Happy New Year from Scytheplays!

After a short break for Christmas, work on V for Vendetta continues apace, with rehearsals ongoing and acclaimed musician Nathan Smyth (Nathexious) putting final touches onto his specially composed score... but we'd just like to take a moment to wish everybody who looks our way a very Happy New Year, and here's to an exciting 2013!

Tickets on sale for V for Vendetta

Tickets for V For Vendetta, along with all the other events in Midwinter Lassfest 2013, can now be booked online at the Lass O'Gowrie's WeGotTickets page here.  Tickets are £10 (not £8 as previously advertised - we apologise for the error).  In addition to the full price bookings, concessionary tickets are available at £6, as is the £12 double-bill with The Ballad of Halo Jones on Sunday 27th January.  Above is the poster art for the show, designed by Daniel Thackeray from photography by Laura Evans, and showing Sinead Parker as Evey.

Creedy (Brian Gorman), Finch (Marlon Solomon) and Stone (Michael Whittaker): the forces of law and order ranged against the enigma of V.

Dr Surridge (Carly Tarett), Lewis Prothero (Jeremy Smith) and Bishop Lilliman (Stuart Hudson): the authorities at Larkhill.  Photos by Laura Evans

Completing the cast, Daniel Blake and Jeremy Smith are playing Derek Almond and Lewis Prothero respectively.  Dan has recently appeared in Harvey at the Lass O'Gowrie (returning for two performances in January - also available for booking at the above link) while Jez is a veteran of Oldham Coliseum's ActingLAB, where he appeared in The Room and Princess Dee.

Further details of all the events in Midwinter Lassfest, including Coronation Street 1977, Withnail and I and numerous others, can be found at the dedicated website here.

Further adventures for Scytheplays folk

While Scytheplays gears up for its contributions to Midwinter Lassfest, several of the company's alumni have been at work on other productions.  Until tomorrow (Sunday 9th December), Sean Mason is appearing in the highly-rated Lass O'Gowrie/CSzUK adaptation of John Esmonde and Bob Larbey's classic sitcom The Good Life and tickets are still available here.  Several of the original Ballad of Halo Jones cast have been busy: Michelle Ashton's self-written play Fine also gained excellent reviews during its recent runs in London and Manchester while Gerard Thompson has recently finished filming new zombie drama In the Flesh for BBC3.  Meanwhile The Year of the Sex Olympics double-act, Benjamin Patterson and Alastair Gillies, are preparing to star together in Yer Maun Productions' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Frank McGuinness' powerful drama inspired by the real-life experiences of Hezbollah hostages in 1980s Lebanon.

Also for Yer Maun Productions, Benjamin Patterson is directing Mary Chase's classic comedy (and Christmas favourite) Harvey, which begins this week at the Lass O'Gowrie.  Harvey also features Alastair Gillies and two other familiar faces from The Year of the Sex Olympics, Leni Murphy and Howard Whittock, as well as V for Vendetta's Victoria Tunnah and Daniel Thackeray.  Tickets can be booked online here.  The poster for the show, seen above, is designed by Louise Hamer.

V for Vendetta

Sinead Parker as Evey Hammond

Next month the Lass O'Gowrie in Manchester presents its annual Midwinter Lassfest - a packed month of eclectic live entertainment including adaptations of Coronation Street 1977, Withnail & I and Blade Runner, cutting edge drama such as Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, My Gay Best Friend and Strangers in Space, and classic plays such as Harvey.  Last year's festival saw the premiere of Scytheplays' version of The Ballad of Halo Jones, so we are delighted to announce that, in partnership with Lass O'Gowrie Productions, we will this year be producing a very appropriate follow-up - a new stage adaptation of one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of all time, Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta.

Originally begun in Warrior comic in 1982 and inspired by the civil unrest and constantly threatened global conflict of the time, V for Vendetta imagined a nightmarish near-future Britain as a totalitarian state in which, following a destabilising war, a fascist dictator has been allowed to rise to power.  The corrupt and savage government maintains control through terror and all-encompassing surveillance, targeting minorities and stamping out free thought.  But someone is determined that the voice of the people be heard again: a ghost of the atrocities committed by the regime; a man in a mask who will become notorious - known only as V.  And when an innocent young woman, Evey Hammond, stumbles into V's long-standing vendetta, she soon finds she is unsure who is the hero and who is the villain.

The story has been adapted into a thrilling full-length stage play by Sean Mason, known for his appearances in The Likely Lads, Porridge and Storm Mine, and who recently played the Glyph in the Leeds revival of The Ballad of Halo Jones (also returning to the Lass O'Gowrie during January).  Director Ross Kelly has assembled a brilliant cast including several other Halo veterans: Sinead Parker as Evey Hammond, Marlon Solomon as Eric Finch, Carly Tarett as Dr Delia Surridge, Leni Murphy as Rosemary Almond, and Paida Noel (the original production's Ludy) as Valerie.  Daniel Thackeray (Together in Electric Dreams) plays V, while Michael Whittaker (AfterWords) is Dominic Stone, Brian Gorman (Everyman: The Story of Patrick McGoohan - The Prisoner) is Peter Creedy, Victoria Tunnah (Harvey) is the Girl, and Stuart Hudson (The Likely Lads) is Bishop Harold Lilliman.

V (Daniel Thackeray)

Produced by Gareth Kavanagh, V for Vendetta will be performed at the Lass O'Gowrie on Tuesday 8th January 2013 (6.30pm and 9pm), Wednesday 9th (2.30pm and 6.30pm), Thursday 10th (6pm), Sunday 13th (8pm) and Sunday 27th (8pm).  Tickets will be £8 or £4 for the matinee on the 9th, and special price double-bill tickets will be available at £12 for those wishing to see both V and The Ballad of Halo Jones (which has a special one-of performance at 1pm) on Sunday 27th.  Online booking will shortly be available via WeGotTickets.

Midwinter Lassfest 2013 runs from 2nd January to 2nd February.