Corrie writer’s play

Nicky Williams as Mrs Overall in Southport Spotlights Production of Victoria Woods 'Acorn Antiques

The play, by Coronation Street scriptwriter Peter Whalley, is being staged at Lowther Pavilion in Lytham from July 3 to 6 – and it looks set to have audiences on the edge of their seats!

Antiques dealer Jack has just been acquitted of manslaughter and he delightedly regales live-in girlfriend Maggie and their next-door neighbours Lynne and  Dennis with a disparaging  account of the trial.

According to the evidence, the victim had broken into Jack’s home late at night.

Confronted by Jack, he then produced a gun which, after an ensuing struggle, Jack got hold of and shot him dead. A clear case of self-defence – or was it?

“As the truth gradually unfolds all is not as it initially would seem,” says director Ian Edmundson. “Dead Of Night contains all the twists and turns expected in a mystery thriller and local theatre-goers will certainly find it very enjoyable.”

Dead Of Night is at Lowther Pavilion Theatre from Wednesday, July 3, to Saturday, July 6, at 7.30 p.m. with a matinee performance on Thursday, July 4, at 2.30 p.m. Tickets are £9.50 and £9 concessions with the matinee priced at £7.50 for all. To book, Tel.01253 794221 or online at www.lowtherpavilion.co.uk

Southport Spotlights is presenting Victoria Wood’s Acorn Antiques at the Little Theatre, Southport, from Saturday June 29 until Saturday July 6, at 7.30pm each night with a 2.30pm matinee on July 6. Tickets are £10 or £14.

Based on the highly successful TV sitcom, this hilarious musical follows Miss Babs’ struggle to keep her antiques business open.

As shop after shop in the High Street is forced out by faceless chains, can she afford to turn down the offer from The Guilty Bean (the world’s second biggest chain of coffee shops – “We’re second so we grind harder”).

And, if they do managed to overhaul and update the shop, can they still afford to employ the redoubtable Mrs Overall, played by Nicky Williams.

And will Mr Clifford ever get his memory back and remember who he’s engaged to?

And most worryingly of all, will Mrs Overall be able to tap dance while holding the tray?

Maghull Musical Theatre Company is just going into rehearsals for their next show, Crazy For You, and need tap dancers of all ages especially 18 to 30.

The show will be performed at Southport Little Theatre from November 6 to 9. Rehearsals take place every Tuesday and Thursday at Maghull Parish Hall and newcomers will be made very welcome. Contact Betty on 01695 632 372

Mawdesley Amateur Dramatic Society present Victor Lucas’s comedy, Laughter in the Dark, at Mawdesley Village Hall on Saturday, June 29 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8 and there is a licensed bar.

The play is set in the spooky mansion of Creechng Cheyney in Hampshire where a group of people are assembled to hear the reading of a will which makes it a condition that they live in the haunted mansion for a year before they get their legacies.

There are also some unforeseen guests – including a ghost or two!