After enduring 18 months of lockdown, The Company of Four are bouncing back to the stage with an intimate and immersive performance of Be My Baby at Martlesham Community Hall.
Be My Baby is a poignant drama about attitudes to teenage pregnancy in 1960s Britain and will run from October 15-17.
Mary Adams, aged 19, is unmarried and seven months pregnant. Forcibly sent to a Mother-and-Baby Home in the north of England by a mother intent on keeping up appearances.
Mary, along with the other girls in the home, Queenie, Dolores and Norma, has to cope with both the shame and the dawning realisation that she will have to give the baby up for adoption whether she likes it or not.
Despite this, and an overbearing matron, the girls’ youthful effervescence keeps breaking through as they bond over girl-group songs by the Ronettes and The Dixie Cups.
Lily Griffiths, the play’s director, said: “The company hasn't staged a play since ‘Outside Edge’ in the late 90’s and having been away from the stage for so long following the pandemic we thought that this would be the ideal opportunity for us to stage ‘Be My Baby’.
“It is such a poignant drama and totally lends itself to a more intimate audience in an immersive setting. Next year, 2022, will be such a big year for us as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary but we are so looking forward to being back performing this October with an incredible cast in a hugely touching play”.
Amanda Whittington’s play was first performed by Soho Theatre Company at the Pleasance Theatre, London, in 1998.
Tickets, at £10, are available to book online or by telephone* on 03336 664466 (*Subject to a booking fee)
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