Preview: The End of the Pier at Washington Arts Centre

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Dark Deeds in Sunny Places

The End of the Pier

Washington Arts Centre

Thursday 23^rd June 2016

The End of the Pier is a brand new comedy written by award winning Washington playwright Neil Armstrong which comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 23^rd June as part of a regional tour.

Edith and Lionel Bosh (The Lovebirds) are a music hall double act. Married for 25 years, their only desire now is to kill each other.  As they approach the last night of their run marooned at the end of a pier in a godforsaken Edwardian Theatre their plans to dispatch each other are thrown into chaos by an unforeseen arrival. Will the end of the pier signal the end of them, or will they survive to yield another crop of bad reviews?

The play is produced by North East Theatre Company Cloud 9 and promises no references to pierrots, Wurlitzers, kiss-me-quick hats or little sticks of rock! But it does engage the audience by involving them a world of suspicion, revenge and murder!  The End of the Pier is a trip back in time to when the world turned at a different pace and murder was an art - if you got it right.

Writer Neil Armstrong explains:  “The End of the Pier began life as an idea I wrote down on a post it note.  I scribbled down "A plans to kill B - and B plans to kill A - at the same time."  I then had a second idea which I shouldn't really tell you about because if I do I'll be giving a bit of the plot away!  I love writing comedy thrillers and this seemed like a good enough pretext to get me started - so I did.  When it came to thinking of when and where to set the play and who the characters would be, a song I had recently enjoyed listening to popped into my head.  The song was an old music hall number entitled "Let's all go to the Music Hall."  So I decided upon Edwardian England as my time frame and a music hall dressing room as my setting.  And so to the characters - who would they be?  Well a music hall duo sounded like a good idea and then I thought, "Why would these two people consider killing each other."  The answer was simple - They've been married for twenty-five years!  And so we have Lionel and Edith Boshe - the rather inappropriately named duo - The Lovebirds. I hope it makes you laugh and I hope you leave the theatre feeling entertained. “

Neil has been writing comedy for Theatre and Television for over twenty five years now. His work has been nominated for awards by both BAFTA, The Writers Guild of Great Britain and The National Comedy Awards. His most recent play “Remember Jim” won “Best Show” in the 2014 Sunderland Culture awards. He is also Co/director, writer and chief pantomime villain of the Gala Theatre Durham pantos. This year’s production of Cinderella received rave reviews and officially became the most successful show ever staged in the Gala's history selling close to 30,000 tickets and attaining a 93% box office over 63 shows.

Tickets:
The End of the Pier comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 23 June at 7.30pm as part of a regional tour.  Tickets are £8.50 / £6 (conc) and are available from www.artscentrewashington.co.uk or by calling 0191 561 3455

Tour Dates
Monday 20 June – Memorial Hall – Wallsend – 0191 263 4852
Tuesday 21 June – The Exchange – North Shields – 0191 258 4111
Wednesday 22 June – Hartlepool Town Hall – 01429 890 000
Thursday 23 June – Arts Centre Washington – 0191 561 3455
Friday 24 + Saturday 25 June – Gala Theatre, Durham – 03000 266 600
More information on Cloud 9 Theatre http://cloudninetheatre.co.uk/

More information on Neil Armstrong http://armstrongneil.wix.com/scripts