The Empty Nesters : New Show To Debut In Beverley at ERT

A world premiere for a new play – in Beverley! That’s the mouth-watering prospect for The Empty Nesters’ Club, written and directed by John Godber, which opens at the East Riding Theatre in Beverley on Monday June 13.

The new comedy is very much a family affair as it stars John’s wife, Jane Godber, and their youngest daughter, Martha.

It examines the experiences of all parents facing up to the prospect of life after their children have left home.

The premise is that the audience is witnessing a meeting of a self-help group set up by Vicky Barret (Jane Godber), whose daughter (Martha Godber) has flown the nest. Her hope is other “empty nesters” – mums and dads – will come along and purge themselves in shared stories of empty bedrooms, freshers’ flu, boyfriends, long goodbyes, motorway service stations and trips to Ikea.

The show was written very much with East Riding Theatre in mind and follows the recent sell-out successes in Beverley of other Godber plays – Shafter and Bouncers. It’s expected The Empty Nesters’ Club will go out on tour later this year after its debut in Beverley.

Like all good theatre it has been written and crafted from personal experience. Martha, 18, known to the family as Ma, has just completed her first year at LIPA, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

“It was the things that were touching us directly which led to me writing the play,” says Godber. The premise is that our audiences will all have been there and been through many of the same things. But what happens as the play unfolds is that Martha’s character appears and tells her story of what she felt like leaving her mum and going away from home and all the stuff you get with freshers’ weeks and so on.”

* The Empty Nester’s Club opens at East Riding Theatre, Beverley, on Monday June 13 and runs until Saturday June 25. Tickets cost from £11 to £15 and can be booked via the theatre website – www.eastridingtheatre.co.uk