This Year's Programme

Our 70th Anniversary looms large and just where does the time go? As we rush headlong into the last quarter of the 2007 Season here is the long awaited 2008 Season. I have been very heartened by the response of all you loyal BLT Members to the current programme and with ticket sales and Membership up I wanted to capitalise on that and bring you all an Anniversary Season that I hope will sell-out.

We launch 2008 with Noises Off by Michael Frayn, a show you simply cannot afford to miss. Directed by farceur extrordinaire, Paul Johnson (Bernard in Don't Dress For Dinner and Weinberl in On the Razzle). We have been very fortunate in getting special permission to bring it to you - it starts a UK professional tour in the latter half of 2008, so come and see it here first. This comedy within a farce sold-out at its revival at the National Theatre only a few years ago and will leave you breathlessly waiting for February's Journey's End by R.C. Sherriff. This is his greatest play and has only recently been re-released for amateurs, as it has played for many years in London and on tour. Telling the story of life in the trenches during the First World War what more fitting time to bring it to you than now, ninety years after the cessation of hostilities. There will be some laughs and some tears, but you will not fail to be moved by this great piece of theatre. Directed by Mair Lloyd-Roberts, a multi-award winning actress and director, who I'm sure you will remember gave us the superb Woman in last year's Veronica's Room - she is also my wife! - and who could forget her heart-rending performance as Linda Loman in October's beautiful production of Death Of A Salesman.

March blows in with the hugely entertaining Stepping Out, by Richard Harris (he of Outside Edge fame). Telling the story of a disparate group of people who meet at a tap-dancing class and whose failings and insecurities are overcome by their success, it is a very funny, heart-warming and spectacular piece, directed by Pauline Armour, who earlier this year gave us the stunning production of The Duchess Of Malfi - two more different shows you couldn't get. So we shuffle ball-change our way into the April production of Alan Ayckbourn's Improbable Fiction, directed by Simon Clark. I'm sure you will all have seen some of Simon's many performances in this Theatre. He knows his comedy and this has only just been released for amateurs. This is a zany and imaginative comedy from the master himself and you really should book early for this one.

Taking us back to the 70s & 50s is the May production, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. With Paul Johnson directing his second show of 2008 this promises to be another highlight of the year. This comedy-drama puts us firmly in West Texas and introduces us to the ‘Disciples of James Dean’, which is a complete contrast to our June production A Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm giving this one a go and I hope you can all enter the magic of this beautiful William Shakespeare play with me. Our last night will be Midsummer's night - what more could you want? Well, perhaps July's show - See How They Run by Philip King. This is one of the best-loved comedies of all. Join director Jane Buckland (who brought you On the Razzle), the Reverend Lionel Toop; his wife, Penelope; their parishioner, Miss Skillon - drunk and locked in the cupboard, and a myriad of false vicars, as they chase the blues away.

August, will bring us more from our hugely successful Youth Group and if you missed this year's show make a point to book early for the 2008 one as it promises to knock your socks off. After relaxing on the beach (or floating down your high street depending on the weather), what better welcome back to BLT could you hope for than Brandon Thomas' Charley's Aunt ? This is comedic gold and in the capable hands of director Simon Clark it will definitely not be one to miss. Watch Jack, Charley and Lord Fancourt-Babberley as they dig themselves ever deeper into their deception and bring you hilarious moments that will lighten anybody's mood. On a more sombre note we bring you Lanford Wilson's The Rimers Of Eldritch in October. An American murder play with a difference, this wonderful piece of theatre will have you thinking way after the curtain falls. Brought to you by Jane Lobb, who directed the hugely successful Death Of A Salesman in October 2007, you will kick yourself if you don't catch this one.

November, returns to laughter, as director Paul Campion moves from politics (he directed Feelgood in 2007) to the trials of teambuilding and the enormously popular Neville's Island by Tim Firth. Shipwrecked on an island in the middle of Derwentwater, how can four middle-aged businessmen turn so feral? The laughter will soothe your woes and make you forget the dreadful weather - but you have to be there to enjoy it, so make sure your seats are booked. The final piece of the puzzle for 2008 will be Ken Campbell's Old King Cole - a spectacular for all the family - directed by Dan Armour, a very experienced actor and director who so ably assisted his wife, Pauline, on The Duchess of Malfi earlier this Season and brought Arthur Miller's Willy Loman to life so cleverly. There is very little point in trying to tell you the plot of this excellent entertainment, suffice to say mayhem ensues and audience participation is rife. Please note that this year we are extending the run of the December show so that we can accommodate everyone who wants to see it.

I hope you feel as excited about this very special Anniversary year as I do - if so, why not tell your friends and get them to join - and I look forward to welcoming you all to our beautiful Theatre.

David Evans

Artistic Director

PS: You can see the whole 2008 programme together with many archive pictures of the past seventy years at BLT inside our special-edition 2008 Calendar, available at £2.50.





				2008 18th - 26th JanUARY NOISES OFF by Michael Frayn. Directed by Paul Johnson SEE REVIEW - 15th - 23th FEBRUARY JOURNEY'S END by R.C. Sherriff. Directed by Mair Lloyd-Roberts. SEE REVIEW - 14th - 22nd MARCH STEPPING OUT by Richard Harris. Directed by Pauline Armour. SEE REVIEW - 18th - 26th APRIl IMPROBABLE FICTION by Alan Ayckbourn. Directed by Simon Clark. SEE REVIEW - 16th - 24th MAY COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN by Ed Graczyck. Directed by Paul Johnson. SEE PREVIEW - 13th - 21st JUNE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by William Shakespeare. Directed by David Evans. SEE PREVIEW - 11th - 19th JULY SEE HOW THEY RUN by Philip King. Directed by Jane Buckland. SEE PREVIEW - 12th - 20th septEMBER CHARLEY'S AUNT by Brandon Thomas. Directed by Simon Clark. SEE AUDITIONS - 10th - 18th october The Rimers OF ELDRITCH by Lanford Wilson directed by Jane Lobb. SEE AUDITIONS - 7th - 15th november NEVILLE’S ISLAND by Tim Firth Directed by Paul Campion. SEE AUDITIONS - 5th - 20th december OLD KING COLE (Subject to confirmation of performing rights) by Ken Campbell. Directed by Dan Armour