IT IS WTH GREAT REGRET THAT THIS PRODUCTION HAS HAD TO BE POSTPONED DUE TO CAST MEMBERS CONTRACTING CORONA VIRUS MAKING THEM UNAVAILABLE TO PERFORM. This production will now take place in July 2022.

Bench Theatre presents this hilarious adaptation by John Nicholson and Le Navet Bete of the Alexandre Dumas's classic, The Three Musketeers.

Four actors play nearly forty characters in a wonderful mix of jokes, slapstick and swashbuckling. Join D'Artagnan, Porthos, Athos and Aramis as they cross swords with the devious Cardinal Richelieu and the murderous Milady de Winter to save the queen's honour and the country from total war!!!!

A perfect tonic of joy for all the family! There will be wild wigs, dodgy accents and facial hair that defies belief! You may know the story, but you’ve never seen it like this!!!!

So, book your tickets now for a night of laughter.

All for Fun and FUN FOR ALL!!!

Performances:

Ticket Prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Thursday 7th July. Buy one get one half price (on cheapest ticket)

Bench members and Friends: free

In February 2022 this play Whose to Tell written and directed by Jacquie Penrose will be part of a double bill with Freehold called 2x2.

"No one has the right to the secrets of your life. Do they?"

(Premiered at the Barons' Court Theatre, London, October 2021)

In February 2022 this play Freehold written and directed by Roger Goldsmith will be part of a double bill with Whose to Tell called 2x2.

Sometimes you knock on the wrong door, but the right person answers it.

This play is set in Portsmouth in July 2018

Performances for both plays

Matinee Saturday 12th February 2:30

Ticket Prices

12.00, concessions 10.00

Wednesday 9th February. Buy one get one half price (on cheapest ticket)

Bench members and Friends: free

In April 2022 our production will be The Unfortunate written and directed by Ben Tanner. This was due to have been performed in 2020 so we look forward to seeing this production.

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+

Another production we hope will be performed in the future is Second Person Narrative written by Jemma Kennedy and directed by Jessi Wilson.

"Off you go then and best of luck

It's bound to be different this time though

some of it might seem familiar

The big questions, we mean

The beginnings, middles, endings, et cetera

Still, not to worry, it's all a

work-in-progress."

Jemma Kennedy's 'Second Person Narrative' is about selfhood and the decisions we make – or have imposed upon us – in constructing a life.

Our protagonist is YOU. YOU are so ordinary, and yet so extraordinary, too.

Watch as moments of YOUR life are depicted and captured, from birth to death and everything in between – growing up, making friends, getting jobs, forming relationships, making mistakes, and having a good laugh!

We were thrilled that our second production in 2021 was Copenhagen written by Michael Frayn and directed by Jacquie Penrose.

Friendship, loyalty, betrayal - and the moral duty of scientists in times of peace and war. These themes are grippingly explored in Michael Frayn's COPENHAGEN, a play that pivots around the historic meeting between two ground-breaking physicists in occupied Denmark in 1941.

We are very excited that our first production in 2021 was The Bench Presents Again written and directed by members of the Bench.

Bench Theatre is pleased to present a selection of short pieces written for the stage by members of the company.

During the long months of lockdown our need to tell and hear stories has not been diminished, and some of our own members have penned plays to absorb, amuse and move an audience even if the need for social distancing must be incorporated into the action.

This is your chance to enjoy an eclectic evening or two back in the theatre as we return to performance and showcase some of the writing talent as well as the actors among our membership.

As we are now able to dip our toes back into the waters of performance, we are offering two short programmes of pieces:

Plays Set 1

Face the Music by Jacquie Penrose

New Years Day by Lucy Flannery

Issie and Dora by Stephen Mollett

Bad Day At The Office by Lucy Flannery

Montgomery by Roger Goldsmith

Bear Hunt by Lucy Flannery

Being Neighbourly by Jacquie Penrose

The Spy Who Bugged Me by Mark Wakeman

Our first production in 2020 was 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

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