An award-winning bittersweet comedy is coming to the Maltings Theatre stage in St Albans in November.
The Maltings continues its hugely popular autumn season with the two-hander comedy Trestle, written by Stewart Pringle, which opens on November 17.
Trestle is directed by the award-winning Matthew Parker, fresh from Henry V at the Maltings Open Air Festival at the Roman Theatre of Verulamium in August, and last month inside the theatre.
The director said: “Trestle is a warm-hearted, bittersweet comic look at love, life and community in later life.
“Harry and Denise are in their 60s and meet every week at the village hall as he’s folding down the trestle table after his committee meeting and she’s arriving to teach her Zumba class.
“We’ve got a cracking cast in the fabulous Jilly Bond as Denise and Chris Pickles as Harry.
“I think Maltings audiences are going to love them!”
Trestle premiered at the Southwark Playhouse in London in 2017 and subsequently won for its author, Stewart Pringle, the Papatango New Writing Prize.
Stewart was previously a freelance theatre critic and associate dramaturg of the Bush Theatre in London.
He is currently a dramaturg at the National Theatre.
Jilly Bond plays Denise in the Maltings show.
Jilly has been an actor for 35 years, performing in theatres throughout the UK and Germany, including the National where she played a climate scientist in Island, at the Finborough in two new plays, and as Gertrude in the film of Hamlet (2003).
She has also appeared at the English Theatre of Hamburg as Mrs Warren in Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession, and Emilia in Shakespeare’s Othello.
Jilly is also an award-winning audiobook narrator.
Chris Pickles plays Harry in the production.
He has acted in, directed, written, and produced plays, operas, and musicals in the UK, the USA, Europe and Australia, and for three years was principal of Drama Studio London.
He won The Stage award for best actor at the Edinburgh Festival in 1998 for his role in Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion!
As a writer, his one-man play, Shakespeare’s Keeper, won the Dallas Theatre League Award for best new play in 2006.
Most recently he has directed a series of Shakespeare plays for Bedouin Shakespeare Company in London and at The Globe Theatre, Rome.
Trestle opens at the Maltings Theatre on Tuesday, November 17 and runs until Saturday, November 21, with performances at 7.30pm.
For tickets, visit www.maltingstheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 0333 666 4466.
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