Talisman Theatre and Arts Centre Barrow Road, Kenilworth CV8 1EG

Monday 14th - Saturday 19th April 2025

ENCHANTED APRIL

We have two wheelchairs spaces as indicated on the seating plan above.

To check availability and book please contact the Box Office on 01926 856548 (or email us through our Contact Us page)

Click for Seating Plan

Rediscover laughter and romance in the Italian sunshine

by Matthew Barber

Directed by Maurice Smith

Winter, 1922. With the tragedy of the Great War a recent memory, Britain finds itself dealing with loss and change at all levels of society.

Lotty and Rose, middle-class housewives with all too middle-class lifestyles, are stuck in comfortable but lacklustre marriages. When the opportunity arises to travel abroad without their husbands for a month, the pair enlist two other ladies and embark on a trip that sees them swapping their grey, urban lives for the idyllic serenity of a rented Italian castle.

Join us amidst the sunshine and wisterias in this joyously life-affirming tale, sure to leave you positively glowing.

Age recommendation: Age 10 years and above or at parent’s discretion. Please note there is a brief and comical moment whereby a male peformer’s backside is briefly exposed.

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International on behalf of Josef Weinberger Ltd.

PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES

We have two wheelchair spaces available for each performance. To book wheelchair spaces, be added to the waiting list or ticket returns, please contact Box Office on 01926 856548 (or via our Contact Us page)

Tickets are available via the online booking system with concessions available for full time students, those in receipt of a pension, Talisman members and group bookings (for parties of 10 or more).

Talisman Theatre and Arts Centre
Barrow Road, Kenilworth CV8 1FN

We have two wheelchairs spaces as indicated on the seating plan above.

To check availability and book please contact the Box Office on 01926 856548 (or email us through our Contact Us page)

Click for Seating Plan

SHOW DETAILS

Rediscover laughter and romance in the Italian sunshine

by Matthew Barber

Directed by Maurice Smith

Winter, 1922. With the tragedy of the Great War a recent memory, Britain finds itself dealing with loss and change at all levels of society.

Join us amidst the sunshine and wisterias in this joyously life-affirming tale, sure to leave you positively glowing.

Age recommendation: Age 10 years and above or at parent’s discretion. Please note there is a brief and comical moment whereby a male peformer’s backside is briefly exposed.

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International on behalf of Josef Weinberger Ltd.

CAST, CREW & SCENE SYNOPSIS

Cast

Lotty Wilton – Paige Phelps

Mellersh Wilton – Ben Ionoff

Rose Arnott – Eleanor Lake

Frederick Arnott – Phil Spencer

Caroline Bramble – Gillian Halford

Antony Wilding – James McCabe

Mrs Graves – Chris Carpenter

Costanza – Teresa Robertson

Crew

Director – Maurice Smith

Production Manager – Wendy Elliott

Asst Stage Manager – Jane Yates

Set Design – Michael Seeley

Lighting – Nigel Elliott

Sound – Colin Thomas

Prompt – Vicky Whitehill

Props – Corrina Jacob and Connie Locker

Wardrobe – Rosemary Gowers

Publicity – Sharon Sully

Photography – Gwyn Davies

Set built by Talisman set build team

Thank you to all the front-of-house and bar volunteers.

Scene Synopsis

ACT 1 – London 1922

Sc 1 A London ladies’ club

Sc 2 The Wilton home

Sc 3 The Arnott home

Sc 4 In church

Sc 5 Home of Caroline Bramble

Sc 6 Home of Mrs Graves

Sc 7 Flat of Antony Wilding

Sc 8 Both the Arnott and Wilton homes

Sc 9 On a train

ACT 2 – Italy 1922

All set on the terrace in San Salvatore

The character names are they appear in the script as are the scene venues.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

I directed Enchanted April 18 years ago while living in Bath. The 1990s adaptation by Matthew Barber of the 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim proved a magnificent success. When I returned to live in Warwickshire and joined the Talisman, I was delighted to be asked to repeat that earlier experience.

I dug back into the play with some trepidation, wondering how appropriate this romantic and moving comedy would be to today’s sophisticated audiences. I need not have worried.

Just a few pages in, I was again laughing happily at this funny, well-written, award-winning play. The humour and machinations of Lotty and Rose, trying to break free from their class-ridden society, engender much laughter. Keeping everything hidden from their disapproving husbands while trying to mix with two other women of a higher class (for class, read money) still rings true today.

I hope you enjoy our story with as much joy, fun, and laughter as we have had putting it all together. I have found another superb cast, crew, set designer, and backstage helpers—just as I did before. The Talisman Theatre has an enormous public reputation for producing plays and shows of great variety and high professional standards, and I hope that Enchanted April will be added to that honourable list.

Maurice Smith