Hurst Players hit the stage with spring production

Spokeswoman Anne Hopper said: “The director Ian Amos decided not to keep everything on ice but to re-cast and start full-bloodied rehearsals immediately following the Players’ panto season. We think the play will be fresh to Hurst audiences – as Ian puts it ‘from its premiere in 2000 at the National Theatre with Diana Rigg and Simon Russell-Beale to The Players Theatre at Hurst in 2023!’

“A major challenge the Players face is the creation of the Cotswold garden at the home of mother and son Flora and Felix Humble. We almost need to see the fruit trees shedding and the flowers growing as the family recovers from the sudden death of the head of the family, an event which brings Felix back into the family home. It may not be a joyful reunion, but playwright Charlotte Jones manages to find considerable humour in the unfolding lives of the Humble family and their associates – and the family’s collection of bees which inexplicably appear to have deserted their hive in the centre of the garden.

“Like many a dysfunctional family neither mother nor son listens to the other, though both talk earnestly and incessantly. Introduce the son’s former girlfriend, the mother’s paramour and a friend relegated to the status of servant and a merry dance is watched over by the ever-wise gardener. We begin to see the connection to the world of insects – queen bees, workers and drones. How they circle each other, service each other and deceive each other. The play has adult themes – Shakespeare’s Hamlet springs to mind – and does contain some strong language. But the playwright has a light touch, the play will make you laugh and a second later, maybe hold back a tear.

“Tickets £11 can be booked online now from the Players’ website: www.hurstplayers.org.uk and for those who prefer to book in person we shall have the box office at 147 High Street open on Saturday mornings from 10am to 1pm until Saturday, March 11.”

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