Impressive line up for autumn season

Aug 29 2008 by Michael Green, Flintshire Chronicle

Five new productions will take centre stage at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold this season.

Terry Hands, Director of Clwyd Theatr Cymru, will take the company’s acclaimed production of Memory by Jonathan Lichtenstein, on a tour of Wales.

The play – already an audience hit in Mold – will be the company’s first London residency at the Pleasance Theatre, Islington from September 30 – November 2.

The season in Mold opens in the Emlyn Williams Theatre with The Suicide, by Nikolai Erdman, (Thursday September 25 – Saturday October 18), directed by Barry Kyle.

Banned by Soviet governments for more than half a century, this is a comic masterpiece and one of the jewels of the Russian stage.

The Anthony Hopkins Theatre sees a piece of new writing presented for the first time in Clwyd’s larger auditorium with Drowned Out – The Lost Voices of Tryweryn by Manon Eames (October 16 to November 8).

The play tells the story of the flooding of the Valley of Tryweryn, near Bala to provide a reservoir for Liverpool.

This is the dramatised story of a lost community and the momentous events of 50 years ago which led to its demise. The season then continues with The Drawer Boy by Canadian playwright, Michael Healey (Emlyn Williams Theatre, November 7 to 29), a new play which has proved a big hit with audiences throughout north America.

The Christmas rock ‘n roll panto in the Anthony Hopkins Theatre is Cinderella – The Panto With Soul by Peter Rowe and Alan Ellis, sponsored by Warwick International Group ( November 21 2008 to January 24, 2009). Visiting drama highlights include the controversial Sherman Cymru production Deep Cut (September 9 to 13), which asks searching questions about the British Army and comes direct to Mold following outstanding reviews after its premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Roy Dotrice presents Brief Lives (September 16 to 20), in which he recreates his critically-acclaimed performance as John Aubrey, the 17th Century biographer and chronicler, in a hilarious solo show that earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

The ever-popular Stephanie Cole and Simon Shepherd star in the Theatre Royal Bath production of Peter Nichols’ comedy Born in the Gardens in the Anthony Hopkins Theatre (September 22 to 27).

All autumn events are booking now through the box office on 0845 330 3565 or online (no booking fee) at www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk