FORMER Emmerdale and Casualty star Ian Kelsey is to tread the boards at Salisbury Playhouse.

He will appear alongside Nicola Sloane (Maigret, Black Mirror, Home Fires, Call the Midwife, Parade’s End) in Wiltshire Creative’s new production of John Godber’s September in the Rain.

This production sees a return to the Wiltshire Creative stage as she previously appeared in Two Cities.

Artistic director Gareth Machin is directing the production which opens on September 17, with previews from September 16.

In 1950s Blackpool, newly-wed Yorkshire couple, Jack and Liz have crossed the Pennines for their first trip to the seaside mecca.

Beneath an uncertain September sky, they holiday in a world of stripy deckchairs, sandy sandwiches and stroppy donkeys.

As the Wurlitzer organ plays they sway together on the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom.

For thirty years, come rain or shine, they never miss their annual week-long holiday on the Blackpool sands. Three decades of boarding houses, talent contests and fish and chips on the prom.

Moving backwards and forward through time, a married life unfolds through squabbles, children, laughter and tears against the backdrop of the heyday of the British seaside.

September in the Rain runs until 9 October.

Following this, Michael Grandage will direct Ian McDiarmid in Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table from October 14 to 23, ahead of a UK tour.

For tickets or more information visit: wiltshirecreative.co.uk

September in the Rain is kindly supported by:Christopher & Frances Wain, long-standing Members of Salisbury Playhouse.

 

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