A DALE theatre company has returned from its most successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The Good Boyfriend, a murder-mystery, was the third play taken by the Woolly Sheep Theatre Company to Edinburgh.
Featuring actors Peter Cockerill and Sarah Fells, The Good Boyfriend enjoyed a run of eight performances at a 40-seater venue inside the Hilton Hotel, in North Bridge Street, Edinburgh.
The play was penned by the company’s writer Rob Wilson and directed by Andrew Harrison, a teacher at Forest of Teesdale Primary School.
This latest venture to Edinburgh came on the back of the company’s debut D-Day Dodgers and last year’s one-man show Not Dead Yet.
Mr Cockerill said The Good Boyfriend had sold out two performances and achieved an overall attendance of 80 per cent, making it the most successful show to date.
“With 3,800 shows per day, the biggest challenge was to get people to come and see it,” he said.
“Murder-mystery is a popular genre, so it was an easier sell, and you have to build your name and following.
“This year was a pretty good effort. To average 80 per cent occupancy is a good strike rate,” he added.
“The average audience at an Edinburgh Show is six and I have been at shows where there has only been three or four people.
“You just don’t know who is going to come.”
Murder-mystery productions are second nature to Mr Cockerill, whose main acting job is performing in whodunnits all over the country most weekends.
He is now hoping the company can take The Good Boyfriend on the road this autumn and is looking for suitable venues.
“Nothing is confirmed, but it would be silly not to take advantage of the Edinburgh Fringe.
“I would hope to perform it again during the autumn,” he added.
“The show is 45 minutes long, so it might be possible to perform this and last year’s Not Dead Yet.”
Venues interested in staging the show can contact Mr Cockerill vis www.woolly sheeptheatrecompany.weebly .com or via the theatre group’s Facebook page.
Search for Woolly Sheep Theatre Company.
