JOHN GODBER’S grandparents provided the inspiration for the characters in his moving two-hander, September in the Rain.
Jack and Liz – their real names – are a touching duo moving from humour to sadness in a style reminiscent of Alan Bennett.
In Liverpool-based director Jen Hayes’s production, opening at New Brighton’s Floral Pavilion tonight, the roles are played by two masters of bathos, Pauline Daniels and Brian Dodd (Hayes’s husband).
Dodd, who played master of ceremonies on Capital of Culture opening night from the top of Wellington Column, has looked forward to acting with Daniels for several years.
“We’ve wanted to work together for quite some time, so this feels like it was the right project to do,” he says.
“When she did Talking Heads a couple of years ago, I played a character who appeared behind a door at one point. But it was only a fleeting moment.”
Daniel’s ability to draw the depths out of a character – she played Shirley Valentine at the Royal Court to raving reviews last year – will stand her in good stead for September, the tale of a couple who holiday in Blackpool every year.
“It’s typical Godber, beautifully written and very poignant,” says Dodd.
“I love this style of theatre, it’s real quick change stuff jumping from one age to the next in a couple of seconds.”
Heyes is excited about the show, which she speaks of with great affection.
“It’s a play about relationships and about times gone by when people stuck together and there was a bigger sense of community,” she says.
“We meet Jack and Liz as OAPs. They have been going to Blackpool every year since they were 23.
“The play takes us back through time so we see the, as newlyweds when they first started going there.”
What draws the audience into the piece, she says, is that it is based on collective memory.
“This is such a fitting play to bring to New Brighton, a place filled to the brim with a history of seaside holiday memories that mirror Godber’s own,” she explains.
“There must be a million Jacks and Lizs who have got sand in their socks on New Brighton beach and shared a bag of chips as they walked on the prom overlooked by the Floral Pavilion.”
SEPTEMBER in the Rain opens at the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, today and runs until Sunday.
