PRESS RELEASE – 18 October 2001
Acerbic Heroics at the QEH
cpa@uwe presents two plays by Bristol playwright Tim Massey at the QEH Theatre, Jacob’s Wells Road, on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 October.
The company, based in the Centre for Performing Arts at the University of the West of England, reprises its Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2000 hit, Have-a-Go Hero, with a new play, Christmas with Johnny and Dee.
The double-bill is cpa@uwe’s follow-up to Tim’s play Bacon Sandwich, which played to sell-out audiences at the Alma Tavern in May.
As with previous productions cpa@uwe brings together students from the University, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduates and local actors. Christmas with Johnny and Dee – in which the two saddest men in Bristol force a bus-load of people to spend Christmas with them – is directed by UWE visiting drama lecturer Ned Milne, who also directed Have-a-Go Hero and Bacon Sandwich.
The revival of Have-a-Go Hero is directed by Bristol Old Vic assistant director Joyce Branagh. Joyce directed plays on the London and Dublin fringe before assisting Sam Walters at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. She was recently appointed assistant director at the Bristol Old Vic as part of the Channel 4 Young Directors’ Scheme.
Have-a-Go Hero – in which a self-made security man has to choose between calling the law and dishing out some instant justice when he knocks out a burglar with a baseball bat – echoes the case of Norfolk farmer Tony Martin which reached the Court of Appeal this week. The play stars Bristol actor Paul Mohan who turned in an impressive performance as Richard in Theatre West’s production of Richard III in the New Vic Studio in February.
Tickets priced £8 (£5 concessions) can be reserved from the QEH box office on 0117 925 0551 or by emailing bookings@qehtheatre.com. Seats may also be booked by credit card (including a 50p booking fee) from the Bristol Old Vic box office on 0117 987 7877 or by minicom on 0117 926 4388.
Updates on the show will be posted on the production’s website – www.timmassey.co.uk/acid-drops.
For further information please email press@timmassey.co.uk