New songs, New Characters, New Show.
The Tree of War grew bigger than ever before.
Following the storming success of the September Preview Production The Tree of War returned to the Manchester stage in its new, fully-fledged form. In this new show, we delve further into Grandpa Bert’s story, exploring the lives of our characters in new, exciting and emotional ways. The original songs, including favourites such as “Over the Top,” “Mary Mortar” and “The Train” are joined by a whole host of new musical numbers presented by a full company of actors, with the whole score now accompanied by a live orchestra.
The production ran from 15th-19th September 2015.
The team behind September 2014’s show once again headed up the production of this new, extended show. Composer Oliver Mills returned to Direct and Produce, whilst Writer Rachel Mann shared Production duties.
The show once again utilised the fantastic, unusual and dynamic space that St Nicholas Church, Burnage provides; converting it into a fully-functional theatrical space for the week-long run. The location of the church also places us at the heart of the town where the show is set.
THE CAST OF THE 2015 PRODUCTION
BERT TROTT – Alex Cosgriff
GREVILLE HARCOURT – Sam Gilliatt
EDITH CHADDERTON – Rebecca McAuley
ADA TROTT – Beryl Nairn
GRANDPA BERT – Mike Law
DOUGIE McBRIDE – Jamie Rahman
ALF BARBER – Tom Fawcett
HARRY COOPER – Will Spence
REG SMITH – Joe Clayton
DAVEY GREYBRIDGE – Alex Pollard
FRANK OWEN – Tom Davidson
MARGARET BLAXLEY – Barbara Purvis
ANNA (Tuesday, Thursday, Sat. Matinee) – Lucy Smith
ANNA (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) – Maddie Corcoran
TOMMY LONGSIGHT/ENSEMBLE – Alex Curwen
VERA EDGELEY/ENSEMBLE/DANCER – Eilidh Pollard
DOROTHY APPLETON/ENSEMBLE – Hannah Goldsby
EMILY CLEMENTS/ENSEMBLE – Paige Campbell
ALICE TURNBULL/ENSEMBLE – Emily Richardson
VICTORIA SHUTTLEWORTH/MOTHER/ENSEMBLE – Lyndsey Florin
MAVIS LONGSIGHT/ENSEMBLE – Georgia Curwen