Kent and beyond, as well as making regular contributions to the life of the Medway Towns through outreach activities and participation in Medway's Arts and Dickens Festivals.
Over the years, we have successfully presented the complete range of theatre, from Sophocles to The Graduate, as a scroll through our list of productions since 1959 will show and we continue to use our small stage in ambitious and innovative ways.
If you have enjoyed one of our productions and would like to leave a review, please click here.
Contact Us
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If you are interested in joining Medway Little Theatre or are just curious about what we do, please feel welcome to pop along to one of our social nights, which start around 8pm at the theatre on Tuesdays when shows are not on, and pose any questions you may have to our friendly and helpful members, or contact our membership secretary via membership@mlt.org.uk.