Our first production in 2020 will be Di and Viv and Rose written by Amelia Bullmore and directed by Mark Wakeman.

Aged eighteen, three women join forces at university. Life is fun. Living is intense. Together they feel unassailable.

Di and Viv and Rose is a funny and thoughtful exploration of friendship's impact on life and life's impact on friendship.

Performances:

Saturday 15th February 2:30

Ticket Prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Special Offer: Wednesday 12th February - Buy one get one half price (half price applies to the cheapest ticket purchased)

Bench members and Friends: free

Our second production in 2020 will be The Unfortunate written and directed by Ben Tanner.

London, 1888. In this fast-paced, epic play, journalist Christian Lane, is sent by his unscrupulous editor to report on the latest Jack the Ripper murder. In Whitechapel's poorest streets, he meets Isobel Prater, damned, like so many Victorian women, to live the degenerate life of an 'unfortunate'.

Struck by Isobel's plight, Christian rejects the sensationalism of his newspaper to embark upon a crusade to reform Whitechapel, the darkest corner of the British Empire.

The play contains adult themes. Age restriction 12+

Performances:

Wednesday 29th April until Saturday 2nd May 2020

Ticket Prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Special Offer: Thursday 23rd April - Buy one get one half price (half price applies to the cheapest ticket purchased)

Bench members and Friends: free

Our last production in 2019 was Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen, adapted by Simon Reade , and directed by Fiona Fairhurst.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Bench Theatre brings one of the world's best-loved novels to the stage in a captivating adaptation of Austen's most famous work.

Elizabeth Bennet, beautiful, intelligent and strong-willed, is determined to remove herself from the matchmaking schemes of her mother. Mr Darcy, rich, educated and privileged, has no intention of marrying anyone beneath his station. Join everybody's favourite couple as they navigate the world of courtship, discovering that first impressions are not always correct.

This light and sparkling comedy, beautifully and faithfully adapted by Simon Reade, has all of Austen's warmth, wit and romance, perfect for the winter months.

Performances:

Wednesday 27th November to Saturday 30th November 2019

Each play from the Bench Fringe production of Some You Win written and directed by Jacquie Penrose, was performed at The Wheelwright's Arms,27 Emsworth Road, Havant.

The Party Guest, Tuesday 12th November

Chance reunites three actors from an out-of-town production of The Cherry Orchard after thirty years. The intervening years have not been kind, and old alliances and rivalries resurface. This time there are no winners. (First performed by the Bench Theatre in 2009)

What a Good Boy, Saturday 16th November

Lucy has a new job, new friends, a new flat, and she is enjoying her new life – if only her new boss wasn't quite so attentive. When he oversteps the mark, she has to decide how to react: write him off as a bit of a joke - or take him on? Could she win if she did? (Premiere performance)

Our 4th production in 2019 was Pride written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, and directed by Stuart Reilly.

Three people. Two different decades. One love.

The Pride, by Alexi Kaye Campbell, is the Olivier Award-winning play that looks to examine the changing attitudes our country has to sexuality, love and those that are challenged by them. Join the Bench in celebrating their 50th anniversary as we explore what it means to love someone against all expectations.

Please note this play contains adult themes, language that some may find offensive, scenes of a graphic sexual nature and is unsuitable for persons under 15 years of age.

Performances:

Matinee on Saturday 21st September at 2:30pm

Our 3rd production in 2019 was The Deep Blue Sea written by Terence Rattigan, and directed by Andrew Caple.

A run-down tenement flat in North-West London. A single day in 1951. Hester Collyer has left her wealthy husband, a man she can't love the way she wants, to live with an ex-RAF pilot, a man who can't love her the way she needs. Left emotionally stranded, she can't see a way forward and going back is unbearable. She's stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. As the day unravels, some desperate decisions need to be made.

Dont miss this opportunity to see Terence Rattigan's exquisitely crafted masterpiece about the inequality of desire. A portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion which burns with a brutal sense of loss and longing. A deeply moving love story hidden behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility with, at its heart, one of the greatest female roles in 20th century theatre.

Performances:

Wednesday 17th July until Saturday 20th July at 7:30pm

Our 2nd production in 2019 was A Bunch of Amateurs written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, and directed by Tasmin Halford.

Jefferson Steele is a fading Hollywood star. When he finds out his agent has landed him the title role in King Lear over in the UK, he believes he will be making his big comeback performing for the RSC. So he is somewhat dismayed when he arrives in England to discover that he has in fact joined 'The Stratford Players', a small local amateur dramatics company, fighting to save their theatre from closure.

Hilarity ensues as the worlds of Hollywood and Amateur dramatics collide. As Jefferson's ego, vanity and insecurities are pushed to the limit by the over enthusiastic thespians, he is about to be taken on a journey he never could've imagined.

As part of Bench's 50th Birthday year, join us as we celebrate all things AmDram with the play described as 'A love letter to the world of Amateur Dramatics'.

Performances:

Wednesday 10th April until Saturday 13th April at 7:30pm