PREVIEW: The End of the Pier, Arts Centre Washington & Durham Gala

A new play which began life as a Post-it note will be staged in the region this week.
Actors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby, Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam, Neil Armstrong  who plays Lionel Bosch and Zoe Lambert who plays Edith Bosch  at the Arts Centre in Washington.
Picture by Jane ColtmanActors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby, Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam, Neil Armstrong  who plays Lionel Bosch and Zoe Lambert who plays Edith Bosch  at the Arts Centre in Washington.
Picture by Jane Coltman
Actors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby, Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam, Neil Armstrong who plays Lionel Bosch and Zoe Lambert who plays Edith Bosch at the Arts Centre in Washington. Picture by Jane Coltman

Comedy, The End of the Pier, will be performed at Arts Centre Washington and Durham Gala as part of a regional tour.

It tells the story of Edith and Lionel Bosh, a music hall double act who’ve been married for 25 years - their only desire now is to kill each other.  

Actors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby and  Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam,  at the Arts Centre in Washington.
Picture by Jane ColtmanActors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby and  Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam,  at the Arts Centre in Washington.
Picture by Jane Coltman
Actors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby and Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam, at the Arts Centre in Washington. Picture by Jane Coltman
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As they approach the last night of their run marooned at the end of a pier in an Edwardian Theatre, their plans to dispatch each other are thrown into chaos by an unforeseen arrival.

Writer Neil Armstrong said: “The End of the Pier began life as an idea I wrote down on a Post-it note. I scribbled down ‘A plans to kill B - and B plans to kill A - at the same time.’  I then had a second idea which I shouldn’t really tell you about because if I do I’ll be giving a bit of the plot away!  I love writing comedythrillers and this seemed like a good enough pretext to get me started - so I did. 

“When it came to thinking of when and where to set the play and who the characters would be, a song I had recently enjoyed listening to popped into my head.  The song was an old music hall number entitled ‘Let’s all go to the Music Hall.’ So I decided upon Edwardian England as my time frame and a music hall dressing room as my setting. 

“And so to the characters - who would they be? Well a music hall duo sounded like a good idea and then I thought, ‘Why would these two people consider killing each other?’ The answer was simple - they’ve been married for twenty-five years!”

Actors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby and  Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam,  at the Arts Centre in Washington.
Picture by Jane ColtmanActors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby and  Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam,  at the Arts Centre in Washington.
Picture by Jane Coltman
Actors Mike Yeaman who plays Barnaby and Pip Chamberlin who plays Tam, at the Arts Centre in Washington. Picture by Jane Coltman
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Neil has been writing comedy for theatre and television for over twenty five years. His work has been nominated for awards by both BAFTA, The Writers Guild of Great Britain and The NationalComedy Awards.

He is also co-director, writer and chief pantomime villain of the Gala Theatre Durham pantos.

•The End of the Pier comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday, June 23 at 7.30pm as part of a regional tour. Tickets are £8.50 / £6 (conc) and are available from www.artscentrewashington.co.uk or from Tel. 561 3455

•It will also be staged at Gala Theatre Durham on June 24 and 25. Tel. 03000 266 600