Green Carnation Company return to Hope Mill Theatre with Philip Ridley’s Vincent River

The Green Carnation Company will return to Hope Mill Theatre with a new production of Philip Ridley’s Vincent River.

The Manchester based LGBTQ+ theatre company will stage its first show since the pandemic with the 2000 play running from 12 to 19 October 2022.

Ridley’s powerful script is set in London’s East End at the turn of the millennium and explores the themes of grief, desire and family, as two connected souls meet for the first time, with devastating consequences.

Manchester-based actor Maddy Myles will play the grieving and isolated Anita while Rory McMenamin will play the mysterious teenager Davey.

Explaining the reasons for choosing Vincent River as Green Carnation’s comeback production, co-director Dan Jarvis said: “We tell queer stories through quality theatre. And there’s something so urgent – vital even – about Philip Ridley’s writing that made us think this had to be our next play. Grief, homophobia, shame… Vincent River addresses these unflinchingly. We live in uncertain times and this play speals to them.”

Ellis continued: “Returning to Hope Mill Theatre means the world to us. It’s where our journey began in 2018 with our sell-out production of The Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell. They took a risk on us and we’ve gone from strength to strength since. They do incredible work supporting new theatre makers, including their TurnOnFest for new LGBTQ+ work which we were proud to be part of in 2021.”

Joseph Houston, Director and co-founder of Hope Mill Theatre enthused: “We are thrilled to have Green Carnation back with us. In 2018 they had their debut production of The Pride which sold out and received great reviews from audiences and critics.

“We worked with them again on TurnOnFest, our annual LGBTQ+ festival, with a selection of monologues shining a light on diverse queer stories. They are an incredibly exciting, grass roots LGBTQ+ company who are making great strides in Manchester and beyond and we are thrilled to welcome them back this year with Vincent River’.”

For more information and tickets visit hopemilltheatre.co.uk and greencarnationcompany.com