A typically challenging and interesting programme from Sutton Arts, taking in their annual Christmas panto, and their now traditional late spring musical, but with some surprises in between including  an  off the beaten track play, an uproarious   modern farces, and an evening of two  one act plays. Behind the arras.com will be there to report back! http://www.behindthearras.com

Robin hood and Babes in the wood- 3^rd -17^th Dec 2022 The traditional seasonal panto romp, always fun always popular, usually sold out.

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Flat out 26^th Jan – 4thfeb – by  Jennifer Selway .  Jennifer Selway’s new play, Flat Out, , is the quintessential definition of a farce in the grand tradition of Michael Frayn, Alan Ayckbourn, Brian Rix and Ray Cooney. It is  highly exaggerated, extravagant,  improbable and a lot of fun.

‘Set in a crumbling block of South Kensington flats overrun by mice and scheming property developers’, then ‘throw into the mix a cross-dressing neighbour, an overzealous cleaner’ and a myriad of seemingly strangers, you have ‘set up a perfect scenario for a modern day tale of adultery and mistaken identities’.

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A taste of Honey    16^th 25^th Mar –  by Shelagh Delaney . When her mother Helen runs off with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo takes up with Jimmie, a sailor who promises to marry her, before he heads for the seas. Art student Geoff moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until, misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels. Shelagh Delaney’s ground-breaking British classic is a gritty depiction of working-class life in post-war Britain and an exhilarating portrayal of the vulnerabilities and strengths of the female spirit in a deprived and restless world.

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 An evening of two one act plays 24/4- 6/5

A double header in one evening

The Dumb Waiter – Harold Pinter The Dumb Waiter is a one-act play by Harold Pinter written in 1957.

“Small but perfectly formed, The Dumb Waiter might be considered the best of Harold Pinter’s early plays, more consistent than The Birthday Party and sharper than The Caretaker. It combines the classic characteristics of early Pinter – a paucity of information and an atmosphere of menace, working-class small-talk in a claustrophobic setting – with an oblique but palpable political edge and, in so doing, can be seen as containing the germ of Pinter’s entire dramatic oeuvre”.

“The Dumb Waiter is Pinter distilled – the very essence of a writer who tapped into our desire to seek out meaning, confront injustice and assert our individuality.

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This wide Night – Chole Moss, Chloe Moss’s study of two women finding their feet after prison takes time to find its emotional force

This Wide Night, a grim slice-of-life two-hander, featuring two ex-cons. Escapist holiday entertainment it is not.

First staged by Clean Break at London’s Soho theatre in 2008, Chloe Moss’s kitchen-sink drama is an unsentimental study of two women trying to find a place in the world after they’ve emerged from the prison system. One, is a former drug addict, prone to shoplifting and coerced into prostitution. The other, her old cellmate , was inside for murder and, at the age of 50, forlornly dreams of rebuilding her family and getting a job. Moss’s portrays people who society too often finds expendabl. Although they have paid their dues, you’d hardly call them rehabilitated. They are not defined by their crimes, but neither can they escape them. What sets them apart is their isolation.

As the play evolves , and we realise that their greatest dependency is not on drugs or alcohol but on each other, and their odd couple relationship begins to find its emotional force.

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Funny Girl – 22/6/ – 1/7 – An incredibly ambitious production not least because of Streisland’s association with the title role. Will Emily Armstrong be able to resist this one?

 Funny Girl tells the fascinating and bitter-sweet story of Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side , New York who dreamed of a life on the stage. Everyone told her she’d never be a star, but her vocal talents and comedic ability see her rise from Brooklyn music hall singer to Broadway star, becoming one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway. Featuring some of the most iconic songs in film and theatre history, including “People” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade”, this dazzling musical classic made famous by Barbara Streisand is one not to be missed.