Award-winning Cirencester Theatre Company is busy rehearsing for Jim Cartwright's brilliantly funny yet heart-breaking production of TWO.

This is the company's first live production since the pandemic. Directed by Gill Brain, and performed by talented local actors, the play offers a glimpse of working-class life in a northern pub, a place of love, laughter, and loss.

With a constantly quarrelling landlord and landlady, and a dozen colourful regulars pulling up a stool, the rich tapestry of their interconnecting lives is revealed in one formidable night.

Cirencester Theatre Company chose the play to celebrate pub culture and the communities that meet in them, after many months of closure during the lockdown.

TWO will run for three nights from Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th of November at the Sundial Theatre in Cirencester.

Director Gill Brain said: "This is the first time we've reunited in person as a group since the pandemic - it's been pure joy to be in the presence of each other again. Our first rehearsal was rather emotional - we're creative human beings, we're built to be together."

Andy Duncan and Ellie Brown play the characters Fred and Alice. Andy is a primary school teacher at Malmesbury school and plays three characters in the play while Ellie is new to Cirencester Theatre Group and has recently graduated from the University of Winchester.

Katy Sorensen, the chair of Cirencester Theatre Company, plays the 'slightly drunk woman'. She appeared in the group's production of 'Natural Causes' back in 2019.

Matt Howard and Lesley Scoble-Ash play Roy and Lesley, who have a complex relationship mirroring a number of recent high-profile reports of domestic abuse against women.

Matt Howard's role is a tough one to play but he has lots of brilliant experience under his belt, appearing in a number of BBC television dramas including Doctor Who, Father Brown and Casualty as well as ITV's Night Stalker and Netflix's War of the Worlds. This will also be his sixth year appearing in The Phoenix Revue Company's pantomime.

Lesley Scoble-Ash is one of the founding members of our group. She's just moved house and started a new job all while learning her lines for two characters in the play.

Mark Iredale plays the 'Old Man'. Mark loves golf, going to the gym and spending time with his family. In the past he's always played a large part behind the scenes - directing, stage managing and serving as treasurer on the committee of Cirencester Theatre Company, but this is his stage debut.

All of the actors live and work in the local community - Cirencester and the surrounding villages and towns of Gloucestershire.

Experience tickets can be purchased for £16, which includes a drink, snack and exclusive seat right beside the stage, which promises to deliver a truly immersive experience.

Tiered seating offers a comfortable and unobstructed view of the stage at £12 per person (concessions £10) available from the Sundial Theatre Box Office www.sundial-theatre.co.uk 

For one night only, on Saturday, November 20, TWO will be performed inside the cosy taproom of Corinium Ales micro-brewery. Tickets for this are selling fast at £16 per person, and include a drink and snack. Bookings can be made by emailing hello@coriniumales.co.uk