See more in the gallery.
See more in the gallery.
See more in the gallery.
See more in the gallery.
Following the popularity of our mummers winter tour of the past four years, this year's summer show was based on the same format but with a summer rather than Christmas theme.
Performing a pastoral selection of folk songs, dances and a mummers play whose origins have been traced to Linton-in-Craven, our show featured the now familiar Hardcastle’s troupe arriving tired, hot and grumpy to perform somewhat reluctantly for 'the hat'.
Showcasing talents from a breathtaking rapper sword dance to a maypole shambles, with traditional folk anthems and summer spirit – of the alcoholic kind of course – we transported our audience to a bucolic Victorian summer. Find out more.
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Click here to watch Penny at Saltburn Festival 2010.
By Michael Lobley
Penny Plain play for United States VIPs
In the spring of 2010 Penny Plain Theatre Company were commissioned by a Yorkshire stately home to write and enact a special performance for VIP visitors from the United States.
Kiplin Hall near Northallerton was built by George Calvert in the 1620s. As a Secretary of State under King James 1st, Calvert was created Baron Baltimore in 1625. After his death in 1632, his son Cecil was granted land in America which became Maryland (after the Queen), with many places named after the Calvert family including, a century later, the city of Baltimore.
Descendents of the original settlers who sailed with George Calvert’s sons in two ships, The Ark and The Dove, are travelling to England for a Charter Day celebration at Kiplin Hall on 20th June. The event also marks the centenary of the founding of the Society of the Ark and the Dove.
Administrator at Kiplin Hall, Marcia McLuckie explains “Members of The Society of the Ark and the Dove can all trace their ancestry directly to the original 150 settlers who left England in November 1633. Having seen Penny Plain perform at Richmond Castle, they seemed the ideal theatre company for us to commission for staging a historical piece in honour of our important Americans’ visit.”
Mark Bamforth (also known as Malvolio Hardacastle, of course) researched and scripted the tale of the Calvert family history. He explains: “Set between 1592 and 1633 this is a departure from our usual Victorian period, but it is encouraging that Penny Plain was approached and commissioned for this project as a theatre company with a historical speciality. The format of the ‘George Calvert and the Founding of Maryland’ performance was also not our usual tightly rehearsed knockabout farce, but a serious reflection on real characters from history whose lives shaped the eastern shore of America. It was a fascinating project for us”.
A cast of seven performed the play in the grounds of Kiplin Hall for the American visitors at 1pm on 20th June with a second performance for the general public at 3pm.
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Or should that be ‘hammed-let’? Travelling with our own outdoor stage modelled on nineteenth century theatre booths, we perform a one hour romp in treasured memory of Hardcastle’s dear departed horse, Hamlet.
The playIet bears - as one would expect of our ragged troupe of ne'er-do-wells – a mere passing resemblance to any play by the Bard.
Sudbury Spoone has penned the script in a style now familiar to the fans of Penny Plain, and the company once again bring to life the on and off stage personae of these players from a bygone era, with knockabout fun and their own tragedies.
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Download leaflet here.
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A tale of the various ghostly legends that surround Bolton Priory, "Black Hearted Evil" had more than its fair share of ghosts, blood, tragedy, wrong backcloths and gross overacting.
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... the tale of the notorious Grassington murderer, was our inaugural production, originally commissioned by the Grassington Festival.
The 45 minute piece was rehearsed amidst building the theatre, sourcing the costumes both for the "troupe" and for the characters they portrayed, and finding a cast of sufficient calibre to cope with the demands.
Rehearsals and construction were dogged by bad weather, but from its first performance the result was a huge success, playing to nearly 2000 audience over seven appearances in Grassington, Skipton and beyond.
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