Nancy’s Orange is inspired by Grace Kirby’s part-time job delivering NHS prescriptions to patients, often elderly and isolated, in the beautiful but remote countryside of the North Pennines and along the Cumbrian stretch of Hadrian’s Wall. Brief encounters happen on doorsteps, in gardens, in kitchens and even on balconies, revealing lives richly lived through stories of love and loss, sadness and joy, infused with poetry and humour. “I thought it would be a nice little job, just me and Classic FM, no-one’s breathing down my neck and I can leave the work at work … ” But we find that she can’t. Through meetings with a memorable cast of characters, including Captain Underpants, a priestly imposter and a satnav with a mind of its own, Grace’s alter ego – ‘The Driver’ – begins to question how we care for and perceive our elderly neighbours, and invites us to do the same.
As well as enjoying a successful career as an actor and writer, Peter Macqueen is a keen amateur naturalist with a particular passion for butterflies and moths. The Butterfly Collector brings both these strands together by exploring very personal experiences of the effects of climate change. He draws on childhood memories of happy holidays collecting butterflies (he uses a camera now!) and sets them against the drastic attempt to rescue that collection (and those memories) fifty years later, when Storm Desmond flooded more than 7,000 homes in Cumbria, including his own. The play is set some time in the future, when there are too many storms to name and too few butterflies to count. Meet a man sat on a tower of furniture – a chair on a box on a table – having a picnic. Is the water rising or receding? And even though it’s practically the end of the world, there are moth jokes…!
Both plays are warm, engaging and thought provoking. An opportunity not to be missed. Threlkeld Village Hall CA12 4RX, on Saturday 22nd March, 7:30pm. Bar and Box Office from 6:45pm. Tickets £15 (£7.50 under 18) from Threlkeld Village Hall Coffee Shop, village PO or on-line here by debit or credit card.
TICKETS BOUGHT ON-LINE ARE AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE BOX OFFICE ON THE NIGHT. Box Office enquiries 07931 679654.