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Laurels Theatre, 212 Whitley Road, Whitley Bay, NE26 2TA
Tuesday October 29th – Saturday 2nd November
Press night: Wednesday 30th October
Darkly comic stories that are right up your street…
Laurels Theatre and Carpet Time Productions are delighted to present the premiere of Doomgate, written by Hannah Sowerby, Jamie McLeish and Lynne Patrick.
Programmed in Laurels Theatre’s popular Halloween week slot, Doomgate is an anthology of dark comedy plays that are all set on the same street.
The show transports us to the small Northumbrian town of Mould-on-the-Wall where things are never quite as they seem. Taking inspiration from shows such as Inside No.9 and Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, Doomgateoffers humorous twist-in-the-tale stories that are sure to have you on the edge of your seat.
Doomgate will jump from house to house with tales that explore what happens when you let an over-eager door-to-door salesman into your home, the true cost of giving a friend your kidney and why a middle-aged man can’t leave his train set alone… That’s not to mention all of that business going on at number twelve…
The show was programmed after the writers reached the final 1% of entries for the Richard Jenkinson Commission, an award run by Laurels Theatre that aims to find exciting shows to develop.
The cast comprises of Becky Clayburn (fresh off the run of Theatre Royal’s Gerry and Sewell), David Foster (BBC’s Grin Up North), Helen Coverdale (Blowing a Hooley) and Lewis Cuthbert (one of the brains behind popular Newcastle new writing night Playing Up), who will all multi-role to bring Doomgate’s residents to life.
Carpet Time Productions is a new theatre company consisting of Hannah Sowerby, Jamie McLeish and Lynne Patrick. The trio met whilst writing and performing on BBC Radio Newcastle’s comedy show Grin Up North.
Hannah Sowerby is most known for her show 10 Things to do in a Small Cumbrian Town that ran at Alphabetti Theatre for three weeks in 2021, gaining a review from The Guardian that compared her to Victoria Wood. Jamie McLeish has been selected for numerous short play nights including Blowing a Hooley at Gala Durham and the upcoming Live Writes at Live Theatre. Lynne Patrick has had a sketch selected for the final of Sketch for Sammy and also won one of Laurels Theatre’s response play writing initiatives.
The trio are all working class and proud to present down to earth, but exciting work. They hope this is the first of many productions they create together and already have lots more ideas in the bank. They aspire to produce shows that “make you sit up in your seat rather than fidget in it”.
Writer Jamie says: “I’m so looking forward to seeing Doomgate come to life and Halloween week is the perfect time for the eerie-but-funny stories we have for our audience, with Laurels being the perfect intimate venue.”
Lynne Patrick will direct the show with Hannah Sowerby taking on the role of assistant director. Lynne will also be composing original music for the show.
Director Lynne says: “I’m really excited about bringing the world of Doomgate to audiences at Laurels this Halloween. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors in your neighbourhood then Doomgate will take you on a journey of fun, frights and feels.”
Doomgate, which runs at Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay from October 29th – November 2nd will offer North East audiences a chance to enjoy a dark comedy play that’s sure to delight fans of shows such as The League of Gentlemen and Nighty Night.
Writer Hannah says: “It’s amazing getting the chance to make work that we’d really want to see ourselves as theatre goers. Dark comedy is very rare on stage and even rarer in the North East. Usually you have to go to London or the Edinburgh Fringe to watch a show like this. We are super excited to bring this kind of show to our corner of the UK.”