A new theatre company is bringing an American classic to the Chester stage.
Stuart Bold and Christopher Owen Earl, two professionally trained local actors, and director Maisie Langridge formed Skimming Stones last year with the aim of bringing serious theatre to the local community.
They said: “We create high quality performances and see a gap in locally produced theatre for more serious plays.
“There are some great local companies out there staging musicals. Our aim, however, alongside a few other local companies, is to broaden out people’s experience to appreciate our heritage of brilliant, thought provoking, playwriting.
“We want to show that community companies can produce professional standard theatre.”
Skimming Stones are keen to stress that ‘serious theatre’ does not mean producing plays without humour: “Good classic playwriting, whether a modern classic or older classic plays, often mixes serious ideas with lighter moments.
“Our acclaimed debut production of Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter in the Emlyn Williams Theatre at Theatr Clwyd last April had the audience simultaneously laughing and utterly terrified. This is exactly what the play demands so we were really pleased and feedback was excellent.”
The company’s latest production is of Edward Albee’s 1958 debut play, The Zoo Story. Albee is perhaps more famous for his later play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
What's happening at Storyhouse in Chester
The Zoo Story is a one act play with elements of absurdism alongside social commentary. It brings two very distinct worlds together. “In Zoo two characters from opposite ends of the social spectrum are brought together in New York’s Central Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon. This chance meeting, radically, changes their lives”.
Skimming Stones will be performing The Zoo Story in The Garret Theatre at Storyhouse, Chester, from Thursday, March 1–Saturday, March 3. Tickets £10 and £8 concessions. Visit www.storyhouse.com.
