2022 Season
A DOLL'S HOUSE
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A Doll's House
By Henrik Ibsen Unitarian Meeting House, Churchgate, Bury St Edmunds Dates 17 to 19 March 2022 Director - Pelham Elliott The slamming of the front door at the end of A Doll's House has often been used to sum up the play itself – one writer noting "That slammed door reverberated across the roof of the world." When we first meet her, Nora seems happy in her married life, but the infantilising of her by her husband, in his pet names for her; his attempts to control her actions, even down to her enjoyment of sweet treats; and his lecturing of her, makes it clear how uneven this relationship is. She is his “doll” and her home-making is merely playing with a doll’s house. Eventually she can deceive herself no longer and acknowledges the need for personal freedom though we question whether Torvald will ever fully understand how uneven the relationship is between them. It shocked its audiences when first performed in 1879; it still has a powerful message today – about the danger of relationships where power is all on one side, and where others may struggle for an independent voice. |
A BUNCH OF AMATEURS
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A Bunch of Amateurs
By Ian Hislop & Nick Newman Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds Dates 22 to 28 May 2022 Director - Chris Lines Shakespeare meets Hollywood, and let’s just say they don’t see eye to (Private) eye in this brilliant comedy by Nick Newman and Ian Hislop. In the sleepy Suffolk village of Stratford St John, the local am-dram group is in a desperate situation. They need to raise funds to save their little theatre (actually a barn…) so they hit on the idea of asking a well-known actor to play King Lear. That’s bound to raise the money needed! Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steel agrees to take on the role as a way of reviving his flagging career, believing, of course, that he will be playing with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the other Stratford (on Avon!) Enjoy the mayhem that ensues when Hollywood arrogance butts heads with the village’s own ‘star’ player and see how the women of the company react to having a real-life, womanising action hero in their midst. A love letter to amateur dramatics, as the authors describe it. PLus you get to see all the best bits of King Lear in just 10 minutes! “And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.” |
THE TEMPEST
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By William Shakespeare
Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds Dates 19 to 23 July 2022 Director - Tim Lodge Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Lacus suspendisse faucibus interdum posuere lorem ipsum dolor. Tempus quam pellentesque nec nam aliquam sem et tortor. Quis blandit turpis cursus in hac habitasse. Ut eu sem integer vitae justo eget magna |
SWIVE
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By Ella Hickson
Unitarian Meeting House, Churchgate, Bury St Edmunds Dates: 6 to 8 October 2022 Director - Chris Lines Elizabeth I is the only unmarried woman to have ever ruled England. And she reigned for forty-four years. Mastermind. Seductress. Survivor. Created by award-winning writer Ella Hickson and director Natalie Abrahami, Swive [Elizabeth] shines a light on the ways and means by which women in power negotiate patriarchal pressure in order to get their way. It premiered in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in December 2019. |
EDITH IN THE DARK
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By Philip Meeks
Unitarian Meeting House, Churchgate, Bury St Edmunds Dates 10 to 12 November 2022 Director - Maggie Kinnear-King Celebrated children’s author Edith Nesbit (The Railway Children, Five Children & It) retreats to her attic writing room during one of her husband’s tiresome parties with her housekeeper and an unexpected, handsome party guest. |