Award-winning play And Then Come The Nightjars written by Bea Roberts comes to Live Theatre, Newcastle from Wednesday 14 to Saturday 17 September launching its new UK tour.
This touching tale of the friendship between a vet and farmer during the foot and mouth outbreak stars David Fielder (Michael, the cattle farmer) and Nigel Hastings (Jeff, the vet) who was most recently seen at Live Theatre as troubled labour politician in Live Theatre’s election drama What Falls Apart.
And Then Come The Nightjars is set in South Devon in 2001. It follows Jeff, a dairy vet with a problem and Michael, a cattle farmer, who is a problem himself. The two men have a begrudging respect for one another, usually expressed through a shared fag, a nip of whisky and some boisterous banter. But when Foot and Mouth sweeps across the UK countryside their friendship – and indeed their whole way of life – is thrown into question. Michael watches in disbelief as his cows are rounded up, and to his horror, it is Jeff brandishing the gun.
Graeme Thompson, Creative Producer, Live Theatre said:
“We are delighted to welcome And Then Come The Nightjars, from the same director and producers of Land of Our Fathers that proved popular with audiences at Live Theatre earlier this year. This is another play that will resonate strongly with North Eastern audiences. As well as being universal tale of friendship it is a touching story of rural life with the backdrop of the foot and mouth epidemic that impacted so strongly on our region fifteen years ago.”
Tender, funny and full of love, And Then Come the Nightjars is a story of male friendship against the odds, and a tribute to vanishing ways of rural life.
Tickets for And Then Come the Nightjars cost £22-£10 full price, £16 over 60s concessions and £15-£10 for other concessions. For more information or to book tickets visit www.live.org.uk or contact Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232.