WE’VE got so much going on at the moment, and only a short space to tell you about it, so here’s a tantalising taste of what’s on your cultural doorstep over the next few weeks at the Playhouse.

First, we present the ever-popular Stagefright Comedy Club, which returns on the October 22. Stagefright is always a great night out with quality acts, and this month’s comical collection is no exception.

Headlining is Barbara Nice, the creation of Janice Connolly, star of That Peter Kay Thing, Phoenix Nights, Coronation Street and Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere. Joining her will be Masai Graham, an aficionado of the snappy single-liners; and there’s new talent from Luke Wright. The evening will be compered by Stagefright regular Anthony J Brown, a master comedian and award winner in his own right.

Stagefright takes place in the Wildman Studio with relaxed cabaret-style seating. The Playhouse Bar will, of course, be open for refreshment.

Astute readers will have noticed that the Ilkley Literature Festival is in town. The Playhouse is a venue for many events, and we’re open for the festival’s final weekend. If you haven’t popped your head in our doors recently, or ever, it’s a great opportunity to come along and see where we are.

Vintage loveliness abounds on the October 29, when the Playhouse hosts the bi-annual Vintage Fair. We’ll be packed with stalls selling clothes, prints, books, ceramics and much more. The cafe will transform itself into a vintage tearoom for the day, and period music will accompany your sips and bites of Chloe’s truly amazing cake. (If you missed out on Chloe’s cakes at the Literature Festival now is your chance to be initiated into cake heaven!)

Keeping with the period theme, our second play of the new season opens on the November 2. Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is a gripping drama with strong biographical elements. Themes of reality and illusion, memory and escape are prevalent. It is a drama of tenderness, charm and beauty.

The Glass Menagerie centres around a faded Southern belle, now living in poverty, seeking a suitor for her daughter. Amanda lives with her children Tom and Laura, but her life is based in the aristocratic upbringing of her past and her illusions of the present, her children struggle to survive this stifling existence. The crux comes when Tom invites a friend to have dinner with the family: how will the visitor from the outside world interact and affect this fragile world of illusion?

The Glass Menagerie runs from November 2 to 12.

Finally, Saturday, November 19 sees a welcome influx of cool, easy classics, when The Northern Showtime Orchestra makes its first visit to Ilkley to present The Great American Songbook.

A live music show, the eight-piece band features piano, sax, clarinet, flute and brass, and showcases great US songs and singers from the 1930s to the 1970s. Numbers by all-time greats George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Cole Porter loom large, as do several other composers from the finest era of American song-writing. It’s tempting to describe this as nostalgia, but songs as great as this simply don’t age.

Vocals will be provided by Rich Adams, who masterfully handles songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, Ray Eberle and Nat King Cole, among others. A sample of what’s on offer can be found on Youtube.

Stagefright Comedy Club is on Saturday,October 22, with doors opening at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. To book tickets for this, The Glass Menagerie – or any of our other events – visit our website www.ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk or phone the Box Office on 01943 609539.

The Vintage Fair will run from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, October 29. Entry is £1, with under 16s free. Pay on the door.

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