In praise of wartime WRNS

Lawrence Batley Theatre on April 13 (7.30pm); The Leggers Inn, Dewsbury on April 28 (7.30pm).

The inventive Mikron Theatre Company returns to the Lawrence Batley Theatre main stage for the world premiere of its show about recruits to the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS), or ‘Jenny Wrens’. On top of being a fun-filled nautical adventure the play continues a Mikron tradition of creating powerfully relevant theatre about British social history. After the opening night at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Mikron will tour All Hands on Deck nationwide. The story revolves around new WRNS recruits Ginger and Lily who are looking for wartime adventure. Lily wants to serve on dry land but Ginger is desperate to serve at sea.

All Hands on Deck is a joyous love story between the Royal Navy and its Wrens filled with warmth, wit, and adventures into unchartered waters. The Wrens pay tribute to all the wartime women who pushed the door to opportunity firmly open.

Mikron Theatre delivers uniquely British stories to community doorsteps, touring in spaces large and small, from theatres to parks and the back rooms of pubs. In 2018 Mikron Theatre performed their suffragette play Revolting Women at the Lawrence Batley Theatre. The company is one of the Arts Council England National Portfolio organisations and its funding for 2018 – 22 will see them sail into their 50th year of touring. The company annually commissions two new scripts with original music, that it perform ‘in rep’ touring by road in spring and autumn and, in summer, aboard its historic narrowboat, Tyseley. It is the only company to tour professional theatre to canal and riverside venues by inland waterways.Its work is rooted in social history and contemporary movements.

For tickets go to www.mikron.org.uk/shows