Watermill Theatre, Newbury, presents

The Story of a Great Lady

By Ade Morris

Saturday 26th May at 8.00 pm Tickets £9 for adults / £6 for U16

Box Office: Lyme Regis TIC 01297 442138

The Story of a Great Lady opened in April at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury to rave reviews. Since it went on tour two weeks ago everywhere this exciting response has been the same.  It follows two great successes, both also written by Ade Morris, that have packed the Marine theatre on previous evenings -I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls  which transferred to the Tricycle Theatre, London and the Gardens of LLangoed,  which was a huge success here at the Marine in September last year. This new play is on for one night only, Saturday 26 May at 8pm, and tickets are going fast already.

It tells the story of three women who meet at a writing group and who decide to devise a performance, perhaps unwisely, about Boadicea. As they get to know each other, not always in perfect harmony, they discover much in common and many differences, but none could have suspected how greatly their lives would connect, or how profoundly they might change during the mad, sad, magic and comic creation of The Story of a Great Lady.

“This was the last play commissioned by Jill Fraser, the much-missed artistic director of the Watermill who died in February 2006. The comedy has laughter and sadness in equal measure, reflecting the deep emotions everyone associated with the Watermill has gone through over the last two years” wrote  Pat Harper in This is Wiltshire. “And Jill's presence is everywhere. When Fran says "She was good at getting people together and making things happen," you knew it wasn't just Boadicea she was talking about.”

Caroline Franklin wrote in the Henley Standard, “Ade Morris has understood the way in which women who are good friends deal with problems together, and the fact that much of the play is gloriously funny makes the contrast between  the darker times as when Annie speaks of her home life and holds the audience in the palm of her hand all the more poignant.”

 In the Actors newspaper, The Stage, Jeremy Brien wrote “Some of the changes that come about are truly life-enhancing. Yet the sensitive side of the play is wrapped in a host of marvellously comic scenes, not least when two of the women play the front and backside of Boadicea’s horse, with a great many home truths concealed in laughter. The three players bring immaculate and hilarious performances to the party, with Polly Highton particularly adept at handling the downtrodden housewife’s malapropisms, Erica Rogers moving with confidence from panic to self-assurance as the teacher and Carrie Jones mixing the wisdom of advancing years with a determination to grow old disgracefully.”

Carrie Jones, (photo) has recently appeared in Punchdrunk’s critically acclaimed production of Faust, in conjunction with The National Theatre; Polly Highton has just starred in ten episodes of Emmerdale and the cast also includes Erica Rogers, whose most recently appeared in the BBC production of The Angel of Death.

“A perfect tribute to The Watermill’s own Great Lady, Jill Fraser;” The Stage