Esk Valley Theatre’s summer show for 2010, Michael Birch’s Second From Last In The Sack Race, opens tonight at the Robinson Institute, Glaisdale, near Whitby.
The Esk Valley’s own professional theatre company presents a wry play adapted for the stage from David Nobbs’s heart-warming novel about Henry Pratt learning to survive the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in an ever-changing world.
The story opens in 1935 when a parrot squawks and a child is born. Life will not be easy for Henry, growing up in a back-to-back in the north of England during one of the most turbulent periods in British history.
Moved from school to school, and at the mercy of his extended family, Henry has a colourful upbringing, one that “we can all identify with, especially if we came second from last in the sack race”.
Mark Stratton directs a cast of Dudley Rees, Nigel Lister, Catriona Martin, Gemma North and James Hirst in a run from today until August 28. Sheila Carter is the producer; Pip Leckenby and Graham Kirk provide the design and lighting respectively.
Tickets are on sale at £10, concessions £9, on 01947 897587 and at Glaisdale Village Shop. Performances start at 7.30pm, Monday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm matinees on Thursdays and on Saturday, August 21. Please note, a talk-back session with the director and cast will follow the show on August 18.
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