Our 4th production in 2019 is 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

Please note we have new ticket prices

Ticket prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Special Offer: Wednesday 18th September - Buy one get one half price (half price applies to the cheapest ticket purchased)

Bench members and Friends: free

A Bench Fringe production for one day only is Some You Win written and directed by Jacquie Penrose.

A double bill

The Party Guest

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

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)

Performances:

Tuesday 24th September at 1:45 and 7:30

Ticket Prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Our last production in 2019 is 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

Please note we have new ticket prices

Ticket prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Special Offer: Thursday 21st November - Buy one get one half price (half price applies to the cheapest ticket purchased)

Bench members and Friends: free

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

Supernova is our festival of new writing and since the first Supernova in September 2000, we have performed 68 new plays by authors from around the UK.

Our first performance of 2019 was "Supernova 8"

Ten brand new works were performed twice over the space of a week, each directed and performed by our award-winning membership.

Plays performed on Wednesday evening were repeated on Friday evening.

Plays performed on Thursday evening were repeated on Saturday evening.

Performances:

Wednesday 6th February until Saturday 9th February 2019

Our final production in 2018 was Seasons Greetings written by Alan Ayckbourn, and directed by Marion Ward

It is Christmas Eve in the home of Neville and Belinda Bunker. Belinda's sister Rachel is waiting for her friend, novelist Clive, to arrive for a few days. Heavily pregnant Pattie and her husband Eddie are at loggerheads while in the kitchen Auntie Phyllis's efforts to prepare the dinner are hampered by her drunken and clumsy antics. Her doctor husband Bernard's seasonal highlight is his puppet theatre entertainment and retired security guard Uncle Harvey has a rather unseasonal stash of weapons with him……

Mayhem is quickly unleashed leading to a romantic tryst, an unforgettable puppet show and maybe even a murder …… .Come and watch this comedy festive classic unravel !!!

Performances:

Saturday 24th November 2018 2:30pm