Monkeywood Theatre

Once in a House on Fire
in development with The Lowry

Monkeywood Theatre will be touring Once in a House on Fire in Spring 2012. This new play, developed with The Lowry Studio, premièred at The Lowry on 31 March 2011 with sell out performances and 5 star reviews. Above is a link to a short video with footage of the production, filmed at The Lowry.

The tour will take place during April and May 2012. Please do get in touch at info@monkeywoodtheatre.co.uk so that we may pencil dates.

Written by Sarah McDonald Hughes, Once in a House on Fire is based on the characters, themes and places in the bestselling memoir of the same name by Andrea Ashworth. The play follows Monkeywood’s success with the national tour of Maine Road and builds on the reputation that the company have gained for producing ambitious, innovative and accessible high quality theatre.

Synopsis
Once in a House on Fire is a true, compelling story set in Manchester during the 1970s and 80s. Focussing on a family of four women living in the shadow of domestic violence, it is a vibrant, truthful and moving story of sisters, survival, and growing up.

Development
Developed with The Lowry Studio, supported by Arts Council England and funded through grants for the arts, the script for Once in a House on Fire was developed by Monkeywood and their associate writer Sarah McDonald Hughes with actors, a director, a video artist and young people from a local school and sixth form college (which both feature in the original novel).

Company Background
Monkeywood Theatre’s previous work includes the 2010 Arts Council funded tour of Maine Road, which was highly acclaimed (including unanimous 4* reviews and sell out audiences) for its authentic voice, excellent writing and superb performances; Last Orders, commissioned by the Royal Exchange for their sell-out PUB season in December 2009 and subsequently selected for The Library Theatre’s Re:Play season (staged at The Contact in January 2011 to 4* reviews and sell out audiences); and A Song for the Lovers, produced at The Lowry in 2008 gaining 5* reviews and named as one of What’s On Stage’s top productions of 2008.

Sarah McDonald Hughes (Writer)
Sarah’s writing credits for Monkeywood include Last Orders, Maine Road and A Song For The Lovers. Maine Road was highly commended by the BBC’s Alfred Bradley Bursary Award 2009, produced by BBC Radio 4 and aired as an afternoon play in January 2010. Her play The Tree was shortlisted for Theatre Centre’s Adrienne Benham 2009 Award. She is part of the Royal Exchange’s The Twelve and was commissioned to write a short play for Paines Plough’s national project, Come to Where I’m From, which was produced at the Royal Exchange in 2010. Sarah has written a number of plays for Action Transport Theatre and is currently part of Vision and Media’s ‘Drafted’ scheme, working on her first screenplay.

Andrea Ashworth (Original Author)
Andrea Ashworth was born in Manchester in 1969. She is an academic, journalist, and author of the internationally bestselling memoir Once in a House on Fire (Picador 1998), her first book. She has written for numerous publications including Vogue, The Times, The Telegraph and The Guardian and is currently working on a novel. She is Editor in Chief of online platform Womens Worldwide Web.

“I’m thrilled that Once in a House on Fire is being brought to life on the stage through the fabulous Monkeywood Theatre, and immensely proud that they’re devoting their unique talents and passion to sharing this story. I can’t wait to see what they do…” Andrea Ashworth

Press Quotes from Reviews of Once in a House on Fire

MESSENGER NEWSPAPERS *****
“Monkeywood and McDonald Hughes are a potent combination and I hope they’ll be around for a long, long time to come. Outstanding and uncompromising – you simply mustn’t miss this.”

PUBLIC REVIEWS ****
“Once in a House on Fire is a realistic picture of a dysfunctional family, but not a bleak one. The affection between the sisters, which is a key factor in their survival, is reflected in the vivid performances.…It is a tribute to the skill of the company that we care as much for those left behind as we do about the central character.”

WHATSONSTAGE ***
“Andrea Ashworth’s award-winning memoir is a breathtakingly honest account of her experiences of domestic violence and financial hardship when growing up in inner city Manchester in the 1970s and 80s and locally-based Monkeywood Theatre (in development with The Lowry) has done a commendable job of transferring it to the stage….This a gripping story which is well told by a local theatre company.”

CITYLIFE ***
“There are good performances from the strong cast, particularly Sarah McDonald Hughes as Andrea and Rachel Austin in a variety of roles. In spite of its dark story, this uplifting production will tour nationally and appear at the Edinburgh Fringe, so Andrea’s story will continue to inspire.”

JILDY SAUCE
“Once in a House on Fire is a terrific play, graced by excellent performances throughout; and the use (and apt choice) of songs and news items to segue from scene to scene was a splendid stroke.”

Audience Quotes from Once in a House on Fire

“If the theatre company are looking to draw people from a working class background, who wouldn’t normally attend such shows, then from my experience yesterday, you are doing a superb job.”

“What a moving, clever, different, brilliant experience! The standard of acting, the accents, the change of roles, the delivery of the humour and profanities were spot on. The music was empathetic, the newsreels were interesting and evocative and, because the play moved at quite a pace, we, the audience were kept on our toes.”

“Watched @monkeywood’s Once in a House on Fire @The_Lowry. Absolutely stunning piece. GO AND SEE IT. Tingled my spine.”

“The eloquence with which Monkeywood have executed this is impressive and beautiful: they have managed to illustrate the tale of a brutal home life while simultaneously portraying the flourishing of a young girl with big dreams.”