Frankenstein, Buttons, Caliban, Ali Baba and The Honourable Mrs. Jamieson to take centre stage

Frankenstein, Buttons, Caliban, Ali Baba and The Honourable Mrs. Jamieson will all take centre stage in the five outdoor plays at Lytham Hall this coming summer.

Such diversity in the programme for the 10th season of open-air theatre at the Hall has been widely and warmly welcomed following the recent announcement of the schedule.

In an innovation for 2019 the Bank Holiday weekend in late August will feature a double bill with plays on consecutive days. Blackpool panto’s Steve Royle will swap the role of Buttons for that of Victorian music hall star Dan Leno in a poignant play by Blackpool writer David Slattery-Christy which premiered at last summer’s Lytham Festival.

On the following afternoon Illyria will present a spectacular version of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with special effects and music designed for a family audience.

Peter Anthony, the General Manager at Lytham Hall, feels that the decision to continue with the five play programme introduced last summer is a reflection of the appetite for open air theatre on the Fylde coast.”

“After two full houses in 2018, including the largest attendance at any outdoor venue in the country for Illyria’s Pirates of Penzance, I think this appealing 2019 programme is ideal to build last summer’s success. I am especially looking forward to Illyria’s version of The Tempest - they are superb at making Shakespeare accessible for all.”

Chapterhouse Theatre Company will launch the 2019 season on Sunday 16 June at 6.00 pm. The company will present Richard Main’s production of Cranford by Mancunian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, adapted for the stage by Laura Turner.

Alison Plackitt from Plackitt and Booth’s bookshop in Lytham’s Clifton Street feels that the choice of Cranford as the opening play is ideal.

“Elizabeth Gaskell based her novel on life in Knutsford where she was brought up and portrays four very strong females as the principal characters. It’s amusing, perceptive and thought-provoking. Laura Turner’s adaptations of classic novels for Chapterhouse are always superb and this promises to be a memorable show.”

Theatre organiser Julian Wilde is delighted with the reaction to the unveiling of the plans for the summer season.

“I have received very many encouraging and supportive comments in the last few days and there’s fascination at the prospect of a stage production of Frankenstein.

Local feedback has been entirely positive and I am confident that these five diverse and attractive plays will mean that Lytham Hall will again be amongst the very best attended venues in the country for outdoor theatre.”