Box Of Tricks To Tour Becky Prestwich's CHIP SHOP CHIPS Across UK in 2018

After the critical national success earlier this year with their UK Theatre award-winning production of Lizzie Nunnery's Narvik, Manchester theatre company Box of Tricks are set to tour in 2018 their acclaimed 2016 production of Becky Prestwich's funny and nostalgic tale of love over fish and chips and some Northern soul - Chip Shop Chips.

The play will open at the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster from the 23-24 February and then tour till the 21 April 2018.

It's the grand reopening of Booth and Son's Fish & Chip Shop. Eric has returned home, over forty years after he left, and it's time for a fresh start. But old flame Christine has other ideas. Transported back to a time of chippy teas and Northern Soul, there's unfinished business for these old lovers. Watching teenage love stumble as hapless Lee makes a pass at the beautiful Jasmine, is it all just history repeating?

Focusing on love at different ages and celebrating the nation's favourite food, Chip Shop Chips heads nationwide following a completely sold-out Northern Tour in Spring 2016.

Performing in unusual spaces across the country, brace yourself for an immersive love story set to a soundtrack of Northern Soul and served with a fish and chip supper. This is theatre, but not as you know it: dinner, quiz and a show all rolled into one!

The production is directed by Box of Tricks' Joint Artistic Director and co-founder Adam Quayle (Plastic Figurines, Box of Tricks) and is designed by award-winning designer Katie Scott (Narvik, Box of Tricks and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Studio Design Prize). Casting will be announced shortly.

Becky Prestwich is a North West based writer for stage and screen. She writes regularly for both Doctors and Holby City. Becky was part of the prestigious BBC TV Drama Writer's Programme 2016 and currently has an original TV Drama series under option with Lime Pictures. Her site-specific play Under the Market Roof was recently produced by Junction 8 Theatre Company on Chorley Market. Her first full length play, Streetlights and Shadows was produced by Box of Tricks at the White Bear Theatre and her second, Letting in Air at the Old Red Lion. She has also written two Afternoon Dramas for BBC Radio 4 - Chopping Onions (which starred Maureen Lipman) and Aliyah. Previously, Becky worked in theatre participation as the Young People's Programme Leader at the Royal Exchange Theatre.

Becky Prestwich said about the forthcoming tour:

"When I was pregnant with my son, my carb cravings meant I spent a lot of time in chippies. That got me thinking about the associations we have with fish and chips - family, comfort, tradition. I wanted to write a play about what it feels like to be snuggled up with someone you love and a bag of chips between you. I approached the brilliant Box of Tricks with what was then a very sketchy idea for a love story set in a chip shop. They immediately saw the potential for a theatre experience which could reach out to new audiences in unusual venues. It was fantastic seeing audiences embrace the show in their own community spaces - the show really was different every night. One of my favourite memories from the original tour was a man approaching me after a performance and telling me that his wife hadn't told him they were seeing a theatre show that night - and if she had he wouldn't have gone - but that he was very glad he had. I am excited to share the show with new audiences once again and see what new stories and experiences that brings to light".

The production is the fourth national touring production for Manchester-based Box of Tricks, a theatre company that champions the next generation of playwrights.

So, put on your dancing shoes, tuck into a fish supper and brace yourself for a unique theatrical experience.

For further information on Box of Tricks and the production, visit www.boxoftrickstheatre.co.uk.

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