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).

A red apple is for pleasure! A green apple is for truth!

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