Stephen Joseph Theatre Artistic Associate Simon Slater has teamed up with a member of one of the country’s greatest theatrical dynasties, Jemma Redgrave, to present a rehearsed reading of Simon Woods’ Hansard at the Scarborough theatre.
Directed by Paul Robinson, the reading will take place in the Round at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20 October.
It’s a summer’s morning in 1988 and Tory politician Robin Hesketh has returned home to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with his wife of 30 years, Diana. But all is not as blissful as it seems. Diana has a stinking hangover, a fox is destroying the garden, and secrets are being dug up all over the place. As the day draws on, what starts as gentle ribbing and the familiar rhythms of marital sparring quickly turns to blood-sport.
A witty and devastating new play, Hansard premiered at the National Theatre, London, in August 2019.
Paul Robinson, Artistic Director at the SJT, says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have attracted two actors of the stature of Jemma and Simon to bring a reading of Simon Woods’ brutally funny, but ultimately moving, political satire to the SJT.”
Jemma Redgrave played the title character in four series of Bramwell and has a recurring role in Doctor Who as Kate Stewart, Head of Scientific Research at UNIT. As well as a career in television, she has a wide and varied theatre and film career, including as Evie Wilcox in the BAFTA Award-winning Merchant Ivory adaptation of Howards End.
Simon Slater was born and grew up in Scarborough. As an actor, his credits include five years playing Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! in the West End. He was a regular in popular TV series The Bill playing Inspector Kite. He also narrates audio books, including Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. A hugely talented musician, he is very much in demand as a musical director and composer – he was recently MD on the National Theatre’s Amadeus. He has composed over 300 original scores for theatre, film, TV, radio and theatre, including the last four Christmas shows at the SJT. He is also composing music for this December’s The Snow Queen.
Following on from Hansard, Simon will be performing his one-man thriller Bloodshot at the SJT (21 to 24 October).
The SJT has introduced a comprehensive programme of measures for the safety and comfort of its audiences (https://www.sjt.uk.com/were_back) and has been awarded both the VisitEngland ‘We’re Good to Go’ industry standard mark, signifying that it adheres to government and public health guidance, and UK Theatre’s ‘See it Safely’ standard mark.
Tickets for Hansard are priced from £10. Booking opens at 10am on Friday 2 October – due to social distancing restrictions, numbers are extremely limited for this one-off event. Please visit the website: sjt.uk.com/whatson or call the Box Office on 01723 370541 (currently open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11am to 4pm, for both phone calls and in-person bookings).
