[I]t’s Wine O Clock! When do you stop? Imogen and Rich don’t care if the glass is half full or half empty, as long there is wine in it that’s what’s important. That’s how they unwind, how they party, how they deal with the stresses of life; young children, high powered jobs. But after twenty years of drinking to excess, Imogen is having second thoughts. She’s tired of waking up with an unexplained bruise, tired of beating herself up when she’s drunk too much, tired of being tired, but is it enough? When life has become so intertwined with the powerful nectar is it easy to break away, or do relationships start to unravel? Perhaps a wake -up call is all she needs? Filled with humour and drama ‘Soaked’ seeks to unnerve.
Cumbrian Emma Rydal is an actress and writer. She has had a successful career in theatre, television and radio. Notable film and TV roles include Stella in the BAFTA winning Brit flick ‘East is East’, Miranda in Charlie Higson’s ‘Swiss Toni’ and Mikey in Kay Mellor’s ‘Playing the Field’. Recently she has been seen as regular ‘Celia’ in Sky One’s Stella. Emma returned home to Cumbria in 2005 to start a family and began writing six years ago. Emma Rydal’s skill of finding comedy in the banal and everyday has been described as rather like a young Victoria Wood. Her first play True chronicled the relationship of a volatile mother/daughter relationship through the decades. It won The Audience Award for Best Production and an Equity Award at Manchester’s 24.7 Theatre Festival in 2011.
Soaked has received funding from the Arts Council England and Cumbria County Council and has already had favourable reviews. ‘Cumbria Guide Magazine’ said: ‘Great cast, great acting and a bloody good script makes for a great excuse to get yourselves along to Soaked’. Emma also received mentoring and support from the Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven, where the play premiered at the end of September. Threlkeld is the final performance. The play is directed by Peter MacQueen, stalwart of the Theatre by the Lake. He has also toured with his notable one-man shows ‘Old Herbaceous’ and ‘The Professor of Adventure’. The cast for Soaked comprises Emma Rydal, Toby Gaffney and Madeleine Joseph.
The performance at Threlkeld is on Friday 27th October at 8pm. Bar and box office from 7:15pm. Tickets are £12 (£6 under 18s) available from the village hall coffee shop, village PO or on-line by credit or debit card (or Paypal) at www.threlkeldvillagehall.org/whats-on. Box Office enquiries, or if you cannot buy on-line: 07733 790308.
