‘Poignant and funny’ Vale play returns
The brilliant Ugly Duck, a play with a fictional Port Vale fan as its lead character returns for a second run in the Potteries. We recommend all Vale fans go to see it.
Ugly Duck is produced by the Claybody Theatre group and had a short run in Burslem in 2013. It now returns for a ten-day run at the New Vic theatre in September.
Booking information
Venue: New Victoria Theatre,
Tickets: £12.00 – £21.00
Concessions: £2.00 off
Group Discounts: £2.00 off for 10 or more
First Night Fever: All seats £14.50 (no cons) Weds 3 Sep
Under 26’s go free *
* 50 free tickets are given away for every New Vic production to people under 26
From the writer of An August Bank Holiday Lark – a huge New Vic hit earlier in the year – this Potteries tale is a warmhearted comedy about life, friendship and the painful pleasures of supporting port Vale.
Burslem bloke Dennis Hancock wouldn’t win any beauty contests. He’s rapidly declining into middle age and slowly sinking into the ranks of the longterm unemployed.
But, when he answers a newspaper advertisement for an artist’s life model, he finds unexpected friends in troubled young artist Kat and her eccentric parents, Mark and Drina. And, as Kat begins to paint, Dennis finds himself exposed in more ways than one.
Warning: male nudity (barring a Port Vale bobble-hat)
OVF – ‘poignant and funny’
We reviewed the play in November 2013 saying…
“I was intrigued by “Ugly Duck” as soon as I was contacted by the Claybody Theatre group. It was supposedly all about a Vale fan who finds employment as a life model, just as long as he can keep his hat on. A simple premise, I thought. Will it be any more than the Potteries version of the “Full Monty” I wondered?
Well, I am pleased to say, it was.
Deborah McAndrew’s play has far more depth to it than that of a simple comedy. Yes, it’s funny, yes, it contains authentic references to Port Vale that a fan could find believable, but it is also a funny and thought provoking look at the struggles of Potteries folk…”