‘10 Things to do in a Small Cumbrian Town’ a coming-of-age story by Hannah Sowerby set in Penrith will be hitting the stage in a revival by Penrith Players in February.
The show follows 19-year-old protagonist Jodie Bell who, instead of going to uni like the rest of her friends, has been forced into taking a job shelf stacking by her very sweary Nana. Join Jodie as she attends counselling with her shit, yet hot, counsellor, keeps bumping into everyone she’s ever met in the local supermarket and is repeatedly invited to a very strange man’s static caravan…
The show premiered at Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle in 2021 and ran for three weeks. It was originally a one woman show performed by the writer Hannah Sowerby. The Guardian described the show as 'Delightfully Deadpan' and compared Hannah to a young Victoria Wood.
This version of the show produced by the Penrith Players has six actors in it, alongside four live musicians. This is a mix of people who have been at Penrith Players for a while as well as people who are totally new to the group. A good proportion of the cast are Penrith born and bred. Naomi Horne will be starring in the show as Jodie.
Leading lady Naomi Horne said "I wasn't even a member of Penrith Players when I caught sight of the script in the print shop where I work! I thought it looked fantastic and ended up auditioning... Working on this play is fun and creative and I'm so pleased I went for it."
The show will be co-directed by Fiona Johnson and Jocelyn Pye.
Co-director Jocelyn Pye said: “Fiona managed to tempt me over from Keswick to the wonderful Penrith Players with this play. I love how it combines very funny and idiosyncratic moments with the universal question, how do we get from where we came from, to where we're going? It's also been a fantastic creative challenge to turn it from a one-woman monologue into a dynamic play with multiple characters and live music, in a way which I think enhances the clashes between Jodie's very intimate thoughts and the world and people around her.”
On the Saturday (15th Feb) Hannah will be taking part in a Q and A after the show.
Writer Hannah Sowerby says “I'm made up that 10 Things is coming to the players. I joined the players when I was 12 and took part in plays until I was 18. Penrith Players is where I put on my first ever show that I wrote ('Beyond the Fence'), when I was 16. It's great to be coming full circle and having a different full length show that I've written as an adult on here. I live in Newcastle now, and most of my work is staged over there, meaning this is the first time Cumbrian audiences have had the chance to catch a full length play of mine in over 10 years.”
Since writing and directing her first show at the players when she was 16, Hannah went on to achieve a First-Class degree in Drama and Scriptwriting at Northumbria University. She's had commissions from theatres such as Theatre by the Lake and Alphabetti Theatre, as well as short plays staged all over including at The Southwark Playhouse, Canal Cafe Theatre, Union Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe. Most recently Hannah (alongside writers Jamie McLeish and Lynne Patrick) co-wrote, produced and directed ‘Doomgate’. ‘Doomgate’ was an Inside No.9 inspired show that ran at The Laurels in Whitley Bay for a week last year. It was shortlisted for the Richard Jenkinson Commission reaching the top 1% of entries.
‘10 Things to do in a Small Cumbrian Town’, which runs at Penrith Players in Penrith from February 12th - February 15th will offer Cumbrian audiences the chance to enjoy a very funny and bittersweet show that's deeply rooted in the local area. The play tonally aligns with Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett and Fleabag. If you're a fan of any of these, you're sure to enjoy a fab night out!
10 Things to do in a Small Cumbrian Town will be preformed by Penrith Players from Wednesday 12th February to Saturday 15th February at 7:30pm each evening.
Booking is essential Tickets are £12 (£10 concessions) available from www.penrithplayers.org.uk/whats-on/ and Penrith Tourist Information
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