Move over Dame Jude – there’s a new national treasure in town! This bold piece of theatre pierces to the heart of love, life and grief. It is a truly unique theatrical experience. The self proclaimed ‘Wildcat of Sheffield’ faces the end of her days after the death of her beloved Geoff. With her razor-sharp wit and larger-than-life personality, she looks back on her past, her outrageous youth, falling in love, marriage, motherhood, ageing and loneliness.
Written by gay northern playwright and actor Joshua Welch. Welch is from a working- class northern background in Sheffield. He came to theatre after the death of his mother in when he was 10 years old. “Theatre was a lifeline” Welch says. He moved to London to peruse his acting career and trained at Drama Centre London. He wrote Wildcat’s Last Waltz after being inspired by long drives with his own grandmother in his clapped-out VW polo. Welch and his grandma shared stories of each other grieves and became an unbreakable bound because it.
“This play is my tribute to her and all the other strong, loving and wildly fierce mothers I have met along my way. I’m so pleased I get to throw on the platinum wig, put on the lippy and bring this incredible force of nature to both the Brighton and Edinburgh fringe festivals this year. I can’t wait to tell you her story.” – Joshua Welch.
Directed by Kelly Hunter. Hunter is a director and actor, she is artistic director of Flute Theatre and has worked for: National Theatre, RSC, E.T.T and in the West End. Hunter Says: “A 28- year-old man dressed as his grandmother, leaping like a starfish, chatting to us, giving us tea, making us cry, making us laugh, revealing how his grandmother’ fanny fell out, how her heart broke and perils of being alone. This hour doesn’t fit one “theatre category, it fit’s em all”
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Listing details: BRIGHTON FRINGE 2023
Venue: Rotunda Bubble
Dates: 18th/19th/20t/21st May
Time: 9pm
Booking:
https://www.brightonfringe.org/event
s/wildcats-last-waltz/
EDINBURGH FRINGE 2023
Venue: Assembly Rooms. Front Room Dates: 3rd– 27th August (not 12th)
Time: 7:45pm
Booking:
https://assemblyfestival.com/box office/wildcats-last-waltz/3:131169
BRIGHTON FRINGE 2023 Rotunda Bubble
EDINBURGH FRINGE 2023 – Assembly Rooms
★★★★★ – “Utterly captivating”
★★★★★– “Side Splitting”
★★★★★ – “Powerful and poignant”
★★★★★ – “Wit so sharp it could cut glass”
★★★★★– “Fearless Acting”
★★★★★– “Characterisation at its very best”
★★★★★ – “The next Lily Savage”
(London Pub Theatres)
Move over Dame Jude – there’s a new national treasure in to
