By Faith Agbonson
Drama students will be performing a comedic and astute commentary on Britain’s current economic crisis when they take to the stage at Leicester’s Curve theatre tonight (THURS, MAY18).
The first and second year students from DMU will be showcasing Jim Cartwright’s comedic drama Road at the Curve from 7.45pm tonight with performances running until Saturday.
For many of them, the long-awaited theatre production will be their first live performance drama and will be an exciting climax to their year of studies.
The play follows the lives of the everyday working-class people living in Lancashire, under the government of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, during an era of high unemployment.
But many have seen parallels with today’s Britain.
The idea for the play was chosen by the Curve theatre company and was keenly agreed upon by the director, Nikolai Foster, for its poignant yet poetic portrayal of ordinary people’s lives during political turmoil.
Senior lecturer of drama at DMU, Dr Elinor Parsons, said: “The story is about a community under pressure economically.”
She explained it is also “audience interactive” to allow for an entertaining and relaxing experience.
The students, who are on a mix of joint and single honour courses, have been working together to organise this production for weeks now.
The play is being overseen and assessed on its production quality and will be counted towards their final grade as well as being acting experience for the cast.
Dr Parsons said the play is perfect for “open minded and relaxed individuals” as it takes a comedic twist on a very unfortunate but realistic perception of life in 1980s Britain.
The theatre offers an open bar for guests to enjoy themselves and the play’s set and costumes were handled by a team of talented designers, including nominee of the stage debut awards 2019, Abby Clarke.
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