Wendy Hoose

by Johnny McKnight

Coproduced with Random Accomplice

Directed by Robert Softley Gale and Johnny McKnight

Set and Costume Design: Neil Haynes
Animation: Jamie Macdonald
Lighting Design: Grant Anderson
Cast: Amy Conachan and James Young

Laura and Jake just want sex. Late Friday night drunken sex. Nothing more. No strings attached. But getting your leg over is sometimes more difficult than you think. Starring James Young and Amy Conachan, Wendy Hoose is about two twenty year olds searching for love in all the wrong places!

Wendy Hoose contains strong language and scenes of a sexual nature. All performances include audio description, BSL and animated surtitles.

Supported by Inchrye Trust : The Hugh Fraser Foundation : Sylvia Aitken Charitable Trust : Unlimited

Supported by Unlimited, celebrating the work of disabled artists. Unlimited is delivered in partnership by Shape and Artsadmin, with funding from Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council Wales and Spirit of 2012. www.weareunlimited.org.uk

Previously part of the MADE IN SCOTLAND showcase

BUY the script here

CHECK OUT THE PROGRAMME

Production Photographs

Press Reviews

“As a calling card for the new direction for Birds of Paradise, this is a wonderfully full-on, no-holds-barred declaration of intent to produce entertaining theatre with heart, intelligence and flair. It may well be rude at times, but it clearly comes from a Scottish theatre that’s in rude health.” DISABILITY ARTS ONLINE

“A vulnerable James Young and a defiantly sexy Amy Conachan
 star in this outrageously funny comedy of manners”
★★★★ THE GUARDIAN

“the production, co-directed by McKnight and Robert Softley Gale,
has no time for such soppiness; it is rude, ribald and
hilariously off-colour, and bodes tremendously well for
the new directorship of Birds of Paradise.”
★★★★ THE GUARDIAN

“Writer McKnight is the master of witty wordplay and Young
 delivers his painfully cruel rejections with perfect timing and 
zeal.”
★★★★ TV BOMB

“Conachan in particular does a beautiful job of painting Laura as a real woman with needs, wants, desires and obligations, who’s not willing to be repressed by the ‘disabled’ label.”
★★★★ TV BOMB

“The knotty problems and see-saw dynamics of the pair who are keen to have sex but don’t know each other is captured through McKnight’s brilliant ear for authentic West of Scotland speech.”
★★★★ EDINBURGH GUIDE

“Julie Brown, whose dry, non-committal tones as observer manage to create a highly comic, virtual ménage a trois.”
★★★★EDINBURGH GUIDE

“unstintingly well acted, totally on the mark and painfully funny”
★★★★ THE HERALD

“McKnight’s script is sharp, twisting Jake’s Paisley patter to comic vulgarity, while Laura is a perfect foil.”
★★★★ THE LIST

“Unashamedly vulgar, but with a compassionate core, Wendy Hoose is a bold, entertaining and sensitive production.”
★★★★THE LIST

“above all, it features two fine, brave comic performances from its stars, Amy Conachan and James Young.”
★★★★ THE SCOTSMAN

“some superb use of video and graphics, and Neil Haynes’ lush red bedroom set”
★★★★ THE SCOTSMAN

“The audio describer, brilliantly voiced completely deadpan by Random Accomplice’s Artistic Director Julie Brown (a la Scarlett Johanssen’s conscience-ridden computer in Her) gets some juicy one-liners too—hilarious references to ”lady gardens” in one scene, and amusing disgust at what she her career has become- ”I went to drama school, you know!”
★★★★ EXUENT

“it’s the most brilliant, wrong-est disability coup-de-theatre you’ll have seen in a while”
★★★★ THE PUBLIC REVIEWS

“The design of Wendy Hoose, courtesy of Neil Haynes and Grant Anderson, is as creative and energetic as its leads.”
★★★★ THE PUBLIC REVIEWS


Biogs

Amy Conachan
Amy Conachan trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Production credits include: Coriolanus, The Hypochondriak and 13 (RCS); Skeleton Wumman (Play, a Pie and a Pint); Blood Wedding (Graeae) and Redefining Juliet (Barbican, Open Lab). Film credits include: Let’s Talk About Sex (Frank Patterson); #Conniesflat (Breakingpointflix) and Duplicity (Presspause Productions). Amy is delighted to be reprising the role of Laura in Wendy Hoose.

James Young
Theatre credits include: The Incredible Adventures Of See Thru Sam (Random Accomplice); Slick (Vox Motus); Heartbreak Soup (The Empty Space); Paisley to Paolo, The Sunday Lesson, Burning Your Boats, Piece of My Heart (Oran Mor); Nasty, Brutish and Short (Traverse Theatre/ National Theatre of Scotland); That Face (Tron Theatre) and We Can All Agree To Pretend This Never Happened (Oran Mor). Television and film credits include: Outlander (Sony Pictures); Two Doors Down, Waterloo Road, Casualty, River City, Doctors, Scottish Killers (BBC); Bob Servant Independent (BBC4); Locked Up Abroad (Raw TV); Boy A (Cuba Films); Taggart (SMG); Kitchen (Ecosse Films); Still Game, The Karen Dunbar Show (The Comedy Unit); Deafblind (Ewan Bailey Films); Gamerz (Pure Magic Films); Up There (Wilder Films); Radges (BBC) and Only An Excuse (The Comedy Unit).

Johnny McKnight – WrIter/Director
Johnny is a writer, director, actor and performer as well as the joint artistic director of Random Accomplice Theatre Company. He has been described as the new vanguard of pantomime in the national press having written 11 contemporary pantomimes. In 2014 he wrote A Miracle on 34 Parnie Street for the Tron Theatre and last year he wrote The Little Mermaid for the Macrobert Stirling. Johnny is currently under commission to the Royal Court Theatre, Tron Theatre, Citizens Theatre, macrobert and is developing a couple of original television comedies. Johnny has been nominated for Critics Award Scotland twice for Best Show for Children and Young People (The Incredible Adventures of See Thru Sam, Cinderella) and Best New Play (A Perfect Stroke). He is currently writing his second episode of River City for the BBC. Credits include: The Incredible Adventures of See Thru Sam (Random Accomplice); A Perfect Stroke (Oran Mor/Traverse Theatre); Little Johnny’s Big Gay Wedding (National Theatre of Scotland) and Cinderella (Royal Lyceum Theatre). Previous plays published by Oberon Books include The IncredibleAdventures of See Thru Sam, Smalltown and Double Nugget.

Robert Softley Gale – Director
Robert Softley Gale is an established figure in the Scottish arts scene, with over fourteen years of experience as a performer, director, writer and theatre-maker. He has appeared in many productions – including Girl X (National Theatre of Scotland) and his solo show – If These Spasms Could Speak – was presented as part of arches Behaviour 2012, Made in Scotland 2013 and has toured internationally for many years to countries including India, Brazil and the USA. He has worked around the world as a facilitator, trainer and director – most recently developing a new interpretation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Hong Kong. A graduate of Glasgow University with an MSc (Hons) in Business & Management, Robert recently directed Purposeless Movements for BOP to great critical acclaim:
‘…this is one brilliantly shrewd triumph of a show’
★★★★★ The Herald

Neil Haynes – SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
Credits include: Blackbird, Into That Darkness, Eric the ElfsChaotic Christmas and Flora Fairy Challenge, Miss Julie,Bauble Trouble, Far Away and Seagulls, Hansel and Gretel, After the End, Topdog/Underdog, My Name is Rachel Corrie, Grapes of Wrath, They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (Citizens Theatre); Cooking with Elvis, Bliss and Mud, Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco (Tron Theatre); Roman Bridge, Transform Glasgow, Smiler (National Theatre of Scotland) and The Chooky Brae (Borderline Theatre Company).

Jamie Macdonald – Animator
Jamie Macdonald graduated from Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2003 with an honours degree in Drawing and Painting. Since 2005 he has been based in Glasgow – teaching, illustrating, designing and animating for various companies including Scottish Opera, NTS, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Visible Fictions, Tron Theatre, macrobert, The Arches, Borderline, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, Birds of Paradise and Random Accomplice.

Grant Anderson – Lighting Designer
Grant Anderson studied Lighting Design at RSAMD (currently RCS). Selected credits include: Little Red, Love Song, In My Father’s Words, Hecuba, Promises Promises, Baby Baby, Anna Karenina (Dundee Rep); To Begin (National Theatre of Scotland); News Just In (Random Accomplice); And The Beat zGoes On (Random Accomplice and Perth Theatre); The Polar Bears Go Wild, Beautay and the Beat, Aladdin, Little Mermaid (macrobert); Panic Patterns (Citizens Theatre); Maw Broon Monologues (Tron Theatre); A Clockwork Orange (associate, Theatre Royal Stratford East); Cabaret, Urinetown, Adams Family, Godspell, Avenue Q, Sunday In The Park With George, Company, Wasted Love and Show Choir (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Grant is also designer of Botanic Lights. His online portfolio is viewable at www.grantanderson.design

Julie Brown – Audio Describer/Artistic Director
Julie Brown trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is co-Artistic Director of Random Accomplice. As a Performer, Director and Producer she has worked for a range of companies including Scottish Opera, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Scottish Youth Theatre Cumbernauld Theatre, Arches Theatre, Bard in the Botanics and the Tron Theatre as well as directing and choreographing for various youth companies.


Tour Dates

Spring 2014

TRON THEATRE (Glasgow) Fri 7 March – Sat 15 March, 8pm

PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE Tue 18 March, 1.30pm

MACROBERT (Stirling) Wed 19 March, 7.30pm

THE LEMON TREE (Aberdeen) Thu 20 March, 7pm

LOCHGELLY CENTRE (Fife) Sat 22 March, 7.30pm

ACHMORE HALL (near Stromeferry) Tue 25 March, 8pm

EDEN COURT (Inverness) Wed 26 March, 8pm

THE STUDIO @ FESTIVAL THEATRE (Edinburgh) Sat 29 March, 7.30pm

Autumn 2014

THE BEACON (Greenock) Wednesday 27 August, 7.30pm

PERTH CONCERT HALL Friday 29 & Saturday 30 August, 8pm

PLATFORM (Glasgow) Tuesday 2 September, 7:30pm

HOWDEN PARK CENTRE (Livingston) Wednesday 3 September, 7:30pm

FTH (Falkirk) Thursday 4 September, 7:30pm

UNLIMITED FESTIVAL at SOUTHBANK CENTRE (London)
Saturday 6 September, 7:30pm
Sunday 7 September, 5:30pm

SHERMAN CYMRU (Cardiff)
Wednesday 10 & Thursday 11 September, 7:30pm
Friday 12 & Saturday 13 September, 5:30pm & 9pm

Edinburgh Fringe 2015 – Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Mon 17 – Sun 30 Aug 2015

Summer 2016

Soho Theatre, London Mon 11 Apr – Sat 7 May 2016

Teatro Valle Inclán, Madrid, Spain Fri 20 – Sat 21 May 2016

Teatre El Musical, Valencia, Spain Sat 28 May 2016

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