Mappa Mundi’s new production The Compleat Female Stage Beauty starring Kieron Self (best known as the hapless dentist Roger Bailey in BBC 1’s smash sit com My Family) lights up the stage of the Coliseum Theatre Aberdare on Wednesday 2 October at 7.30pm. Witten by Jeffrey Hatcher and set in London during the reign of Charles II, the womanising, dashing, Merry Monarch, this is the age of wit and satire; debauchery and ribaldry. It was in this period that London’s theatres, boarded up and silent during Cromwell’s regime, were reopened to great public acclaim. Against the background of London’s theatres, brothels and parks, this wonderfully funny but poignant play explores the life of one man – Ned Kynaston, the best-known and most beloved actor of the age, famous for being the most beautiful woman on the English stage. For Edward Kynaston, was an actor who specialised in female roles. Nothing could eclipse Ned’s brilliant domination of the stage. Nothing, that is, until a young orange-seller with royal connections also sets her cap on a stage career. For the sake of his ‘pretty, witty’ Nell Gwynne, Charles II changes the law to allow women to act, and Kynaston’s world is turned upside-down. Jeffrey Hatcher’s bold and witty drama is based on Kynaston’s true story and is populated with well-known figures from one of history’s most beloved eras: the diary-scribbling Samuel Pepys, the Merry Monarch Charles II and the free spirited Nell Gwynn - the Dury Lane orange-seller made good. Hatcher has produced a brilliant historical comedy, packed with period detail, but as alive, fresh and modern as though it were set today. Tickets cost £12.00, concessions £8.00 and is suitable for ages 16 + To book your tickets please call The Box Office on 08000 147 111 or book online @ www.rct-arts.co.uk |
| Coliseum Theatre Aberdare web site: www.rct-arts.co.uk |
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Tuesday, September 24, 2013 |
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