What happens when you put two people in a room?
A mother and daughter prepare for one last adventure before university. Two strangers meet at a car showroom and head off on a test drive. A woman at rock bottom encounters someone she wasn’ t expecting. Elsewhere, a seemingly ordinary day at a council event takes a rather less ordinary turn.
Welcome to Duologues.
After months of planning, Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company’ s new writing project is now firmly on its feet, with rehearsals under way ahead of three performances at The Boxmoor Playhouse on 9 and 10 October.
Producer Ciaran Connors said:“ What’ s been really exciting is watching these plays change from words on a page into something that belongs to the actors and directors. Every rehearsal room is doing something completely different, and I think audiences are going to love never quite knowing where the next 15 minutes will take them.”
While every play is different, they all begin with the same deceptively simple idea: two actors and a story to tell.
That simplicity has given the directors and performers plenty to play with. With no large ensemble to hide behind, the relationship between those two characters becomes everything – whether they’ re making each other laugh, falling for one another, disagreeing spectacularly or facing something rather more serious.
Audiences will move quickly between different worlds
throughout the evening. One moment may have you laughing, the next wondering what you would do in the same situation.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that nobody has seen these plays before. There’ s no famous production to imitate and no audience arriving already knowing how the story ends. These characters are being created for the first time right here in Hemel Hempstead.
Ciaran added:“ There’ s always a risk in doing something completely new, but that’ s also what makes Duologues special. We’ re asking audiences to take that little leap with us, come through the doors and discover eight stories without knowing exactly what they’ re going to get. That doesn’ t happen very often in theatre.”
And soon, those plays will have their first audiences.
Duologues is at The Boxmoor Playhouse on Friday 9 October at 7.30pm and Saturday 10 October at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets cost £ 10(£ 9 concessions).
For one weekend only, come and meet some characters you’ ve never met before – because until now, neither had we.
/ HHTheatreCo @ hhtheatreco www. hhtheatreco. com hhtc. membership @ gmail. com
Box Office: 0333 666 3366
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