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Townsend Productions presents The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists |
Fresh from a sold out national tour and much critical acclaim, Townsend Productions bring you a new staging of the working class classic play The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. The company’s two hander version of Robert Tressell’s celebrated tale will be visiting Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan on Friday 8th March at 7.30pm. Using instrumentation, songs of the period, movement, physicalisation, comedy and characterisation to create the spirit and clarity of the political message, the play shares with its audience a year in the life of a group of painters and decorators, as they renovate a three-storey town house for Mayor Sweater. It traces their struggle for survival in a complacent and stagnating Edwardian England. These workers are the “philanthropists” who throw themselves into back-breaking work for poverty wages in order to generate profit for their masters. Performed as a two-hander, the production remains as vivid and as relevant as when it was written almost a century ago. Robert Tressell’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists has become a classic of working-class literature since its first publication in 1914. The themes and style of the piece are eternally relevant and provoking as it puts life and politics into sharp focus in an entertaining and accessible way. What, with a Tory-led coalition government in power, and that the year 2011 is the centenary anniversary of Robert Tressell’s death, the company felt it was the right time for this show to be seen on tour nationally. Stephen Lowe’s version of the story was first seen in 1978, when Joint Stock Theatre Company toured the country playing to packed houses. The play was revived at the Half Moon Theatre, London in 1983 and again for a touring production by the Birmingham Rep in 1991. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ excellent cast features Richard Stone, (Coronation Street and Emmerdale) and Neil Gore (Song of Singapore, Chichester Festival Theatre and the West end). The production is directed by Louise Townsend, with the creative team including designs by Finetime Fontayne and lighting by Brian O’Carroll. Tickets for The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists are priced £12 full price (£11 concessions, £3 Mates Rates scheme) and are available now from Theatr Mwldan’s Box Office on 01239 621200 or on-line at www.mwldan.co.uk. Dydd Gwener 8 Mawrth | Friday 8 March, 7.30yh/pm - £12 (£11) Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan |
| Theatr Mwldan web site: www.mwldan.co.uk |
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Friday, February 22, 2013 |
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