THERE will be a second and longer season of summer rep at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, following last year’s successful inaugural season, with five popular plays on from 23rd July to 27th August.
There’s something for everyone with comedies, thrillers and classic drama, including a Jane Austen adaptation, celebrating the great novelist’s 250th anniversary this year.
The season opens with Deathtrap, a comedy-thriller by Ira Levin, of Rosemary’s Baby fame. It’s followed by an Alan Ayckbourn play, performed in-the-round as last time. A Brief History of Women is a funny story of one man and one house, over 60 years, and the women that he meets.
Next up is another thriller, Strictly Murder, set in France, just before the start of the Second World War. It’s a good choice in this year when we have just marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day. In Brian Clemens’ drama, the rumblings of the coming war make a menacing background for a dark and frightening story with plenty of twists and turns.
The 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth is celebrated with the fourth play, an adaptation of her last completed novel, Persuasion, which famously is set partly in Lyme Regis, with a key scene on the Cobb. Adapted by Mark Healy, it is a love story and a brilliant social satire, with snobs, fashionable visitors to Bath, naval officers, dramatic changes of fortune and unrequited love.
The season will end with Noël Coward’s sparkling comedy Fallen Angels, in which two best friends, both married, fall out in the most hilarious way over an old flame coming to town.
Several of the actors from the 2024 season are returning – Victoria Porter, Neil Thomas, Andrew Fettes – as well as Jessica Olim and Alex Ansdell from the Marine’s A Christmas Carol. They are once again joined by local actor Nickie Johnson.
Weekly rep used to be the staple fare of theatres across the country, particularly in seaside ones, but is now very rare. Each play is performed for only a week, and as the first play is being performed, the second play is being rehearsed. Then when the second is being performed, the third is being rehearsed, and so on.
The Marshwood Vale area is fortunate to have not one but two summer rep seasons – Sidmouth’s Manor Pavilion theatre has a long-standing summer rep season.
Lyme Regis’s rep company, Gilroy Theatre, hopes to continue to meet the local community. Su Gilroy, who runs the company and has more than 35 years of experience of theatre, says: “We met so many lovely people last summer and over Christmas, at the theatre and in the wider community, who all made us feel so welcome. It’s not only an honour to come back to Lyme Regis and the Marine Theatre – it’s also a pleasure!”
The plays change midweek, on Wednesday or Thursday, so anyone on holiday for a week gets the chance to see two plays rather than just one. Theatre isn’t something all seaside destinations can offer their visitors – and rep, with great traditional plays, is even rarer.
Tickets for performances are now available online at
Photos from 2024 season. Photo credits: Maisie Hill, Louise Emily