What's changed in 400 years?

Actors' Workshop's pre-Christmas production is John Ford's outrageous masterpiece, '˜Tis Pity She's a Whore' which was written almost exactly four hundred years ago.

And according to director Mike Ward it’s the usual dramatic entanglement of mystery, double-dealing, jealousy, hypocrisy .....

“Come to think of it, not unlike the political shenanigans of the present day.

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“When it first appeared the play was deemed ‘a shocker!’, not because of the number of bodies that littered the stage by the end of the final scene but rather because the author had chosen to use the word ‘whore’ in the title.

“This, apparently, was one step too far for the playgoers of the early Seventeenth century.

“When I was giving thought to the background of the Play to our young cast I was suddenly reminded of my excellent history teachers at Sowerby Bridge Grammar School – Mr Frame and Mrs Chapman,” says Mike.

“When dealing with this period, they placed great emphasis on the religious unrest that was prevalent in England which led to our Civil War and the departure of many pilgrims to the Americas.

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“Armed with this historical perspective I was able to provide ‘chapter and verse’ to the young cast - though quite to what extent the audience will be able to pick it up from their subsequent performances, well, we shall soon know.”

Tickets are £8 (£5 conc) and available from The Workshop on 01422 323688.