West end cast enjoy national tour

The original West End cast will bring the Alan Bennett play, Enjoy, to Nottingham.

In February last year, it opened to the biggest advance of any of Alan Bennett’s plays in the West End.

The comedy is now on a national tour and will be at the Theatre Royal from Monday, March 15, until March 20 — one of only eight theatres it will visit.

Enjoy is one of Bennett’s rarely-performed gems.

Written in 1980, the playwright set this dark comedy in his home town of Leeds where an ageing couple are living in the city’s last back-to-back.

With the demolition of the area in progress, Wilf and Connie are soon to be rehoused in a new maisonette with a waste disposal unit and non-slip vinyl flooring.

When a sociologist comes to observe them in their daily life, normality takes a decidedly atypical turn.

Everyone in the play isn’t what they first appear to be and that makes the whole experience completely unpredictable.

The part of forgetful Connie is played by one of the UK’s most prolific actresses, Alison Steadman.

She created the role Beverly in Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party, and starred in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice, for which she won an Olivier Award.

Her films include Shirley Valentine, Clockwise and A Private Function, and Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet and Topsy Turvy.

Television work includes Fat Friends, Selling Hitler, The Singing Detective, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Pride And Prejudice. Recent appearances include The Worst Week Of My Life, Gavin And Stacey and Fanny Hill.

David Troughton, the son of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton, reprises his role as Connie’s husband, Wilf.

He is known for his many television appearances such as New Tricks, Dr Who, Midsomer Murders, A Very Pecular Practice and Born And Bred, but has also worked extensively on stage, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

The pair will be joined by Richard Glaves, Carol Macready, Josie Walker, Steven Alexander, Jake Ferretti, Victor Gardner, John Gould, Chris MacCalphy, James Parkes and Julian Pindar.