A Sneak Peak at the Wharf Theatre’s Upcoming Season

Delighted by winning the Best Theatre/Arts Venue category of the Wiltshire Muddy Stilettos Award 2023, Devizes Wharf Theatre wanted to thank everyone who voted for them. “We are so proud of our little theatre and all our incredible volunteers,” they told Devizine, “the theatre literally would not run without their time and effort. Thank you also to everyone who supports us whether that be by coming to shows, volunteering, or, indeed, nominating us for this award in the first place!”

Muddy Stilettos is all about celebrating and supporting local businesses and this year saw over 800,000 people voting on various categories around the country, and we congratulate the Wharf, for it really is a wonderful little theatre on our doorstep; but we all knew that already, didn’t we?!

There is only one more show left of the summer season at the Wharf, one I’m personally looking forward to. Girls Like That is a gritty reality-driven drama directed by Lou Cox, and performed by the Wharf Youth Theatre Group. It explores the pressures on young people today in the wake of advancing technology, and was named Best Play for Young Audiences at the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards 2015. It runs from 20th-22nd July.

There’s an audition notice for 9th July, a currently untitled new play by the amazing Freddie Underwood.

And it’s on with the new program. Saturday 19th of August sees The Jake Leg Jug Band at the Wharf. An authentic sound of 1920’s and 30’s America, from jazz, blues, gospel and ragtime, this trio put their own twist on songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption.

From Monday 11th September to Saturday 16th, find Amelia Bullmore’s comedy, Di and Viv and Rose, dealing with friendships among a group of three cohabiting female students in 1983, displaying how their solidarity precariously survives physical separation, career paths and even mortality.

On Thursday 28th September there’s a Devizes Film Club screening of Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. A 2019 Bhutanese drama film directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji. The first film from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan to be nominated for an Oscar, it follows a young teacher with a dream of moving to Australia but finds himself teaching a classroom of eager children, and a yak!

October 23rd to 28th sees Lyn Taylor’s Happy Jack, a 1989 play by John Godber, about a couple who live in a mining village in West Yorkshire.

Steaming into November, and the 4th has an uplifting story of heroism and love by Ali Smith, Cadbury’s Angels. Set in wartime when a group of women working on the production line at the Cadbury factory in Birmingham decided to secretly send letters and cards inside the tins of chocolates that were dispatched to the soldiers fighting on the front lines. To the men fighting miles from home, and away from their loved ones, these women became known as The Cadbury Angels.

Sunday the 5th November, remember, there’s Water Rats Charity Variety Spectacular, some top stars all raising money for the Water Rats Charity.

Saturday 11th November there’s two showings of The Last Post, a poignant, moving and thought-provoking stage show for children and families. The story revolves around the correspondence between Joseph, who is at war, and his son William at home. The split stage, multi-rolling and use of projections allows for fast-paced transitions from England to Belgium so the audience remains immersed in this simple but moving story that entertains in an appropriate and engaging manner.

With November behind us, oh no it isn’t, December now, and where would be without panto time? This year will be Jack and the Beanstalk, and it’s running from Friday 1st to Saturday 9th.

Bounding into 2024, we can expect to find Oscar Wilde’s farcical comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, from 29th January to 3rd February. Auditions for this will be on 18th September, see here.

All tickets for the above performances will be at the box office as of Saturday 1st July. Anything we publish hereafter is top secret speculation taken from leaked documents from the very top of the Wharf Theatre, and I will likely be shot for merely whispering them to you …..in some over dramatic theatrical way too!

Stagecoach Performing Arts School are visiting with a production of Frozen Jnr, followed by a Lonnie Donnigan tribute show on February 24th.

2nd March sees the Music of Simon & Garfunkel show come to Devizes and in April you can look forward to something very Agatha Christie. From 13th May until the 18th, Amanda Whittington’s The Thrill of Love is the performance. Set in a smoggy 1953 gentleman’s club in London’s West End, where young manager, Ruth Ellis, had it all, the money and lifestyle that she had always dreamed of. However, by 1955 she had lost it all and was the last woman to be hanged in Great Britain.

And on the 1st of June, expect Top Secret’s explosive family show, The Magic of Science. An opportunity to surround yourself with the mystery of magic, cleverly fused with wondrous and miraculous feats of science. It is promised the venue will be transformed into a real-life science laboratory and lots of unbelievable “how did they do that!” moments.