Breaking down barriers with love, loss and recovery

The Solid Life of Sugar Water is a story of love, loss, recovery, and how a couple communicate in the wake of a tragedy.

This tender, compelling and unsettling play, which can be seen on February 16 and 17, follows the journey of a young couple as they attempt to reconnect with each other following a stillbirth.

It’s the work of Jack Thorne, an awardwinning writer for stage, television and film who has written the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play opening in London’s West End this summer as well as television dramas Skins, Shameless and This Is England.

He recently adapted the cult novel and film Let the Right One In for the stage. The Solid Life of Sugar Water is performed by the acclaimed Graeae Theatre Company, once run by former Dukes artistic director Euan Marshall, which has gained a reputation for breaking down barriers, challenging preconceptions and boldly placing Deaf and disabled artists centrestage.

Graeae’s signature characteristic is creatively integrating sign language, captioning and audio description to engage with both disabled and non-disabled audiences.

This play was crowned the Most Accessible Show at the Accessible Fringe Awards 2015.

Arthur Hughes and Genevieve Barr will reprise the roles they created for the successful run at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Arthur has appeared in several Richard Burton Company productions and was a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company in 2013, receiving the Carleton Hobbs Award.

Genevieve is best known for BBC One primetime drama The Silence for which she received BAFTA and International Emmy nominations for best actress. She has also appeared in Shameless.

The Solid Life of Sugar Water is recommended for ages 16 plus.

It contains language of an adult and sexual nature. It calls in to The Dukes during a national tour which ends with a three-week run at the National Theatre.

British films also topped the popularity poll during 2015 at Lancaster’s Dukes cinema.

The Theory of Everything, the biopic of Stephen Hawking which won an Oscar for Eddie Redmayne, was the film most Dukes cinemagoers wanted to see.

It was closely followed by recent release – The Lady in the Van – starring Dame Maggie Smith. For more information on the above call 01524 598500 or visit www.dukes-lancaster.org.