Spring and Port Wine

Bill Naughton’s comic masterpiece Spring and Port Wine, is the opening play of the Little Theatre’s 2017 Season, from 20-25 February.

Gil Burns directs, after co-directing the hugely successful dance extravaganza Stepping Out, last season.

Naughton’s play harks back to the great Lancashire comedies such as Hobson’s Choice and Hindle Wakes.

Rafe Crompton rules his wife, Daisy, and their four children with a rod of iron, but the tide is turning. Florence has found love with a sheet metal worker, Hilda wants to stay out late like the other girls, and Wilf and Harold have their hearts set on a place of their own.
Hilda finally throws down the gauntlet when she refuses to eat the herring served to her at dinner, with unexpected and far-reaching consequences for the whole family!

Gil Burns reports that rehearsals are going brilliantly, and she’s grown especially fond of her talented cast!
Richard Brook, last seen alongside Gil, in Anne Boleyn, plays the patriarch, Rafe. Trish Ellis, who has starred in many Little Theatre productions, plays his long-suffering wife Daisy.

Max Anderson, who featured in The Addams Family and The Accrington Pals, at Todmorden, plays Harold, whilst Chico Kerouac, who was in A Christmas Carol and All My Sons at the Little Theatre, plays Wilfred.

Florence is played by Phoebe Hillgarth, who will be familiar to Little Theatre audiences having given many fine performances, and who is currently poster girl for the season. Hilda is played by Megan Gault, who was seen previously in the Little Theatre production of The Accrington Pals, in 2014.

Arthur is played by Matt Parker, who appeared in The Vicar of Dibley and The Accrington Pals at the Hippodrome last year. Matt last appeared at the Little Theatre ten years ago. Last, but not least, Betsy Jane is played by theatre stalwart, Hannah Stow.

Spring and Port Wine runs from Monday-Saturday, 20-25 February, 7.30pm, with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.
Book tickets online at www.hblt.co.uk. Click on ‘Theatre Tickets’ and choose the ‘Buy Tickets Online’ option on the drop down menu. Tickets can also be purchased in person at Innovation, 3 weeks before the play.