Playhouse Creatures is a vivacious and bawdy comedy that takes us backstage in a Restoration playhouse to discover the lives of five of the first women to appear on the English stage.

The play, by April de Angelis, shows their ambition, their vulnerability and the way their love of the theatre leads them into sometimes difficult and tragic situations.

We see the women offstage in the dressing room, where female camaraderie is often disturbed by the men outside the door clamouring to gain access to watch their favourites dressing and undressing; we see the women on stage in highly entertaining extracts from plays of the period; we see their rise to fame and fortune and their fall as they give way to younger and more attractive performers.

The influence of men on their fortunes is evident throughout; men who don’t appear on the stage, but whose power and menace are ever present. The women are trailblazers at a significant moment in history, but they are also likened to the dancing bears – the playhouse creatures of the title, playthings, there to do the bidding of their owners and entertain the crowds.

Director, Jennifer Sims, has a long record of successes at the Bob Hope Theatre from productions as varied as the serious dramas Blood Wedding and 13, to popular favourites, Calendar Girls and Brassed Off. In 2019 she directed Jessica Swale’s play Nell Gwynn at BHT and later in Eltham Palace. Jennifer says, “the experience of doing Nell Gwynn was a very happy one, with a cast who loved the extravagance of the acting style of the Restoration period and the modern humour of the play. It was this experience that drew me to Playhouse Creatures, another modern play set in the same restoration period and with a similar mix of comedy and emotion.”

Laura Ashenden made a wonderful Nell Gwynn (see main photo) in 2019, and she returns playing Mrs Marshall. Two more of that cast are also in this production – Vicky Murphy playing Mrs Farley, and Ann Ashenden, whose comic timing is second to none, playing Doll Common, the ever-present world weary backstage dosgsbody and occasional walk on player. Karen Brace, who has not performed at BHT for several years as she has pursued her professional acting and writing career, has been tempted back by the wonderful role of Mrs Betterton, wife of the theatre’s actor manager, and the star whose age sees her demoted to lesser roles. The final cast member is Amy Walliker, a talented newcomer to the Bob Hope Theatre, who will be playing the young Nell Gwynn. It’s a very strong cast.

The production will feature live music underscoring the action with two musicians playing violin, and guitar and percussion.

It’s a fascinating play – audiences will have an enjoyable and entertaining evening, with laughter and tears, and they will learn a little more about this key period in the development of theatre.