Meet the directors of our two November plays. 

Alison Utting (L) is directing 'The Accrington Pals' by Peter Whelan, and Pam Johnson (R) is bringing us Neil Rhodes' play 'The Forester's House'. 

Both plays are part of the Wilfred Owen 100 Festival. Dates, venues and online ticket sales are available on our 'Buy Tickets' page. 

Tickets are now on sale for our two November productions. 

'The Forester's House', written by LADS founder member Neil Rhodes, is a haunting depiction of the final hours of Wilfred Owen and his companions. Although peace was in sight, the fighting went on to the bitter end and Owen was killed just days before Armistice. This powerful play uses Owen's own poetry and accounts from his letters home to explore his thoughts and experiences as he and his men sheltered overnight in a cellar before attempting to cross the canal at Ors.

'The Forester's House' will be performed at Oswestry School and Kinokulture, and is directed by Pam Johnson. 

'The Accrington Pals' was written in 1981 by acclaimed playwright Peter Whelan and premiered by the RSC. It is a poignant exploration of the personal stories behind a dreadful headline: In 1916, on the first day of what became know as 'The Battle of the Somme', the pals battalion of volunteers from Accrington lost 585 men from a total force of 700. The battalion was effectively wiped out in less than half an hour. 'The Accrington Pals' explores what made them join up and what happens to the women they left behind.

Performances will be at Llanymynech Village Hall and Ellesmere College. Director: Alison Utting. 

Visit our 'Buy tickets' page for links to online booking.

Both plays are part of the Wilfred Owen 100 Festival. 

We're asking members of LADS to complete a 'skills audit'. Sounds daunting, but basically we just want to know a bit more about what you could bring to the LADS. Are you good at DIY? Can you sew? Do you enjoy art? Are you an expert hair stylist? With lots of new members joining us all the time. we'd really like to play to people's strengths and get as many people involved as possible in all sorts of ways. So if you get the email, do take the time to reply. 

A MODERN classic, which follows four women across the tumultuous 20^th century and their desires to love and be loved, My Mother Said I Never Should is coming to Llanymynech in July.

The LADS’ summer production of Charlotte Keatley’s award-winning play – translated into 22 languages and performed all over the world – will be Anna Lingard’s directorial debut.

Set in Manchester, Oldham and London, My Mother Said I Never Should is a poignant, bittersweet story about four women, and about love, jealousy and the price of freedom.

Doris (1900), Margaret (1931), Jackie (1952) and Rosie (1971): four women from the same family; born in four very different times in history; four very different lives, but the same goals…. using a kaleidoscopic time structure, My Mother Said I Never Should focuses on the four generations as they confront the most significant moments of their lives.

It’s wartime, and former teacher Doris encourages her nine-year-old daughter, Margaret, to mind her manners and practice the piano. The late 1960s and Margaret’s relationship with her own daughter is strained, as art student Jackie experiments with her new found sexual freedom. When Jackie becomes pregnant at 18 and has a baby, Rosie, all their lives change irrevocably…

‘In its revelation of mother-daughter emotions over the years, the play is without rivals.
It is a classic.’ The Times

Director Anna Lingard will be a familiar face to regular LADS audiences, and this will be her first time directing. “This was a play I have wanted to direct for a long time, ever since I saw it on stage as a teenager,” she said. “It left a lasting impression on me, shaping the way I experience theatre, and I hope it will have a similar affect with our local audience.”

Written in 1985, My Mother Said I Never Should is the most commonly performed work by a female playwright worldwide and earned Keatley the George Devine Award, as well as the Manchester Evening News Award for Best New Play. In 1990 she was nominated for an Olivier Award.

It’s a play many people will be familiar with, especially as it features on some GCSE English Literature courses – so don’t miss this chance to see this thought-provoking, intriguing and emotive play on stage.

 My Mother Said I Never Should is on at Llanymynech Village Hall on Thursday, July 26 to Saturday, July 28 at 7.45pm. Tickets cost £7 (children half-price) and are available from Ticketsource (see links below) or from the Village Shop, Llanymynech, and Rowanthorn, Oswestry.

CLICK HERE TO BUY FOR THURSDAY, JULY 26
CLICK HERE TO BUY FOR FRIDAY, JULY 27
CLICK HERE TO BUY FOR SATURDAY, JULY 28