Chichester's Choir "celebrating the joy and power of community art"

It will run in the Minerva Theatre from August 2-30.

Laura Checkley (Detectorists, The Change, King Gary, What It Feels Like for a Girl) plays Morgan; with Alison Fitzjohn (Crow Girl, The Band) as Joy; James Gillan (Shrek, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as Paul; Danielle Henry (Quiz, The Beaker Girls) as Esther; Keenan Munn-Francis (Mr Loverman, Passing Strange) as Freddie; Danusia Samal (The Great, Red Eye) as Anna; Timothy Speyer (The Box of Delights, The 39 Steps) as Ken; and Annie Wensak (Half a Sixpence, Groundhog Day) as Sheila.

Morgan runs a community choir who meet weekly in a room above the local pub to sing great pop songs, chat and drink. There’s Paul, a former West End performer who now does local radio voiceovers; Esther and Joy, best friends who can’t stand each other; Anna, whose seemingly perfect life hides a secret; Ken, good egg and perennial loser; and Sheila, dark horse and pathological liar.

The choir are busy rehearsing a concert to raise money for young Freddie to go to music college. And when a TV producer invites them to perform on national television, Morgan seizes her opportunity to hit the big time.

But are her eccentric group up to it? And what is Morgan prepared to sacrifice to get the acclaim she so desires? Home truths are revealed and secrets laid bare in this feelgood comedy which explores loneliness and connection while celebrating the joy and power of community art, the theatre says.

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti is an award-winning writer for stage, screen and radio, whose work includes Marriage Material (Lyric Hammersmith), A Kind of People (Royal Court), Silence (Donmar Warehouse) and Radio 4’s The Archers.

CFT’s associate director Hannah Joss, previously resident director at the National Theatre Studio, directs. The designer is Anisha Fields, lighting designer Jai Morjaria, music & sound designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, arranger Rich Forbes, musical director & additional arrangements Michael Henry, movement director Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster, and casting director Jacob Sparrow.