It was great to see a friendly face appear at rehearsals recently when professional director Gareth Tudor-Price came along to talk about Ladies’ Day and to help block a particularly awkward scene.

Gareth, of course, spent many years directing at Hull Truck and has a particular investment in this story because it was a play that he conceived and developed with writer Amanda Whittington and then directed it at the old Spring Street venue back in 2005.

When he heard the news that Royal Ascot was temporarily coming to York Racecourse in 2005 (due to refurbishments at Ascot itself) it planted an idea for a play when he was seeking to commission new material for Hull Truck. Amanda Whittington, an established writer of women-centric plays, already having some involvement at Truck, was well placed to author a story about four factory working women who decide to escape the drudgery of the fish plant and go to to this unique Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot….

We look forward seeing him again and showing him our progress in resurrecting a play that is dear to his heart.

Ladies’ Day is running 19th, 20th, 21st November at the Elloughton Village Hall and tickets are just £10. Click here to get booking details.

Rehearsals are underway for our November production of LADIES’ DAY, the very successful and popular play by Amanda Whittington that formed the first of a trilogy about four women from Hull.

We first performed this back in 2008 and now we are looking forward to bringing this popular comedy-drama back to the stage, a production that was as much fun to create as to watch. 

Origins

In the days when Gareth Tudor-Price was directing at the old Spring Street Hull Truck theatre, Amanda was commissioned to write this play about an upcoming unique event: Royal Ascot was transferring to York Races for one year in 2005 while Ascot was being refurbished, and what better story to tell than the aspirations and troubles of four fish plant workers from Hull who decide to make a day of it at the races.

Ladies’ Day follows four fish factory workers from Hull—Pearl, Jan, Shelley, and Linda—whose daily lives are an unfulfilling grind. It is 2005 and to celebrate Pearl’s upcoming retirement, they ditch their hairnets for glamorous outfits and head out for a day at York Racecourse in the year that Royal Ascot was held there.  As the champagne flows, personal secrets begin to unravel, exposing their hidden heartbreaks and dreams.

Directed by Steve Howland and performed by Janet Drewery, Nic Johnson, Wendy Salter, Sally Morland, Rob Newton and Steve Howland.

BOOKING IS ALREADY UNDERWAY AND SEATS ARE SELLING

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IT’S A PROGRAMME OF ALL HULL BASED PLAYS THIS SEASON…..

This season will have a distinctly local theme with the opportunity to run two fabulous Hull-based plays; Ladies’ Day (first performed by us in 2008) and we have been fortunate to get the amateur rights to put on Richard Bean’s To Have And To Hold which was a recent success at Hull Truck as recently as 2025. 

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COMIMG THIS NOVEMBER : LADIES’ DAY by Amanda Whittington

Ladies’ Day follows four fish factory workers from Hull—Pearl, Jan, Shelley, and Linda—whose daily lives are an unfulfilling grind. It is 2005 and to celebrate Pearl’s upcoming retirement, they ditch their hairnets for glamorous outfits and head out for a day at York Racecourse in the year Royal Ascot was held there.  As the champagne flows, personal secrets begin to unravel, exposing their hidden heartbreaks and dreams.

We are looking forward to bringing this popular comedy-drama back  to the stage, 19 years after our first run back in 2008. 

Directed by Steve Howland and performed by Janet Drewery, Nic Johnson, Wendy Salter, Sally Morland, Rob Newton and Steve Howland.

By the way, why not register your email address to receive periodic updates and the latest news from this website – go to the front page and find the subscribe buttons

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COMIMG MAY 2027 : TO HAVE AND TO HOLD by Richard Bean

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD is a sharp, funny and bittersweet comedy-drama about an elderly couple and the chaos that ensues when their adult children descend to get their affairs in order.

After sixty years of marriage, happily settled into their retirement village in Wetwang, ex-cop Jack and his wife Florence have elevated bickering almost to the status of high art.  That said, they’re otherwise getting along fine with the support of a nearby niece and the hilarious interventions of the man known locally as ‘Rhubarb Eddie’. 

But will their anxious son, shuttling between London and LA, and their errant daughter, contemplating a move to Australia, leave them to live out their days in peace?

Directed by Janet Drewery and performed by Gill Collins, Steve Howland, Gary Vann, Dianne Turner, Lee Kelly and Janet Lamb.

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CLICK HERE: HOW TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS