Outdoor theatre! Commedia dell'Arte! Physical theatre at its best!
The Rudes are on the road again this summer with our brand new play called Mother Sweetapple. We open on St Cuthman’s Field in the Steyning Festival on Thursday 4th June and will be performing at most of our usual venues as well as a few new ones in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset. All performances are in the evening and will usually begin at 7.30 (but check the itinerary below for variations).
The new play is a tender tale set in the sultry Tuscan landscape of La Valle delle Roses of teenage love thwarted by stupid young male chauvinism and then rediscovered in maturity (well, relative maturity! How long does it take men to grow up?), of intrigue and attempted murder, of seduction and lycanthropy under a full moon, and the possibility of happiness even for someone with extremely big feet! Lycanthropy, by the way, is the transmutation of a human into a wolf. Be warned!
The Story
“It’s Tuscany in 1340. A girl in a powder blue dress wanders in the scorching sun through a field of horse high sunflowers. Filippo, a hot headed young man and son of the local landowner, attempts to seduce her. Years later, now a rich merchant, he returns home. In his path is a woman, Mother Sweetapple, who has been locked in a walled garden for 21 years. Part fairy tale, part detective story, the play bit by bit reveals who she is and how time like sleep changes our perceptions and values.”
Hilarious and bawdy, but poetic and challenging, too.
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online for most venues by following the links below. If there is no link, or if you do not wish to book online, then ring the Central Box Office. There are also local walk-in box offices for many venues. Details for these can be found on posters near the venues, in parish mags and journals, or from the Central Box Office number.
CENTRAL BOX OFFICE - 01323-50-12-60
All shows at 7.30pm, unless stated otherwise - Picnics from 6.00pm -
| West Sussex | ||
| Thur 4 June | St Cuthman's Field, Steyning (Steyning Festival) |  |
| Sat 6 | Sidlesham Rec Ground - 7.00 | Tell: 01243-641243 |
| Sat 7 | Lindfield Primary School | |
| Sat 20 | The Common, Mannings Heath | |
| Sun 21 | Burgess Hill School for Girls | |
| Thur 25 | Elsted Recreation Ground | |
| Fri 26 | West Chiltington Recreation Ground | |
| Fri 3 July | Amberley First School | |
| Thur 9 | Dial Post Village Green | |
| Mon 27 | Bignor Park (Petworth Festival) - 7.15 | 01323-501260 |
| Tues 28 | Bignor Park (Petworth Festival) - 7.15 | 01323-501260 |
| Surrey | ||
| Sun 5 July | Hampton Court Palace | |
| Thu 16 | Cranleigh Arts Centre (indoors) | |
| Kent | ||
| Wed 8 July | Otford Recreation Ground | |
| Sun 19 | Tayne Field, Lyminge | |
| Sun 26 | New Ash Green Primary School | |
| Fri 31 | St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury | |
| Hampshire | ||
| Sat 13 June | The Old Rectory, Droxford | |
| Sun 14 | Ropley Recreation Ground | |
| Sat 11 July | Hambledon Village Hall Green | |
| Thu 23 | Selborne Primary School | |
| Fri 24 | Conford Village Hall Green | |
| East Sussex | ||
| Wed 17 June | Ditchling Village Green | |
| Thu 18 | The Crouch Gardens, Seaford (tbc) | |
| Fri 19 | St Leonards Gardens, St Leonards | |
| Set 4 July | Filching Manor, Willingdon | |
| Fri 10 | The Cricket Field, Firle | |
| Sun 12 | The Tye, Alfriston | |
| Tue 14 | Little Horsted Prim Sch (Uckfield Festival) | |
| Fri 17 | Crowhurst Recreation Ground | |
| Sat 1 Aug | St Andrews Prep School, Eastbourne | |
| Sun 2 | Catsfield Playing Field | |
| Wed 5 | Ringmer Village Green | |
| Thu 6 | The Green, Rushlake Green | |
| Fri 7 | The Gun Garden, Lewes Castle | |
| Sat 8 | The Gun Garden, Lewes Castle | |
| Sun 9 | Hadlow Down Cricket Field | |
| Wed 12 | Court Meadow, Mayfield | |
| Thu 13 | The Star, Waldron | |
| Fri 14 | Burwash Playing Fields | |
| Sat 15 | Redlands, Vines Cross | |
| Sun 16 | Michelham Priory - 7.15pm | |
| Dorset | ||
| Wed 10 June | The Lodge, Cranborne | |
| Thu 11 | Square & Compass, Worth Matravers | |
| Fri 12 | Child Okeford Recreation Ground | |
| Sat 27 | The Abbey House, Abbotsbury - 7.45pm | 01305-751167 |
| Sun 28 | Durlston Country Park, Swanage | |
