Check out these production images from Victoria Wood’s Acorn Antiques The Musical, which has been revived for special performances in Manchester and London’s Shaftesbury Theatre.
Celebrating 10 years of Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre, the show was performed on November 2 at the Manchester Opera House, before moving to Shaftesbury Theatre this Sunday, November 9. A further show will be performed in Manchester on November 16.
Come along to Manchesterford, a place full of quaint, old-fashioned shops such as “Acorn Antiques” run by sisters Miss Babs and Miss Berta. They are assisted by business partner Mr Clifford, elderly tea lady Mrs Overall, and two ‘pitiful adolescents’. But before long their cosy world faces a threat from developers, who want to turn their high street into a collection of coffee bars and sexy underwear shops. As the plot unfolds, Miss Babs and Miss Berta are faced with financial woes and family secrets, including a lost triplet sister. Will the innocent antique dealers fight off the developers and a sinister loan shark? Can they find the missing will of their father? And will Miss Berta ever find true love?
The show stars Katherine Kingsley as Miss Babs, Gina Beck as Miss Berta, Anna-Jane Casey as Miss Bonnie, Tony Jayawardena as Mr Clifford, Rob Madge as Derek, Harry Hepple as Tony, May Tether as Mimi, Elliot Broadfoot as Hugh, Grace Mouat as Miss Wellbelove, Sally Bankes as Christine, George Crawford as Minchin’s lad, Laura Medforth as Miss Cuff, Steve Elias as Mr Watkins, Samuel Holmes as Mr Furlong, Daniele Coombe as Miss Willoughby, Bradley Judge as Postie and Althea Burey as Lucy Lollipop. Ria Jones plays Mrs Overall.
Victoria Wood originally wrote Acorn Antiques as a weekly slot in her sketch show, Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. She based it on the long-running serial Crossroads, and radio soap Waggoners Walk, taking swipes at soaps with their wobbly sets, overacting, cheesy dialogue and wildly improbable plots. Its premise – the lives and loves of the staff of an antiques shop – lampooned the staples of soap operas: love triangles, amnesiacs, sudden deaths and siblings reunited. In 2005, Victoria Wood created the musical version, with the intention of giving people a “lovely, happy night in the theatre.” It was directed by Trevor Nunn with choreography by Stephen Mear and opened at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
The concert is directed by Hope Mill’s own Joseph Houston and William Whelton with musical direction and supervision by Nigel Lilley, choreography by Sammy Murray, sound by Matt Peploe, set design by Sophia Pardon, costume design by Lorraine Parry, wigs by Chrissie Baker, lighting by Aaron Dootson, orchestrations by Chris Walker, assistant musical direction by Archie McMorran and artwork by Steph Pyne.
Top image: Full company in Acorn Antiques – Credit Grant Archer (image supplied)