AFTER a two-year enforced hiatus, members of a dale drama group are excited to be treading the boards once again, rehearsing a rib-tickling comedy which they hope will deliver laughs when the curtain goes up in November.
Members of Gainford Drama Group have been rehearsing their autumn production for the past eight weeks and members are getting back into the swing of learning lines once again.
The club, which usually stages at least two productions a year, had been ready to perform One Day I’ll Fly Away when lockdown was announced in 2020, but had to cancel.
Further local lockdowns later in the year meant they had to continue their online Zoom meetings until restrictions were relaxed earlier this year.
When regulations were eased, allowing hospitality and theatres to reopen fully, the group took the decision to put on Ken Ludwig’s fast-paced, comedy Lend Me a Tenor.
The play, which is set in a hotel suite in Chicago, promises lots of hilarity and hi-jinks centred on mistaken identity and director Lawrence Chandler says the “laugh a minute” script was the reason it was chosen for the group’s first production in two years.
Mr Chandler added: “It is one of these plays where there is going to be a lot of slamming doors.
“It is a laugh-a-minute and that is what we hope to deliver and we feel that is something everyone needs at the moment.”
Rehearsals have been going well since the group were able to get back into the Academy Theatre on High Row in Gainford with many members calling it a “home coming”.
Mr Chandler said: “They [members] were kicking the door down to get into the theatre again and it was a difficult job casting this as everybody wanted to be involved. Everybody has been gagging to be back into the theatre. This is such a wonderful space and it’s great to be back in again.
“We are running a skeleton crew for this production just to avoid any communicable problems for the audience and cast.”
The production will be performed across a two-week period from November 17 to 20 and then Wednesday, November 24, until Saturday, November 27.
Tickets, priced at £10 including a programme, are already selling well. They are available to purchase through ticket source at www. ticketsource.co.uk/gainford-academy-theatre .
Their next production, One Day I’ll Fly Away, directed by Ronnie Lowery, will be staged in the spring, two years after it was originally scheduled.
The group are also looking at the possibility of a summer showcase event performing original plays and sketches written by club members during lockdown.
