As regional theatres reopen after the long and difficult pandemic enforced closure which has hit their fragile finances very hard many continue to speculate about will they survive and how do they attract new audiences. Some have embraced digital media to stay connected to their audiences and formed new partnerships to creatively produce. One such grouping is the venues of Lawrence Batley Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, The Dukes in Lancaster, and The Watermill Theatre in Newbury who have co-produced ( together with the support of 11 other regional venues) this wonderful “Play for Today”, a comedy that reflects on the recent events and challenges and trials of staging theatre. It is a sort of Jackie Weaver’s council meeting meets “The Play that goes wrong” but is written and produced so much better than that!
Going The Distance is a new play (not to be confused with films that have gone before with the same title) written by Henry Filloux-Bennett and Yasmeen Khan and is an insightful, truthful, and engaging comedy about a small regional theatre trying to survive and the people whose lives revolve around it. Anyone involved in regional theatre or amateur theatre will recognise the collection of misfits and egos who come together to do what one character observes as “telling stories is the best job in the world” and wonders how to get people to “come in and see the magic that happens here”.
