Preview: Yes, Prime Minister at Newcastle People’s Theatre

“The Prime Minister doesn't want the truth, he wants something he can tell Parliament!”

 

Yes, Prime Minister - Photo: Paula Smart

Yes, Prime Minister

by Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn

Newcastle People’s Theatre

Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 April 2015

 

As the General Election rapidly approaches, why not take an irreverent preliminary peek behind the scenes in the corridors of power?

Yes, Prime Minister

Photo: Paula Smart

Updated to reflect the (comic) realities of modern government, Jay and Lynn’s adaptation of their much-loved 1980s TV series has lost none of the biting wit and wry satire that made it such a memorable hit.

Jim Hacker, governing with a threadbare majority, faces yet another crisis. With a divided cabinet and a sinking pound in an age of 24-hour rolling news, the Prime Minister struggles to keep the lid on a world spinning farcically out of control, aided – or is it hindered? – by his Machiavellian civil servants, Sir Humphrey and Bernard.

Fully milking the comic possibilities of our new age of coalition government, Jay and Lynn exploit the rapidly changing world of politics to push the boundaries of satire towards the zany and glorious realm of farce.   

Photos: Paula Smart https://www.facebook.com/wildheartsphoto

Yes, Prime Minister

Photo: Paula Smart

Tickets:

YES, PRIME MINISTER  by  Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn runs from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 April 2015, 7.30pm at The People’s Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne,  NE6 5QF.

Tickets are:    £13.50 (Concessions £11) – To book: 0191 265 5020 or online at their website: www.peoplestheatre.co.uk

Preview: The Accrington Pals at Newcastle Peoples Theatre

A Tribute to the Heroes of the Great War

The Accrington Pals

by Peter Whelan
Newcastle Peoples Theatre
Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 July 2014 

Newcastle’s Peoples Theatre are commemorating the 100^th Anniversary of World War One next week with our staging of Peter Whelan’s poignant drama, The Accrington Pals.

Based on the true story of a group of young men from a small Lancashire mill town, who left their homes and lovers for the trenches of the Somme, The Accrington Pals is a touching and timely reminder never to forget the brave people whose lives were forever changed by conflict.

In the Summer of 1914 a 700 strong Accrington battalion marched jauntily off to war.When they arrived in France the brutal reality of the trenches was beyond anything they were prepared for. In just ten minutes at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 out of 720 Pals 584 were killed or reported missing.

The play is told from the perspective of the women they left behind and their growing sense of solidarity in the midst of fierce deprivation-financial, social and sexual. 

Naturalistic in style, with an ensemble cast, the play explores this harrowing true story with warmth, humour and compassion.

The Accrington Pals is the Peoples Theatre’s final play of the Summer Seasonand they return in September with Bill Forsyth’s coming-of-age comedy Gregory’s Girl.

Photos by Paula Smart: https://www.facebook.com/thejazzdevilphoto

Ticket Information:

The Accrington Pals by Peter Whelan

DATE:              Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 July 2014

TIME:               7.30pm

VENUE:           The People’s Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne,

NE6 5QF

TICKETS:          £12.50 (Concessions £10)
TELE:                0191 265 5020
WEBSITE:         www.peoplestheatre.co.uk

FACEBOOK:  www.facebook.com/peoples.ptag

TWITTER:         https://twitter.com/peoplestheatre

Preview: Stepping Out by Richard Harris at Newcastle Peoples Theatre

“And it’s 5,6,7,8 ...”

Stepping Out
Newcastle Peoples Theatre
Tuesday 17 June - Saturday 21 June 2014

The People’s Theatre prides itself on the variety it offers. So as well as regularly performing plays audiences might not have seen before they are also not adverse to some old favourites too.

 

Stepping Out Cast Photo: Paula Smart

From Tuesday 17^th June they present the Richard Harris toe-tapping comedy Stepping Out that charts the exploits of the Mavis Turner Tappers, a class of amateur hoofers who meet once a week in a scruffy church hall and who are forced to raise their game and work as a team when they are invited to take part in a big charity show.

 

Mavis (Kath Frazer) and Mrs Fraser (Anne Havis)

It’s a play so popular with People’s members and audiences that two of its cast are returning for a third time!  Anne Havis returns as acerbic pianist Mrs Fraser, while Roger Liddle reprises his role as the only man in the class, the rather hapless Geoffrey.  They are joined by eight actresses brand new to the play, and in some cases brand new to tap-dancing.

Because Stepping Out isn’t your usual production, as on top of the typical blocking and line learning there’s the added challenge of learning how to do the Time Step, the Maxi Ford, paradiddles and much more! Experience amongst the cast ranges from over ten years tapping to never having worn a tap shoe before lessons started in March. But under the patient tuition of choreographer Julie Bowman, Head of Dance at Central Newcastle High School, the routines have taken shape.   Julie comments, “it has been great fun to teach tap to the cast. They have worked very hard to learn and perform. I am delighted to be part of this company, and am looking forward to the show.”

 

Lynne (Jessica Chapman), Dorothy (Geffen Yoeli-Rimmer), Sylvia (Leigh Denley) and Rose (Eileen Davidson)

One of the great appeals of Stepping Out has got to be its characters. They’re a rag-tag bunch from different backgrounds and walks of life, each coming to the weekly class for their own different reasons.  Director Sally Cooper says “the people that we meet are so diverse and fabulous. They’re each juggling the traumas we all face in our daily journeys through life. Just about every problem of family, work, self-esteem, self-confidence and the decisions we make are represented.”

So The People’s Theatre is the place to be next week to see how Lynne, Dorothy, Maxine, Andy, Sylvia, Rose, Vera, Geoffrey, Mrs Fraser and Mavis cope with the steps - and each other - in this energetic, feel good comedy that is the ideal way to step (ball change) into summer!

 

Vera (Alison Carr), Maxine (Jo Kelly), Geoffrey (Roger Liddle) and Andy (Emma Wass)

Photos by Paula Smart: https://www.facebook.com/thejazzdevilphoto

 

STEPPING OUT by Richard Harris

DATE:              Tuesday 17 – Saturday 21 June 2014

TIME:               7.30pm

VENUE:           The People’s Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne,

NE6 5QF

TICKETS:          £12.50 (Concessions £10)
TELE:                0191 265 5020
WEBSITE:         www.peoplestheatre.co.uk