RED PEPPERS / AGED IN WOOD Comes to Theatre at the Tabard
Performances run 28th May – 21st June.
In a theatre dressing room, two backstage comedy dramas set almost a century apart are played out by the same cast of six, revealing that not much has changed when it comes to behind-the-scenes squabbles and human ego.
Red Peppers, a short play by Noël Coward in which he originally starred, shows a faded music hall double act, a husband and wife team, who perform two musical numbers punctuated by backstage bickering and quarrels with colleagues. Wind forward 90 years to Aged in Wood, and the gripes in the dressing room haven't moved on much and leading lady Deena Ames is facing similar luck. An hour before curtain up, and following a disastrous opening night, she faces an uphill battle against agents, directors, her leading man, an ex-husband and a willful son. The comedy pairing of the classic Coward with the new play specially commissioned from Cian Griffin by OnBook Theatre is an onstage behind-the-scenes pastiche of the wonderfully stubborn persistence of artistic ego.
The productions star Jessica Martin (Spitting Image, West End credits include Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard), alongside Jon Osbaldeston, Emma Vansittart, John Craggs, Dominic McChesney and Rhys Cannon.
Director Jason Moore said, “Aged in Wood is the first original play to be produced by OnBook Theatre. It is always very exciting to direct a new play and bring it to life for the first time with the actors and creative team. This play is very much a modern play set in current time, yet it also celebrates the traditions of a golden age of comedy and farce. Red Peppers by Noel Coward was a huge inspiration for this play where backstage antics can be ridiculous and funny. Aged in Wood combines comedy and pathos to give the audience a great deal of laughs and some tender heartfelt moments. I am looking forward to audiences falling in love with this wonderful double bill.”
OnBook Theatre was founded by partners Jason Moore and Ian Nicholas to produce quality productions by established and new playwrights. Their previous productions have included Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage (OSO Arts Centre), Joe Penhall's Landscape with Weapon (Cockpit Theatre), and Neil Simon's California Suite (OSO Arts Centre). In 2023, they presented The Elephant Song at Park Theatre, and will return to the venue in September 2025 with Lee, a new play about Lee Krasner, painter and wife of Jackson Pollock also written by Aged in Wood writer Cian Griffin.
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