A Christmas drama arrives in Leamington

Middle Ground Theatre Company Ltd will present The Holly & the Ivy by Wynyard Browne at the theatre from Sunday to Saturday November 12.

This year’s show will star Stuart McGugan from It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Tutti Fruitti and Hamish Macbeth, Corrinne Wicks from Emmerdale and Doctors, Tom Butcher from The Bill and Doctors, and Julia Mallam from Emmerdale.

The story they will tell is set around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1947, and follows the family of the elderly reverend Martin Gregory as they gather together for Christmas.

Peace and good will radiates from the elderly vicar, cared for by his young daughter.

But with the arrival of two irritable aunts and an errant daughter, family members are forced to confront their regrets and secret anxieties.

Even the vicar is not immune to the stresses and strains of a normal family life.

Middle Ground Theatre Company was founded back in October 1988.

The name Middle Ground was chosen due to geographical location more than anything else, and the company opened its first national tour (of museums and art galleries) in Scotland the following spring, with a new piece of writing about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Other early tours included venues, from castles to hotel lounges, and the production of six plays for ten-week tours of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Following these productions the company progressed to bigger theatres and eventually to tours. Today it is one of the UK’s most prolific and acclaimed production companies, having mounted over forty productions.

Tickets for The Holly & the Ivy cost £16.50. Call 737154 to book.