Please find below details of our forthcoming production.
Spring Production 2026
Our next Production, the rich and comic costume drama, Cranford, by Martyn Coleman, will be directed by Helen Halliday.
This is a gentle period piece which encapsulates life in a small village in the 1840s. The village consists mainly of women (9 in fact) and two men, one of whom is a young man, and the play depicts life as it was then with some witty dialogue and lovely character parts. It shows how very much life has changed over the last 200 years and has some very amusing moments.
Show dates:
Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th May 2026.
This will be a “play only” production i.e. there will be no pre-show supper.
Ticket price:
£? – yet to be decided.
Curtain up at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:45pm
Auditions
On Sunday 11th January 2026 from 2pm to 5pm
at The Dunn Village Hall, Rushlake Green
Character List
Miss Matty – F, 40+. Kind, Tactful, Mindful of others and hugely sensitive to all things. Naïve and romantic.
Miss Mary – F, 18-25. Sensible & Intelligent. Thoughtful and caring, all things admirable – she is a young woman of the age.
Miss Pole – F, 40+. Busy body who means well but loves gossip and drama! Imagines she knows about men but does not understand them at all.
Martha – F, 18+. Simple & kind. Rough around the edges but a quick learner!
Miss Barker – F, 40+. A nice woman, milder version of Miss Pole but kinder.
Mrs Forrester – F, 50+. Older, down to earth and humorously blunt. Takes no prisoners but never unkind.
Mrs Jamieson – F, 50+. Self-important snob. Not really liked but tolerated for her connections. She feels herself above the other women but deigns to socialise with them.
Lady Glenmire – F, 40+. Small, quick, bright and cheerful! Attractive but demure and understated. Not grand and no hint of pseudo! Scottish accent.
Mr Hoggins – M, 40+. Genial, jovial, utterly pleasant. A little rough around the edges but a genuine gentleman.
Jem Hearn – M, 18+. Nervous but good hearted.
Mrs Gaskell – F, 50+. Narrator who should be able to hold the audience with her storytelling. Down to earth. Pragmatic but nostalgic and sentimental.
NOTE
The more working-class characters will have northern accents ( Lancashire not Yorkshire).
This applies to Martha, Jem , Mr Higgins and possibly Mrs Forrester and Miss Barker.
Audition Pieces
Downloadable audition pieces in pdf format
Miss M + Mary + Miss Pole page 17-18.pdf
Mrs J-Miss B-Mrs F-May-Miss P page 88.pdf
Mrs J-Miss B-Mrs F-May-Miss P page 89-90.pdf
Rehearsals
Rehearsals will be held mostly on Monday evenings (at 7:30pm) and Saturday mornings (at 9:30am) at the Dunn Village Hall with the first rehearsal being held on Saturday 17th January.
