The first night of Penrith Players’ much-anticipated production of Handbagged has been cancelled due to an outbreak of COVID-19.
Shining light on the Queen’s relationship with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s, the play will hopefully now run from Thursday to Saturday.
In an email to ticket holders following the Wednesday night cancellation, Mike Head, of Penrith Players, said: “We are extremely sad about the situation and one that is out of our hands. Cast have been hit by COVID and one is unwell.
“It is hoped that they will produce a negative test by Thursday and that the show will be able to go on. If you are able please book for another night.
“I hope you understand the difficult position we have been put in.”
Timed to coincide with the start of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations, and as part of their centenary season, the Penrith Players are hoping to present Moira Buffini’s Handbagged by at their theatre behind Morrisons supermarket, in the town’s Auction Mart Lane.
Director Jonathan Vickers said: “This play cleverly blends snippets from actual speeches by these two powerful but hugely contrasting women, with speculation on what they might have said to each other privately – and what they might really have thought.“
Handbagged gives us two Maggies, and two Queens, and a kaleidoscope of other personalities of the period, from Denis Thatcher to Kenneth Kaunda and from Ronald Reagan to Ken Clarke, all of them played by two other actors (James Shorrock and James Cooper).
Mike added: “The action takes place partly over tea at the palace, but also in a variety of other locations, including the House of Commons, the Reagans’ ranch in California, the Lusaka Commonwealth conference, the Grand Hotel in Brighton, Balmoral Castle, 10 Downing Street and the Queen’s parlour.
“The first woman to become Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher was elected after the Winter of Discontent brought down Jim Callaghan’s Labour government.
She was determined to implement her brand of economic liberalism, and to consign the socialism she despised ‘to the ash heap of history’.
“Meanwhile, the Queen was trying to hold the Commonwealth together, while dealing with the repercussions of her children’s romances.
“Portraying real people presents particular challenges: we have studied numerous videos and sound clips, in the hope of making them real and avoiding caricature.
“Onstage for nearly the whole of the play, the two Queens and two Maggies have to sustain their voice and bearing without a break; for the two actors who play the 20 or so other characters, the challenge is to snap into (and sometimes out of) a character instantly, bringing each one to life with the help of only voice, gesture and one accessory (a hat, a rosette, a pair of glasses).
“Another unusual feature of the play is how the dialogue switches between different characters: one Maggie and one Queen may be talking to each other, while the other Maggie and the other Queen reveal to the audience what they were actually thinking.”
Taking on the role of Mrs Thatcher is Tracy Swan and Helen Reed, while Viv Moules and Louise Hodson play Her Majesty the Queen.
