IAN KELSEY AND NICOLA SLOANE TO STAR IN
WILTSHIRE CREATIVE’S MAJOR REVIVAL OF
JOHN GODBER’S SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
Artistic Director Gareth Machin and Executive Director Sebastian Warrack today announce the full cast for Wiltshire Creative’s brand-new production of John Godber’s September in the Rain – Ian Kelsey and Nicola Sloane. Machin’s production opens on 17 September, with previews from 16 September, and runs until 9 October.
Following the run of September in the Rain, Michael Grandage will direct Ian McDiarmid in Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table from 14 to 23 October, ahead of a UK tour.
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
by John Godber
16 September – 9 October
Cast: Ian Kelsey, Nicola Sloane
Director Gareth Machin; Designer Toots Butcher; Lighting Designer Johanna Town
Sound Designer Andrea J Cox;Casting Director Gabrielle Dawes CDG
1950. Blackpool. Newly-wed Yorkshire couple, Jack and Liz have crossed the Pennines for their first trip to the seaside mecca. Beneath an uncertain September sky, they holiday in a world of stripy deckchairs, sandy sandwiches and stroppy donkeys. As the Wurlitzer organ plays they sway together on the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom.
For thirty years, come rain or shine, they never miss their annual week-long holiday on the Blackpool sands. Three decades of boarding houses, talent contests and fish and chips on the prom.
Moving backwards and forward through time, a married life unfolds through squabbles, children, laughter and tears against the backdrop of the heyday of the British seaside.
Ian Kelsey plays Jack. For theatre, his work includes Legally Blonde (Curve, Leicester), The Shawshank Redemption (UK tour), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre), Same Next Year (Theatre Royal Windsor), Kes (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Grease (UK tour and West End). For television, his work includes as series regular Vinny Ashford in Coronation Street, Lovesick, as series regular Alex Wakefield in Doctors, Dustin Baby, as lead regular Richard Mayne in Blue Murder, Hotel Babylon, as lead regular Jack Clayton in Where the Heart Is, as lead regular in Matt Brewer in Down to Earth, as series regular Dr. Patrick Spiller in Casualty and Holby City, Murder in Mind, Touching Evil, Adams Family Tree, Men Behaving Badly, and as series regular Dave Glover in Emmerdale; and for film, Black Beauty and Wild Justice.
Nicola Sloane returns to Wiltshire Creative to play Liz – she previously appeared in Two Cities. Her theatre work includes GHBoy (Charing Cross Theatre), The Butterfly Lion, Strife, Way Upstream, The Gondoliers and The Waterbabies (Chichester Festival Theatre), Our Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Frankenstein, To Kill a Mockingbird (Royal Exchange Manchester), Love in Idleness, A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory and West End), London Road, 50th Anniversary Gala, Anything Goes and Love’s Labour’s Lost (National Theatre), Flowers for Mrs Harris, My Fair Lady and Me and My Girl (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Enter the Guardsman (Donmar Warehouse), and The Sound of Music, Acorn Antiques, Spend Spend Spend, Martin Guerre, Les Miserables and The Woman in Black (West End). For television, her work includes Maigret, Black Mirror, Home Fires, Call the Midwife, Parade’s End, Dancing on the Edge and Home Again; and for film, Red Joan, The Danish Girl, The Tale of Tales, London Road, Mr Turner, The Theory of Everything, Les Miserables, Broken and Season of the Witch.
John Godber is a writer and director. His credits as a playwright include Scary Bikers, Bouncers, Up ‘n’ Under (Olivier Award for Best New Comedy), April in Paris, Teechers, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Cramp, Happy Jack, September in the Rain, Salt of the Earth, Passion Killers, Happy Families, Up ‘n’ Under ll, Gym and Tonic, Dracula, Lucky Sods, Hooray for Hollywood, Weekend Breaks, It Started With a Kiss, Unleashed, Thick As a Brick, Big Trouble in the Little Bedroom, Seasons in the Sun, On a Night Like This, Our House, Departures, Men of the World, Reunion, Screaming Blue Murder, Black Ties and Tales, Perfect Pitch, Going Dutch, Christmas Crackers and Crown Prince. Film writing credits include My Kingdom for a Horse (starring Sean Bean).
Gareth Machin Director Gareth is the Artistic Director of Wiltshire Creative. Previously, he was studio associate at the National Theatre, artistic director of Southwark Playhouse and associate director at Bristol Old Vic. For the company, his work includes Making Massinger, Robin Hood, Her Naked Skin, Moonfleet, Little Robin Redbreast, Worst Wedding Ever, The Night Before Christmas, A Little of What You Fancy, Hedda Gabler, Can’t Buy Me Love, The Magna Carta Plays, Little Shop of Horrors, Separate Tables, Bedroom Farce, London Calling, The Recruiting Officer, A Man of No Importance, Dangerous Corner, The Spire and Epsom Downs. His other directing credits include Fanta Orange (Finborough Theatre), Three More Sleepless Nights (National Theatre), The Canterville Ghost, Gaffer!, The Canterbury Tales, The Chimes, The Archbishop’s Ceiling (Southwark Playhouse), The Real Thing (Royal Theatre, Northampton), Macbeth (Creation Theatre), The Wizard of Oz (Hall for Cornwall), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Look Back in Anger, Betrayal, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, The Beggar’s Opera, Molly Sweeney, Up the Feeder Down the ‘Mouth and Back Again, Sea Life, Croak Croak Croak, A Tender Prayer, Anatomy of a Madman, Bitter With a Twist, Krapp’s Last Tape and Spring Awakening (Bristol Old Vic). As a playwright, his work includes The Tailor of Gloucester, Moonfleet, Little Robin Redbreast, The Night Before Christmas (Salisbury Playhouse), Pinocchio, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Thumb and Other Giant Stories and The Canterbury Tales (Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster).
September in the Rain is kindly supported by:
Christopher & Frances Wain, long-standing Members of Salisbury Playhouse.
LISTINGS SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
Salisbury Playhouse, Wiltshire Creative
Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, SP2 7RA
Ticket Sales: 01722 320333 (Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 12pm)
Tickets from £12
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
16 September – 9 October
THE LEMON TABLE
14 October – 23 October
Members who book for The Lemon Table and September in the Rain at the same time before the 26 July enjoy double the membership with 20% off up to 4 tickets
SEE IT SAFELY -We have been granted the use of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre’s See It Safely mark. The mark certifies that we are complying with the latest Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, to ensure the safety of our staff and audiences. You can find out more here https://officiallondontheatre.com/see-it-safely/ about the measures we have been putting in place ready for your visit, and what you will need to know beforehand.