Award-winning theatre company The Wardrobe Ensemble today announce that it will take The Last of the Pelican Daughters, a brand-new production to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. The production will mark the company’s return to Edinburgh following its The Scotsman Fringe First Award and The Stage Edinburgh Award winning, smash-hit production Education, Education, Education, which will have its West End debut at Trafalgar Studios this summer, and The Stage Award winning 1972: The Future of Sex.
Created as part of the Royal & Derngate’s Resident Ensemble programme and developed in partnership with Complicité, The Last of the Pelican Daughters will preview at Royal & Derngate’s Royal stage on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 July, before playing at Pleasance Beyond 31 July – 25 Aug 2019.
In folklore, pelican mothers feed their young on their own blood. In 2019, four sisters are trying to divide their mother’s house between them.
Joy wants a baby, Storm wants to be seen, Sage wants to be paid, Maia doesn’t want anyone to find out her secret and Granny’s in a wheelchair on day release. Mum’s presence still seeps through the ceiling and the floors. The Pelican Daughters are home for the last time.
The Wardrobe Ensemble use their trademark irreverent humour and lovable characters to tackle the idea of what it means for young people to grapple with inheritance, loss and justice in this comedy about four sisters trying to come to terms with their mother’s death.
Tom Brennan, Member of The Wardrobe Ensemble said: “The Wardrobe Ensemble are our second family. We squabble, play and discuss the world with all the intensity of a group of siblings, so to make our version of a family drama felt like an amazing opportunity. It’s about what we inherit from our past, what we choose to bring into the future and the difficulty of getting along when the outside world gets in the way of compassionate thinking.
This was such a terrifying show for us to begin making, both in content and scale. But Complicité gave us permission to think bigger, deeper and over a long time period. It’s felt amazing to make this complex and emotional show with the knowledge and experience of our favourite theatre company. If The Wardrobe Ensemble feel like a group of siblings, Complicité feel like our protective parents in the best way.
We are also thrilled to be reuniting with Royal & Derngate in Northampton who co-commissioned Education, Education, Education in 2017. James Dacre and his staff provided us with so much support and knowledge last time, allowing us to develop a show for the mid-scale. For a theatre of this calibre to be taking a risk on an unconventional company like The Wardrobe Ensemble is very brave and we love them for taking that risk.”
