Godber Returns to Hull Truck with New Play Debt
John Godber will present a play at Hull Truck for the first time since leaving his post as artist in residence (formerly artistic director) of the venue when his latest work, The Debt Collectors, tours there in November.
He has since formed The John Godber Company, which is producing The Debt Collectors alongside Theatre Royal Wakefield (they will collaborate on two further tours of Godber’s work next year).
Speaking to Whatsonstage.com about his return, Godber said: “The venue is in the city where I live and where there is a large audience for my work which has been built up over the last twenty six years. I am delighted to be back in the theatre that I helped to design.”
The Debt Collectors follows two out of work actors who strike it rich in the world of debt recovery. Frustrated with the acting business, they take up jobs with a debt collection agency only to discover that they have a natural flair for extracting cash.
Starring Rob Hudson as Spud (The Bill, Red Riding, Mike Bassett: England Manager) and William Ilkley as Loz (Dalziel and Pascoe, Holby City, The Royal), it opens at The New Vic Theatre, Newcastle Under Lyme on 7 September before embarking its UK tour.
John Godber was born in West Yorkshire in 1956, and joined Hull Truck in 1984 after a spell as a drama teacher. His work has won numerous prizes, including five Edinburgh Fringe Firsts and Oliviers for Up ‘n’ Under and Bouncers.
As well as Hull Truck, where it runs from 1 to 12 November, The Debt Collectors will also visit: Theatre Royal York; The Victoria Theatre, Halifax; Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal; The Plowright Theatre, Scunthorpe; The Customs House, South Shields; Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds; Buxton Opera House; Theatre Royal Wakefield; Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough; Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne; and The Festival Theatre, Chichester.
