Esk Valley Theatre
Glaisdale, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK
Esk Valley Theatre: Past Productions
2011 Season
Dangerous Obsession
Production information
Cast: Amy Ewbank, Andrew Whitehead, James Hirst
Director: Mark Stratton
Designer: Pip Leckenby
Production Manager/Lighting Designer: Graham Kirk
Stage Manager on the Book:Paul Lorenz
Producer: Sheila Carter
2010 Season
Second From Last In The sack Race
Production information
Cast: Dudley Rees, Nigel Lister, Catriona Martin, Gemma North, James Hirst
Director: Mark Stratton
Designer: Pip Leckenby
Production Manager/Lighting Designer: Graham Kirk
Stage Manager on the Book: David Poulter
Producer: Sheila Carter
2009 Season
April In Paris
Bet & Al live in a small modern house. It's like living in a box, a modern box, but still a box. Al has lost his job and Bet sits doing competitions in magazines as Al roams their box like a caged lion. Life has lost its sparkle and it seems as though there will be no escape...and yet......
Writer John Godber brings us a sharply observed look at what happens when a Yorkshire couple who've never been abroad, suddenly find themselves in a foreign land.
Join Bet & Al as they head for France armed with little more than a phrase book. Will they master the lingo? Will they survive the cuisine? Will life ever be the same?
Let us transport you from the romantic heart of the North York Moors, to the romantic streets of Paris as Bet & Al rekindle their love and enlighten their lives....
Production information
By: John Godber
Management: Esk Valley Theatre
Cast: Fiona Wass, Eamonn Fleming
Director: Mark Stratton
Designer: Pip Leckenby
Production Manager/Lighting Designer: Graham Kirk
Stage Manager on the Book: Dave Poulter
Producer: Sheila Carter
2008 Season
Vacuum
What is financial adviser Ray stepping in to when he enters Mr. Ashburners vacuum repair shop?
It's the end of a long day and Ray would rather be on his way home. However, when Ashburner reveals that he has been left a huge sum of money Ray sets about tempting Ashburner in to a world of investments and high living. Unknown to Ray, the unlikely millionaire has other plans. Where will the evening lead? What will a pork pie and a bottle of whisky help to unleash? What is Ashburner's hidden agenda?
The play questions the value of money and looks at some of the reasons why modern, materialist living, may ultimately lead to a spiritual and an emotional vacuum.
In a tense drama of shifting power and status, and in fantasy sequences underscored by Conrad Nelson's original music, we see two disparate souls come together in a touching, and humorous story of self discovery. Nature abhors a vacuum...........................
Production information
By: Debbie McAndrew
Management: Esk Valley Theatre
Cast: Mark Stratton, Mike Hugo
Director: Conrad Nelson
Designer: Pip Leckenby
Production Manager/Lighting Designer: Graham Kirk
Stage Manager on the Book: Dave Poulter
Producer: Sheila Carter
2007 Season
Friends Uninvited
Review by Kevin Berry (The Stage)
Published 15th August 2007
The name Ayckbourn stands out in the credits and this Ayckbourn is indeed Sir Alan's son.
Friends Uninvited is the first professional production of one of Steven’s plays. It is staged by the Eskdale Theatre company for the holidaymakers and locals of the North York Moors. Lighting and design are by Graham Kirk and Pip Leckenby, the regular team at Hull Truck.
There has been a school reunion and not long after it dishevelled, clumsy Roger, the first uninvited friend, turns up at the posh London flat of Duncan. Roger is fleeing from Jill, a voracious girl trained in many martial arts, who is determined that Roger is the man for her.
Interestingly Duncan is the shy type and he was never really friends with either of them. This is only revealed in the second act, making Duncan's put upon situation all the more bewildering for him.
A first act with periods of tedious exposition needs madcap, screwball pacing and more could be made of Hugo's clumsiness. The second act is much freer and there is palpable relish on stage.
Beatrice Curnew as Jill is exceptional. She dictates the comic vigour of the play. Hugo Thurston as Roger is engaging but fuller use should be made of his gangling frame. Give him more things to fall over and to break.
Mark Beardsmore as Duncan has a fine second act. His tortured resignation, as he sits in a wheelchair in his wrecked flat, is heartfelt.
This is an entertaining, unpretentious play. Audiences will go home chuckling.
Production information
By: Steven Ayckbourn
Management: Esk Valley Theatre
Cast: Mark Beardsmore, Beatrice Curnew, Hugo Thurston
Director: Mark Stratton
Designer: Pip Leckenby
Production Manager/Lighting Designer: Graham Kirk
Stage Manager on the Book: Dave Poulter
Producer: Sheila Carter
2006 Season
The Business of Murder
Review by Kevin Berry (The Stage)
Published Monday 14th August 2006 at 11.20
Holidaymakers and locals in the beautiful but rather remote Esk Valley which is inland from Whitby, now have an established theatre company to entertain them in the holiday weeks. The Esk Valley Summer Theatre also offers children their own Storytime Theatre sessions during the daylight hours.
This Richard Harris three-hander is ideal fare for the grown-ups after a day out on the moors. The Business of Murder is a classic thriller, absorbing from the outset with quite a few surprises on the way.
Ian Cairns as the mysterious Mr. Stone sets an increasingly disturbing tone. He draws the story's other characters into an ever tightening web. This role is essential to the play's success and Cairns is thorough and convincing.
Good support comes from Mark Stratton as a bluff policeman and Ceri Ann Gregory as a glamorous writer who has been carrying on with said policeman. It takes some believing that there has been chemistry between the two of them, but they do handle the plot's shifts of emphasis and sympathy extremely well. A touch more tension in some of the exchanges would be beneficial.
Bringing in a designer of Pip Leckenby's standing shows the commitment of the Esk Valley company, as does going to the trouble and expense of hiring a raised seating frame. This is a polished production in a comfortable venue and it will do the company's reputation a deal of good.
Production information
By: Richard Harris
Management: Esk Valley Summer Theatre
Cast: Ian Cairns, Ceri Ann Gregory, Mark Stratton
Director: Christopher Dunham
Design: Pip Leckenby
Lighting: Graham Kirk
2005 Season
September in the Rain
Review by Dave Windass (The Stage)
Director Carter, Stratton and his co-star, Mary Rider, do the piece full justice......a lot of work has also gone into making the production the company's first success. The end result is a spot on rendition of the play."
The audience immediately warmed to Mark Stratton's comical portrayal as Jack, and Mary Ryder is a perfect foil as Liz. Both actors giving strong, convincing and enjoyable performances.
Sheila Carter has done a cracking job directing and the way she engineers the set pieces is a treat
Production information
By: John Godber
Management: Esk Valley Summer Theatre
Cast: Mark Stratton, Mary Ryder
Director: Sheila Carter
Lighting: John Bramley