Northern Broadsides to Launch SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER UK Tour in August

Fresh from the critical acclaim of An August Bank Holiday Lark, Northern Broadsides are set to take to road again this autumn to stage Oliver Goldsmith's much loved 18th century comedy of manners She Stoops To Conquer. The production will open at the Viaduct Theatre, Halifax from the 29 Aug to 6 September and then tour the UK until 13 December.

Relocated, in true Northern Broadsides style, from the West Country to the North of England, Goldsmith's 1773 play is a celebrated story of class, courtship and dysfunctional families. Tongue-tied, uptight Charles Marlow needs a lesson in the art of love. He longs for a wife, but finds it easier to have a bit on the side. Barmaid Kate seems fair game - but there's more to her than meets the eye.

Set against the increasingly chaotic proceedings of one very long night, She Stoops to Conquer is filled with ludicrous misunderstandings, larger than life characters, outrageous frocks and wigs and plenty of mischief and mayhem.

The play is directed by Northern Broadsides' Resident Director Conrad Nelson (A Government Inspector, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Grand Gesture and Lisa's Sex Strike - Northern Broadsides) and features designs by Jessica Worrall (We are Three Sisters and Wars of the Roses, Northern Broadsides), lighting by Mark Howland (An August Bank Holiday Lark, Northern Broadsides) and music by Rebekah Hughes (The Grand Gesture, Northern Broadsides).

Designer Jessica Worrall said about the look of the production- "I want to create something that emphasises the constraining nature of the play's rural society setting but avoids over literal representation. 18th Century folding screens concealed a multitude of mostly unsavoury activities- two giants versions of these will function as the 'walls' of the piece and frame the action, creating an almost chamber piece atmosphere. The screens, covered with enlarged digital prints of Gainsborough landscapes, will bring the exterior world inside. The rural setting of the piece and its 'distance' from London, still deemed to be the centre of society, is a really important element in the design and the over-scaled landscaped walls of 'Raleigh Hall' drip with the heads of stuffed animals.

I've taken this heightened realism into the costumes. Using references from noted 18th century satirical cartoonists such as Gilray and Rowlandson traditional costume design has been combined with vivid contemporary colours and fabrics to create a world where Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth meet Vivienne Westwood with a large amount of taxidermy thrown in for good measure."

Northern Broadsides is a unique theatre company with a true Northern voice. Their work is characterised by a high degree of theatrical inventiveness and robust performances from a large ensemble cast of multi-talented and charismatic northern actors who all perform in their natural voices. For the past 22 years, they have delighted audiences here and abroad with a growing classic repertoire which has won them many awards and a loyal following worldwide.

She Stoops to Conquer will open at The Viaduct Theatre, Halifax from 29 Aug to 6 September and then tour to Lancaster, Kingston, Oxford, Harrogate, Cheltenham, Winchester, Scarborough, Leeds, Stoke, Liverpool, York, Huddersfield and Salford Quays. Tickets will be on sale for most venues in the coming months.

She Stoops to Conquer casting will be announced shortly.

For more info visit www.northern-broadsides.co.uk

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