A Lake District theatre will be renamed in honour of comedian and actress Victoria Wood.
The star had a close connection to The Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere and it will be renamed the Victoria Wood Theatre in January.
Her friends, husband-and-wife team Charlotte Scott and Roger Glossop MBE run The Old Laundry Theatre.
Victoria had opened the venue, was a trustee of the theatre, performed there many times, produced and directed her own show Talent (2008) there, and in 2013 her television film Housewife 49 was adapted for the stage especially for The Old Laundry Theatre.
In 2026, it will be 10 years since Victoria died.
The newly renamed theatre will also premiere new musical Fourteen Again, using songs from the Victoria Wood Song Book Lucky Bag!
The musical has been written by Tom MacRae, writer and lyricist of the global hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
Previews will be held from Friday May 1, with a gala night on what would have been Victoria’s birthday, Tuesday May 19.
Victoria, Charlotte and Roger’s paths first crossed professionally in 1978, and they quickly became firm friends, living close to each other in Morecambe and Bowness-on-Windemere.
They collaborated throughout their careers, starting with Roger designing Good Fun at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield.
Roger and Charlotte bought a former Edwardian laundry in Bowness-on-Windemere, where the hoteliers of Bowness had once sent their sheets for washing, and there they opened The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction in 1991.
Victoria officially opened it on July 28 and the following year, the Old Laundry Theatre was opened by Alan Ayckbourn.
Charlotte said: “With young families in tow (hers & ours) we followed Vic’s career as she toured up and down the country always returning to recharge in the Lake District.
“By the time we opened the venue in 1991, followed by the theatre in 1992, Vic, together with Alan Rickman, Griff Rhys Jones, Andre Ptaszynski, Peter James, and Alan Ayckbourn all became trustees and the journey began.
“Vic was always supportive – performing at The Old Laundry in her stand up, doing benefits in larger venues, and productions of her own shows Talent and Housewife 49 at the theatre.
“So now 10 years after her death it is a great delight to be putting on this show, and Vic’s name is on the theatre – we are set for the next 30-plus years.”
