Other Lives Productions Presents A Foreign Country

This week Beverley-based professional theatre company Other Lives Productions reach Hull Truck Theatre on the final leg of their April tour of the East Riding.

A Foreign Country is full of songs and music – and some dance – from the period 1950 to 1980, and for some it will be a nostalgia ride from Lonnie Donegan to the Sex Pistols.

The show tells a thoughtful, humorous and touching tale, conceived and written by Richard Avery and includes reminiscences from six real life residents of East Yorkshire. The actors have spent time with and talked to their ‘subjects’ at length, getting to know them over the past few months, recording their memories and noting the way in which they express themselves.

What you hear is a tapestry of those memories, woven into a narrative that explores the social and cultural changes that have taken place in Britain over the period from 1950 to 1980, accompanied by some feisty music from the period. Other Lives Productions would like to thank the real Kate (teacher), Muriel (wife, mother and survivor), Kathleen (businesswoman), Jim (trawlerman) and William (farmer) for sharing their Lives with us.

New Year’s Eve, and terminally ill Tobias Bielby is not in a celebratory mood. As a Humberside journalist with a nose for a story he caught the eye of London tabloids, who enticed him with a great salary and celebrity contacts. As the end approaches, he is visited by some extraordinary characters who remind him that there were more truths and laughs along the way than he ever realised.

Richard Avery (Writer and Director) is a former RSC, Young Vic, Bristol Old Vic and West End actor, with appearances inEmmerdale, Coronation Street, The Bill and A Touch of Frost.

For Other Lives parts include Charles Dickens, Paul Gaughin and Wyn Evans in Epiphany, which he also wrote. Directing includes The Crucible, Arles, Mak the Thief, The Winter’s Tale, Waiting for Godot and two short films Destiny and The Product. In January 2011 he directed Waiting for Godot for Other Lives, which also toured the East Riding and ended its run at Hull Truck, enjoying full houses.

Hull Truck performances are in the Studio Theatre on Wedneday 25th to Saturday 28th at 8.00 p.m., with a matinee on the Saturday at 2.00 p.m.