Theatre and Dance

First up, admirers of the Hull-born playwright's work can sample Hull Truck Theatre Company's production of Shakers - a brand new version of the Godber classic written and directed by John Godber himself.

Originally published in 1987, the story revolves around four waitresses at a trendy cocktail bar, a place where everyone wants to be seen, from the local check-out girls to the chinless wonders, from the yuppies to the local lads tittering at the thought of a 'long comfortable screw' or 'sex on the beach'.

Rushed off their feet, underpaid and overworked, our heroines try to smile and help the difficult customers whilst coping with their own personal problems. The new production uses songs to illustrate the reality which lurks behind the false glamour and glitz.

Hull Truck Theatre Company is one of the North's major theatrical success stories. Founded in 1971 by director Mike Bradwell, who at the time was struggling to find work in a competitive London theatreland. Pretty soon he moved the company to Hull and they soon gained a good reputation, but the company's fortunes really took off in the 1980s when they started a long and fruitful relationship with John Godber, a drama teacher-turned-playwright.

Following the staging of Shakers, local theatre company, Tiny House Productions will be performing one of Godber's modern classics, Bouncers in the main auditorium at The Carriageworks, allowing them a much larger stage to show what they can do.

Tiny House Productions' "Bouncers"

Tiny House Productions was co-founded in 2004 by local actors Brendan Harrington and Neil Knipe, who also share producer and director roles on a flexible basis. Starting off as they meant to go on, THP performed Joe Orton's Loot as their debut production and have since performed a variety of modern classics such as Yasmin Reza's Art and Ben Elton's Popcorn, as well as John Godber's Up 'n Under and Bouncers.

Their production of Bouncers was such a sell-out success, that they've revived it as part of a double bill of Godber's work at The Carriageworks. 

Hull Truck Theatre Company's Shakers is at The Carriageworks from Monday 7 September until Wednesday 9 September 2009.

Tiny House Productions's Bouncers is at The Carriageworks from Friday 11 September until Saturday 12 September 2009.