`Eh Up' Romania
Bill Naughton's Spring and Port Wine, which started out as a play, became a huge hit when it was made into a film in 1970 with a stellar cast including James Mason, Susan George, Diana Coupland, Rodney Bewes and Hannah Gordon. Set in smoking chimney stack Bolton, it became a classic of its era, depicting the demise of patriarchal families, as the father (Rafe) struggles to control his rebellious daughter (Hilda) over an uneaten herring, which gets served day after day in an effort to break her will.
Now the comedy has been given a mash up by Bolton director Paul Blinkhorn for the, er, Mashed Up North Season, which re-sets the frenzied family in post-communist Romania – while keeping the Bolton accents and original character names.
"In my efforts to better understand the differences between Romanian culture and our own, I invariably came to see how much we ultimately had in common" says Paul Blinkhorn "We so often find ourselves preoccupied by what sets us apart, rather than by what could actually bring us closer together."
Will the freshly installed Romanian herring get scoffed? Or is it just a red herring for the wider questions facing Europe? Or is it about revolution starting at home, as the play's stapline states? Northern Outlet Theatre Company's production of Spring and Port Wine should definitely have some machinations in the mash up. Intriguing…
Spring and Port Wine
Northern Outlet Theatre Company, starring Derek Hicks as Rafe, Joan McGee as Daisy and Lily Shepherd as Hilda.
12th-15th February 8pm
Kings Arms
11 Bloom St, Salford M3 6AN
£10/£8 (cons)
Tickets and further information from The King's Arms website www.kingsarmssalford.com
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
