HAVE you spotted it? Have you seen our autumn/winter season programme around Ilkley? Perhaps you have perused it in the library, or bagged it with your books in The Grove bookshop? If not, look out for the distinctive IP logo and take a peek inside: it’s packed with Playhouse productions and events running up to next February.

Behind the scenes, the cast and crew of the forthcoming productions are working hard – and having fun! – preparing for the start of the season. Before the official first play comes an intriguing fringe production called Whalegirl, featuring seven short plays by Ann Wuehler.

Wuehler is known for her gritty style and a penchant for exploring the darker side of humanity, which she handles with empathy, insight and wry humour. These plays, which are entertaining and disturbing in equal measure, cover themes including grief, loneliness, forbidden love, parental guilt, personal failure, and flight from an unsatisfying reality. Humour and sensitivity are deftly handled throughout. As with most Fringe productions, it’s innovative and comes with a sense of dramatic excitement.

Whalegirl runs from Thursday, September 6 to Saturday, September 8. Please note when booking that this is a 16+ production due to adult content.

To launch the new season proper, we are excited to bring you Sandi Toksvig’s hilarious black comedy Silver Lining. Contemporary, beautifully written, and very funny, it hits the Playhouse just a year after its professional opening in London. We are very lucky to be able to bring it to you so soon!

As you can imagine coming from the pen of Sandi Toksvig, along with the humour there is a good dollop of emotion and warmth.

It takes place in an old folks’ home during rising floods, and follows five elderly women as they set out to survive. They discover much about themselves along the way. Toksvig says: “My ambition was to write a laugh-out-loud comedy which occasionally brings a few tears to the eye. It is a passion project with me as all the leads are women and the majority are ‘women of a certain age’”. We’re sure our Ilkley audience will approve of her sentiment and will delight in this wonderful production.

Silver Lining runs from September 12 to September 22. The play contains strong adult language and content so booking for this production is from age 14 and up.

To book for the exciting start to the new season, go to www.ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk or call 01943 609539.

by Claire Emmott