Love and marriage under microscope in witty comedy (From Ilkley Gazette)
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Ilkley Playhouse
1:10pm Friday 1st June 2012 in Entertainment
A scene from Wharfeside Theatre’s production of The Real Thing with, from left, Walter Swan, Geraldine Woodhouse, Lee Russell and Sarah Potter
T he latest production in the Wharfeside Theatre opened last night. The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard runs for 10 nights, excluding Sunday, until Saturday, June 9.
A witty comedy about love, the play is often seen as Stoppard’s most autobiographical work and explores the complexity of relationships and what happens when a marriage breaks down.
Operating on several levels, the play is a brutally honest exploration of motivation and emotion while maintaining a fine balance between comedy and drama.
If you missed the West Yorkshire Playhouse’s recent production, then this is a chance to see the play locally. The Ilkley production features Geraldine Woodhouse, Lee Russell, Sarah Potter, Walter Swan, May Hughes, Will Lambert and Jason Evens.
Next month the Playhouse’s social committee is presenting another murder mystery event. Murder on’t Moor will take place on Saturday June 23 and guests will be invited to solve the murder of the chairman of a local rambling society, found dead near the Twelve Apostles stones on Ilkley Moor. There are eight suspects but who had the greatest reason for wishing the chairman dead? Tickets are £12.50 and include a picnic banquet. Guests are invited to dress in hiking clothes and walking boots to help PC Plodder investigate the crime.
The following Saturday, on June 30, there will be a special charity concert taking place in the Wharfeside Theatre at 7.30pm. Ilkley-based singer songwriter Rupert Stroud, who released his debut album in 2009, will be performing in a concert dedicated to his grandmother who died two years ago after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The concert is the first of a series of fundraising events for the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK. Tickets are £12.
The final play of this season will be The Years Between by Daphne du Maurier. Set during the Second World War, it concerns a woman whose MP husband is missing, presumed dead.
She finds a new purpose in life when she takes on her husband’s political duties. But then her husband reappears.
Opening on Wednesday, July 4, the show runs for 10 nights until July 14. Tickets for all the events can be booked by calling the Playhouse box office on (01943) 609539 or ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk.
