TWO PLAYS, EIGHT WOMEN AND A LOT OF ENTERTAINMENT!

Get ready for a great line-up from Wirral-based theatre company Bus Stop Productions! It's a double bill that you won't want to miss.

First up, we have The Regina Monologues by Rebecca Russell and Jenny Wafer – an outrageous and poignant stylized studio version that's very ensemble-driven. Dive into the lives of the six modern wives of Henry as they share their tales of love, lust, marriage, and everything in between.

Then, can catch S.P.A.C.E by Bev Clark, a delightful two-hander about a woman navigating the complexities of menopause. Join CRAZY as she embarks on a journey to declutter her house and mind, with the help of her friend SANITY. Get ready for an evening filled with tears, laughter, memories, emotions, and of course, a lot of boxes!

We asked Bev about selecting the cast for both plays and What qualities she was looking for in the actors.

she explains,

“For Regina we held open auditions although Abbey, Naomi and Fiona were already offered parts as I had worked with them before in Hand in Hand Theatre – we had quite a few people audition and from that we selected Kate.  Then a chance meeting with Dani, who had worked with me in the past, meant I asked her to read. Finally, Hayley sent me a show reel. So the girls came from different channels. For S.P.A.C.E. Kirsten and Sue worked with me on our past two productions The Waiting and Running Out of Time. I knew they could work together well plus they are very good at learning words and have a good work ethic in the rehearsal room – so the three of us make a good team.

The qualities I look for apart from talent are a commitment to rehearsals and ability to be part of a team.  The characters for Regina are well defined in the script but we have added some extra layers and this is something that happens in development in the rehearsal room. We have made it six northern women. The wife, the mistress, the mother, the outsider, the victim and the survivor. Each woman has a particular motif/prop that is particular to them. You’d have to watch the play to see how that works!' For SPACE I obvious had a clear voice in my head for Crazy and Sanity but the last time I directed it the actors were very different so the play had a different feel. There is no right or wrong way – directing is about working with actors to find their own interpretation.”

With performances at five venues across Merseyside and Cheshire, including the Cheshire Drama Festival at Chester Little Theatre, it can be difficult to organise. We asked Bev on the overall process was and the difficulties that she faced in putting on these two shows.

“Every show has its challenges but as a small touring group we have lots.  Finding rehearsal space as we don’t have a regular home, the logistics of moving props and sets ( with no van). Running costs are always a challenge – insurance, licenses when needed, publicity, production costs as in set, props costumes. Doesn’t every group have these? We have in the past been lucky enough to have funding but then that’s a lot of administration and accounting. This time we have a very small budget -so maybe we should be called ‘shoestring’ not ‘bus stop’ – the original idea was that we travelled from stop to stop and travelled light ( if you cant get it on the bus we can’t take it!)

The highlights are always the people you work with and those moments when you all fall about laughing over something stupid. Its lovely to work with both people you know and new faces and to see them gel, working together”

Bev Clark, Has a wide range of experience in theatre she used to run Hand In Hand Theatre from 2008 to 2018, producing numerous large-scale projects on the Wirral. Their performances extended beyond the Wirral and beyond such as Contact Theatre in Manchester, as well as the famous Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, along with various other theaters across England.

Bev then branched out with her very own production company Bus Stop Productions, which is specifically tailored for small-scale studio and festival productions. which is dedicated to projects centered around women. Her productions, such as ‘The Women's Voice’, ‘Baggage’, ‘Waiting’, and ‘Ariel’s Flight’ have explored themes ranging from Austen’s heroines to contemporary homelessness and all have been well received.

Performances at five venues across Merseyside and Cheshire, including the Cheshire Drama Festival at Chester Little Theatre, with a great team and a wealth of experience on the table. We are confident at The Creative Wire that this will be a successful run.

DATES:

20th March 7.30 pm The Little Theatre Birkenhead (studio bar)   

22nd March 7.30 pm The Hope Street Theatre Liverpool

24th March 2.30 pm Chester Little Theatre. Regina Monologues as part of Cheshire Drama Festival

25th March 7.30 pm Shakespeare North Playhouse (studio)

19th April 8 pm Floral Pavilion (Blue Lounge)

Covered by, Nadine Jump