A sketch-based play, featuring around 40 characters played by just three actors,  AFTHOTWTD  covers more than 1400 years of English history in just 90 hilarious minutes and includes encounters with many famous historical figures, including five Kings of England, a Saint, several vikings and monks, a leper, a spin-doctor, the Easter bunny, and of course, Sherlock Holmes.

The play premiered at Durham Gala from Tuesday July 2 to Saturday July 6 before touring around the North East. It starred the dream team of Chris Connel, Viktoria Kay and Robert Hudson. Chris was one of the original cast of Pitman Painters which conquered Broadway while Viktoria  toured on the British leg of the same play. Robert Hudson is a familiar face on television, having starred in ITV’s The Bill as PC Tony “Yorkie” Smith and appeared in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Peak Practice.

The show was directed by Gareth Tudor-Price, former Artistic Director of Hull Truck Theatre Company and the long-time collaborator of theatre legend John Godber.

The play drew some brilliant audiences and the reviews were universally great!

“Cramming 1400 years of history into a 90-minute play is no mean feat, managing to fill a theatre with laughter for every one of those 90 minutes is nothing short of masterful” Evening Chronicle

“Ram-packed with genius comic moments” The Crack

“An amazing work packed with ingenious touches… Nothing short of genius” Sunderland Echo

“A string of clever one-liners and sketches… enough skeletons from history to delight any scholar with a sense of humour” Northern Echo

“You may learn something if you can stop laughing long enough” www.whatsonstage.com

“A rip-roaring romp… a sure-fire success” www.uktheatre.net

“A history lesson like no other… I will never forget it” www.thegoodreview.co.uk

“A wonderful recount of the past 1400 years… the audience are sucked in and taken along for the whistle-stop ride” www.whatsonnortheast.com

The tour of AFTHOTWTD took in most areas in the North East including, Hamsterley Village Hall, The Maltings, Berwick, Alnwick Playhouse, Phoenix Theatre, Blyth, Darlington Civic, Consett Empire, Middlesbrough Theatre, Bede’s World, Jarrow; Bowes Museum and Whitley Bay Playhouse.

You can see Ed and Trevor talking about the play on Sky News here

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Durham was commissioned by destination management agency, Visit County Durham, with production partner Gala Theatre Durham.

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When Hollywood came to Northumberland it was bound to cause a storm.  Local girl Grace Armstrong sets out to make a film about her idol Grace Darling but things don’t turn out quite how she expects.

This funny, heartfelt play pays tribute to the Northumberland heroine Grace Darling, who in 1838, with her lighthouse keeper father William, rescued 9 survivors from the wreck of the SS Forfarshire.

The play included some original film footage shot as part of a unique partnership with Sunderland University, provided by Contrapunto, a digital film company formed by recent graduates from the University.

Directed by Emma Roxburgh and produced by Wisecrack Productions in association with Alnwick Playhouse. Amazing Grace was supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The wonderful poster and leaflet design (right) was done by Anthony Antoniou at www.designbyantony.com

Amazing Grace starred Catherine Dryden, Sean Wildey and Trevor Cuthbertson. It opened at Alnwick Playhouse on October 17 2012 with a full house and a great response and then toured across the North East including Consett Empire, Hexham Queens Hall, Durham Gala, Hartlepool Town Hall, Gateshead Old Town Hall, Customs House, South Shields, Phoenix Theatre, Blyth, Berwick Maltings and Whitley Bay Playhouse.

The reviews were indeed amazing:

“Amazing Grace went down a treat – a truly entertaining play.” Northumberland Gazette

 “The legend is relived and warms our hearts, it’s a comedy and a history lesson.” Evening Chronicle

“Some fabulously funny one-liners.. Amazing Grace pushes the boat out, sailing neatly towards an oar-inspiring end.” Northern Echo

“The pacey and engaging script presented the cast of ‘Amazing Grace’ with the perfect springboard for their talents” Berwick Advertiser

“Amazing Grace provokes laughter, thought and intrigue, while capturing the essence of North-East culture on both overt and deeply subtle levels” Shields Gazette

“Pride and Prejudice meets Billy Elliot meets Usual Suspects with a soupcon of the Likely Lads thrown in” Sunderland Echo

“Enlivened by witty gags – the rescue re-enactment is a triumph of visual comedy” The Stage

“Many laugh-out-loud moments, entertaining and educational, in one package” www.gracedarling.co.uk

“Learn about Grace while being hugely entertained by this zapping comedy.”  www.livesonline.sunderland.ac.uk

“Brimming with humour and heartache” www.spikemikeisbreakingaleg.co.uk

The tour would not have been possible without help from several organisations and companies. As well as the aforementioned Alnwick Playhouse and Sunderland University it received support from Vic Young, Newcastle Racecourse, North of England P & I Association and www.daysoutinfo.co.uk

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Alas, for those based in the Milecastles, situated every mile along the great wall, life is less exciting. No great luxuries are to be had here, especially at Milecastle 17 – Drizzlewort.

Built mainly from turf, Drizzlewort houses just seven men and a servant. With only a cold stream for bathing and a hole in the ground for a toilet, the inhabitants exist on a diet of beans, lentils and the occasional bits of pork. Worst of all for lads used to sunnier climes, is the weather; it rarely stops raining, unless, of course, it’s snowing. Oh yes, it’s grim up north!

Widely considered to be the worst posting of all for those Romans soldiers unfortunate enough to be serving the Empire in Britain, life in Drizzlewort not only consists of building the wall but also manning the gate, which acts as a customs post and access point for local traders, and where sentry duty mostly involves keeping out the deadly, if hard-to-pin-down Picts

The soldiers posted to Drizzlewort never stop complaining, and are generally the lowest of the low, most of whom would desert given half a chance. However, every cloud has a silver lining and, given the place’s strategic importance and isolation, there are always good business opportunities for people who can manipulate the system…

It’s Grim Up North is being developed as a radio sitcom. A pilot episode was recorded at Sunderland University directed by Jackie Fielding and starring Dale Meeks, Dean Logan, Gary Kitching, Mat Hobbins, Jackie Fielding and Karen Traynor.  It has since been commissioned by BBC Radio Cumbria as a five part comedy serial and re-recorded at the BBC Studios in Newcastle with the same cast plus Chris Connel.  You can listen to the original full pilot episode here.

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Unfortunately the girl didn’t know she was in love – she thought the boy was her best friend. So when a charming prince came along with a glass slipper her head was turned – not surprisingly I suppose. She wasn’t the first girl to be seduced by a crown and history shows us that she wasn’t the last.

Still, everything turned out ok in the end didn’t it? We’ve been told time and time again that they all lived happily ever after – but what if they didn’t? What if the ending of the story’s been deliberately changed by misguided monarchists?

Maybe the prince wasn’t as charming as his name suggested and his motive for bringing Cinderella – for of course it was her – to his palace was entirely disreputable.  What if Cinderella quickly found that she was in deep trouble?

If that was the case there would only be one person who could save her – the lonely boy who was unceremoniously dumped in the first place – for the sake of argument let’s call him Buttons – if he could get to the palace (perhaps with the help of his Fairy Godfather) he could save the love of his life and maybe, just maybe they really could live happily ever after.

Cinderella 2 – a tale of betrayal, revenge and cross-dressing

A rehearsed reading of Cinderella 2 featuring Steven Stobbs as Buttons, Rachel Teate as Cinderella, Louis Roberts as Prince Charming, Rachel Adamson as Dandini and Iain Cunningham as the Fairy Godfather took place at the Customs House, South Shields on April 29, 2011.

All photographs courtesy of Annette Rowe

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Following in the footsteps of Good to Firm and Raising The Stakes, Photo Finish is an outrageous comedy which wonders whether you can ever really let your children make their own mistakes.

Photo Finish made its world premiere at the Customs House, South Shields in October 2010. It starred Ray Spencer and Jane Holman as Bob and Shirley Fletcher, Jill Dellow as Susie and former Eastenders star Russell Floyd as BJ.

Russell first worked with Ed and Trevor when he appeared in the London production of Maggie’s End which was directed by Jack Milner who also directed Photo Finish

Reviews

“A riotous comedy that went down a storm” www.thepublicreviews.com

 “It’s odds on you are going to have a right belly laugh”  Evening Chronicle

“A pleasure… keeps the laughs coming until the end”  www.whatsonstage.com

 “Cheers and wild applause rang around the theatre” Shields Gazette

“It’s a racing certainty that you’ll love it” Sunderland Echo

“A gag-filled, laugh-a-minute, side-splitting night of theatre” Northern Echo

“The repartee and the slapstick scenes had the audience captivated” The Journal

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In 1909 a team of raggy-arsed miners from West Auckland in County Durham – most of whom had never left their home town – are mistakenly invited to represent England in the first ever world football competition in Turin.

Selling their possessions to pay for the trip they find themselves away from their home and families and out of their depth, culturally, financially and sportingly. Despite this the underdogs roll up their sleeves and take on the world, winning the trophy.

They went to Italy as miners and came back heroes.

Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather premiered at Durham’s Gala Theatre in April 2009. It transferred to Newcastle’s Theatre Royal in May 2010.

In 2012 four of the original cast returned to the show when it was produced with great success at Darlington’s Civic Theatre to help raise money for Darlington’s beleaguered football club.

Reviews

“I adored this production… a glorious two hours of comedic genius. If there is any justice it will soon be playing to packed auditoriums up and down the country.” Newcastle Evening Chronicle

“Studded with working-class humour, high-brow wit and thought-provoking dialogue” Sunderland Echo

“Very funny, a brilliant, ball-busting occasion -  it may be easier to get a ticket for the Cup final but if you can, go quickly” Northern Echo

“Humbling and uplifting, laced with pathos, comedy, historical commentary but mostly enormous character, the brilliant dialogue and banter shine through, truly a winning performance” North East Live

“Hilarious, but it’s the engaging characters which make it such a success” The Journal

“A real triumph which perfectly brings back to life a forgotten episode and pitches it back into the 21^st century floodlights. It’s very very funny as well.” www.fansonline.net

“A great night’s entertainment …bringing the theatre to a young, male audience who might otherwise be out of reach” Durham Times

“I would definitely recommend this to everyone. A brilliant play and really funny” Fly Me to the Moon (Middlesbrough fanzine)

“I urge everyone who has ever had a passing interest in the North East, football, local history or just great comedy to come and see this 2 hours of genuine laughter”  www.whatsonnortheast.com

“A wonderful feel-good show, full of northern humour to give you a proper belly laugh.” www.thepublicreviews.com

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Mild-mannered Jackie Day never thought he’d end up working in a shoe shop – it’s not exactly the macho lifestyle that young Geordies aspire to. Still, at least it means he gets to spend time with Julie, his sexy but out-of-reach supervisor.

He’d like to ask her out but, well, you know…

What Jackie needs is a mentor, someone who can inspire him to spot an opportunity and give him the nerve to grab it with both hands.

Enter Akira, a philosophy-spouting descendant of a Samurai warrior.

Armed with a sword and a library of Japanese homilies reflecting the spirit of Bushido – the Way of the Warrior – Akira seeks to bring out the inner man in Jackie.

Son of Samurai was written as a radio play but having fallen at the final hurdle of the BBC’s arcane selection process it was transformed into a radio play performed on stage, with the actors in tuxedos, old-fashioned microphones and the actors and audience providing the sound effects. It premiered at the Customs House in September 2007 and in 2008 played at the prestigious Latitude Festival before embarking on a North East tour

Reviews

“Excellent… a great night’s entertainment with huge laughs and a really poignant story” Newcastle Evening Chronicle

“One of the best performances I’ve seen in a while with laughs all the way through” Sunderland Echo

“Top notch – laugh out loud funny – a superb piece of theatre” Shields Gazette

“The quality of the material and the performers shone through – highly recommended” Newcastle Journal

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The death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has resurrected the bitter divides of the 1980s. As half the country mourns the other half celebrates with undisguised glee. However, when the newly-crowned Labour Prime Minister announces a state funeral for the late PM the parties stop – a sense of outrage grips those communities worst affected by the Thatcher years.

One of the most disillusioned is 58-year-old Leon Thomas – a Labour activist since the miners’ strikes of the early 1970s.  A fondness for alcohol has seen Leon’s belief in the realisation of a socialist dream dissipate  until now as he sees disillusioned socialists across the country rousing themselves for one last attempt to revive the long-sleeping giant of the real Labour and trade union movement.

There’s just one problem – Leon’s only daughter Rosa (32) – a junior minister in the Home Office has responsiblility for organising the funeral.

When the political becomes personal, relationships are stretched to breaking point as Rosa and Leon have to make decisions which could tear their country and their family apart.

Maggie’s End premiered at Durham’s Gala Theatre in October 2007. In April 2009 it had a two-week run at London’s Shaw Theatre as part of the commemorations for the 25^th anniversary of the Miner’s Strike.

Durham Production – Reviews

“Wonderful… as controversial as it is funny… go and see it” Daily Mirror

“A play which will resonate with many… some wonderful comic touches” Evening Chronicle

“A daring play… cannot fail to strike a chord with audiences” The Journal

“A play that’ll put the fire back in your belly. A darkly comic satire with great humour and equal measures of passion” Morning Star

“Fascinating… their best work yet” Shields Gazette

“Laugh-out-loud funny… Callaghan’s sheer venality recalls Rik Mayall at his best” Red Pepper

“Hard-hitting, thought-provoking and sure to be popular all over the country…top Marx” The Northern Echo

“Powerful and fast-moving with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments” Durham Times

“Destined for a national stage” Sunderland Echo

London Production – Reviews

“Crammed with excellent jokes, Maggie’s End has the tang of real emotion, real anger and attitude – its stirring blasts of rage and mockery are bound to be heard elsewhere soon” The Spectator

“Brims appealingly with undeniable passion….in this instance, Vote Thatcher” Evening Standard

“Go and see Maggie’s End – the spirit of defiance burns bright” Daily Mirror

“Anyone who hates Margaret Thatcher will love Maggie’s End” Daily Telegraph

“Wildly, unashamedly partisan – entertaining agit-prop full of good bad-taste jokes” The Guardian

“The best of theThatcher plays – definitely worth seeing” www.londonist.com

“An evening of pure passion – Mark Wingett and Melanie Hill are superb” Manchester Evening News

“Very, very funny – the quips come thick and fast” The Stage

“A biting satire – much more about the death of Labour than Thatcher” www.spoonfed.co.uk

“Engaging and highly relevant, peppered with witty one-liners… this play will strike a chord with many” www.extraextra.org

“Hilarious and disturbing” The London Paper

“A richly-imagined, enjoyable piece of agitprop” Time Out

“A great comical weapon which exposes the New Labour government” News Line

“Sharp pacing and frequent flashes of biting wit” Morning Star

“Boasts an outstanding performance by Mark Wingett” Camden New Journal

“It has a galvanising charm…Mark Wingett provides a copper-bottomed performance” The Metro

“Incredibly funny – go and see this play! Mark Wingett and Russell Floyd give mesmerising performances” Muswell Hill Journal

Chesterfield Production – Reviews

“More perceptive, more effective, more real and, indeed, more entertaining than sombre interpretation, alongside the knockabout gags come memories stirred, conflicts revisited and passions reignited” Tribune

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When Katy Dream left drama school she walked straight into a starring TV role in The Revengers. Sadly, her days as Gemma Peel – the leather-clad, crime-solving, kung-fu queen of Tyneside are long gone.

Twenty-five years later she’s back to being plain old Katy West, the apron-clad, debt-ridden, dancing queen of Nowhere.

Her career started to crumble when her husband, Jimmy, was badly injured in a shipyard accident and she had to spend time caring for him. The parts dried up and she is now reduced to occasional promotional work for a chain of greengrocers.

Jimmy, a Castro-obsessed Marxist, has been in a wheelchair since the accident and despite his best efforts has been unable to find any meaningful work, spending most of his time training for road races and making soup.

When Katy’s new agent manages to secure her an audition for the role of Portia in a touring production of The Merchant of Venice she sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

Enter Gary, a charming but sinister loan shark, who is about to turn their world upside down…

The Revengers premiered at the Customs House, South Shields in September 2005. It will make its London debut in May 2011 at the Barons Court Theatre in West Kensington, from Monday May 9th to Saturday 21st May, excluding May 16th starring Simon Nader (above, right), Jon Bradshaw (centre) and Sally Gilfillan (left)

Tickets are on sale, £12.50 full price, £10 concessions, from the theatre box office on 020 8932 4747

Reviews

“thoroughly enjoyable, harder, edgier with some great one-liners – it challenges the audiences perceptions while giving them a good night out” Sunderland Echo

“their most assured offering yet – while they’ve proved they can make us laugh, this shows they can also craft plays with real depth” The Metro

“deeper, meatier and more intensive… cleverly treads the tightrope between comedy and tragedy” The Northern Echo

“another side-splitter from the team behind Dirty Dusting and Waiting for Gateaux – an undoubted hit – it just keeps getting better” Shields Gazette

“An extraordinary dramatic comedy  – a shining example of great theatre which should not be missed” Tribune

“An entertaining, dramatic, production with some genuine chemistry and comic moments” www.extraextra.org

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Mo-tivators is the worst health and fitness club in the country. Run by Maureen a ‘big-boned’ fifty-something widow from a small hall in the middle of nowhere it only attracts clientele who have nothing better to do.

Jackie comes to get away from her philandering husband and she’s started to bring her young sister Whitney along to keep her out of trouble.  Donald comes because he secretly loves Maureen – he’s lost 12 stone so far – if he doesn’t ask her out soon there’ll be nothing left of him!

Things seem to be on the up when Sophie, a researcher for a reality TV programme, comes to check out the club but when a snowstorm arrives it brings with it revelations which will change their lives forever in this comedy about friendship, frostbite and French fries.

Waiting For Gateaux premiered at the Customs House, South Shields in April 2005, selling out 10 weeks before opening night and therefore quickly returning in August the same year. It had its New Zealand premiere at the Fortune Theatre in Dunedin in June 2006 which began a tour of South Island. In 2007 it played at both Lincoln and Newcastle’s Theatres Royal and has since had two successful UK tours.

Reviews

“I urge you to go and see this riotous comedy” The Evening Chronicle

“Rapturous applause – the first night audience howled with laughter” The Northern Echo

“Writers Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood have another hit on their hands. Full of great one-liners and side-splitting humour” Sunderland Echo

“Has ‘hit’ written all over it. A highly entertaining feel-good comedy that had its sellout audience herniating with laughter” The Stage

“a good laugh… an unpretentious, good-natured comedy” Otago Daily Times, New Zealand

“a highly entertaining feel-good comedy that had the audience in fits of laughter throughout” www.seenindunedin.co.nz

“Fat Friends crossed with Fawlty Towers – the audience were frequently in fits of hysterics” Evening Chronicle

“Rollicking comedy… the audience were guffawing and slapping their thighs in appreciation” Northern Echo

“The audience gobbled it up” The Journal

“Plenty of belly laughs” Northernfootlights.com

“Terrific – a high class piece of theatre genius” Hexham Courant

“Chockful of laughs – a smash-hit” Sunderland Echo

“a sinful evening of naughty but nice comedy” Scene South

“a jumbo pack of comedy makes the show a rib-tickling success” www.thisishampshire.net

“A must see for a great evening out – the only disappointment was when it ended” Alton Community Times

“A fun-filled evening which sends the audience home smiling” Chesterfield Today

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