Mikron Theatre Company to present the Premier of REDCOATS, a New Play by Nick Ahad

Following their hugely successful touring productions of Get Well Soon and Revolting Women, the award winning Mikron Theatre are set to guide you through 80 years of Butlins splendour with their trademark mix of fun, pathos and songs in Nick Ahad (Glory,(Dukes Theatre, Red Ladder, Tamasha) new play Redcoats.

The new play will start its national tour at the Marsden Mechanics Hall on the 18 May and will then tour around the UK by road and river until the 16 October.

Billy Butlin used Shakespeare himself to sell a seaside dream to the great British public.

Join us as we delve into holiday huts, bonny babies and knobbly knees with guest appearances from Marlene Dietrich, Gracie Fields and Laurel and Hardy.

Redcoats will be directed by Jonny Kelly (A Princess Undone, Park Theatre and Bismillah!, VAULT Festival 2018), designed byCelia Perkins (Dick Wittington, Oldham Coliseum), with music composed and directed by Rebekah Hughes (Cyrano, Northern Broadsides). The cast will feature Christopher Arkeston, Elizabeth Robin, Joshua Cosidine and Rachel Benson.

Nick Ahad is a multiple award winning journalist, writer and broadcaster. His plays include: Glory (Dukes Theatre, Red Ladder, Tamasha) Partition (Leeds Playhouse/BBC Radio Leeds), The Chef Show (Ragged Edge), Coming Home Together (BBC Radio Leeds), Muslamic Love Story (DepArts), Second Gen (DepArts), A Muslim, A Jew and A Christian Walk into A Room; My Mum the Racist; Inner Voices (JB Shorts) and Nor Any Drop (Red Ladder/Peshkar). Nick has also written for Emmerdale and an original series developed by BBC Drama and Avatar Productions. Nick is also a presenter for BBC Radio Leeds and a former Arts Editor at the Yorkshire Post.

Playwright Nick Ahad said:

"I bet lots of people have happy memories of Butlins. I bet none of them have memories of going to the same Butlins (Skegness) 14 years in a row. I do - and not once did I mind. Loved it, in fact. Some of my happiest memories were created in that seaside haven in the eighties and early nineties. What a delight it's been to revisit those memories while writing Redcoats.

What a delight to write for Mikron too, a company whose work I have admired for years. To have the opportunity to see the work this wonderful company does up close has been a huge privilege. I'm honoured to now be a small part of the Mikron 48 year history and long may it continue."

Director Jonny Kelly added:

"I'm really chuffed to be back for my second year at Mikron. I directed Revolting Women last year - I had a wonderful time working with Mikron and meeting our audience along the canals. This year promises to be just as good. We have an incredible cast and a fantastically funny play about one of the Great British institutes- Butlins!"

In 2019, Mikron Theatre Company will embark on their 48th year of touring. Based in the village of Marsden, at the foot of the Yorkshire Pennines, Mikron Theatre Company The company are like no other. For starters, they tour for most of the year on board a vintage narrowboat, secondly, they put on their shows in places that other theatre companies wouldn't dream of; a play about growing-your-own shown in allotments, a play about bees performed next to hives, a play about chips to audiences in a fish and chips restaurant, as well as plays about hostelling in YHA Youth hostels and the RNLI at several Lifeboat stations around the UK.

Redcoats, will be touring nationally from April 2018 alongside Vashti McLachlan's new play about the wrens - All Hands on Deck:A Tale of Two Wrens.

For further information on both shows please visit http://mikron.org.uk

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