AWARD-WINNING AMERICAN PLAY SET TO BE STAGED AT CHESTER VENUE

Theatre company Against The Grain are set to return to the stage with a production of an award-winning play by a celebrated American playwright.

Following the success of brand new hit comedy 'Frank', Against The Grain will stage 'A Delicate Balance' by Edward Albee at St Mary's Creative Space in Chester from Tuesday 8^th July to Saturday 12^th July at 7.30pm The play will be directed for Against The Grain by Mark Newman. 

Written by Albee between 1965 and 1966, 'A Delicate Balance' is Albee’s follow-up to his better known (but some say inferior) 'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' The play premiered in 1966 winning a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1967 and Tony Awards since. 

Combining frequent unexpected moments of humour with vicious dialogue and constant dramatic tension, 'A Delicate Balance' is set in a typical middle-class American suburb. The play transports the audience into the home of wealthy, middle-aged couple Agnes and Tobias who have their complacency shattered when Harry and Edna, longtime friends, appear at their doorstep. Claiming an encroaching, nameless “fear” has forced them from their own home, these neighbours bring a firestorm of doubt, recrimination and ultimately solace, upsetting the “delicate balance” of Agnes and Tobias’ household.  The presence of Agnes’ alcoholic sister, Claire, and subsequent, unexpected appearance of their much-divorced daughter, Julia, only adds further heat to the situation an this volatile mixture soon comes to the boil.

The production at St Mary's Creative Space will feature Marian Newman (Agnes of God, Hansard, Frank) as Agnes, Simon Phillips (Deathtrap, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me) as Tobias, Fiona Wheatcroft (Roleplay, Curtains,) as Claire, Laura Smith (Agnes of God, Curtains, Frank) as Julia, Stuart Evans (Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Curtains, Frank) as Harry. Making her Against The Grain debut, Sally Dillon as Edna is a familiar face to local theatre-goers having appeared in many productions at venues including Chester Gateway Theatre, The Forum Studio Theatre and Storyhouse.

Speaking about Against The Grain's production of 'A Delicate Balance', Mark Newman said:

"It's been great to start work on this wonderful and weird play, and also to welcome our newest recruit to the cast - Sally Dillon. Sally is someone we've nearly all shared a stage with in previous productions with other local companies in the past, and brings huge experience to the team.  She's bound to be familiar to a lot of our audience. It's been something of a surprise to find that, for what is often thought of as quite a 'heavy' play, we've had a lot of fun bringing the characters to life and to find there's so much fun to be had with them and the script.  Albee was an important writer and some regard 'A Delicate Balance' as his best play.  It's certainly one we're looking forward to sharing with our audience."

Full details of "A Delicate Balance" can be found at: 

www.ticketsource.co.uk/against-the-grain 

...where tickets can be booked online.