GRASMERE Players' summer production Hindle Wakes opens tonight (Friday) at Grasmere Hall.

Stanley Houghton's play is set during Wakes Week in a Lancashire mill town, and proved controversial when first presented in 1912.

It tells the tale of the spirited Fanny Hawthorn who defies convention and goes on "a dirty weekend" to Llandudno with the boss's son. Her alibi falls through when her friend Mary is drowned in Blackpool, leaving Fanny to face the music on her return home. Her determination to live her own life in the face of society's expectation she should "do the right thing" makes for an amusing and moving piece of theatre.

Hindle Wakes is performed at Grasmere Hall at 8pm tonight (Friday); tomorrow (Saturday); Wednesday, May 28; Thursday, May 29; then Wednesdays up to and including July 9. Tickets from Barney's Newsbox, Grasmere, or on the door.

May 22, 2003 11:00