Expatriates find shady side of their place in the sun

Jun 24 2010 by Barbara Hodgson, The Journal

GUARANTEED to get you in the holiday mood – if you haven’t already been off to pastures hot – is a play opening tonight which offers Gala Theatre audiences a sun-soaked look at life for Geordie expats in Tenerife.

Sun Trap is the Durham theatre’s latest in-house production and its third written by local playwright Ian Skelton.

It’s a funny and touching take on expatriates who have moved from the North East to escape life’s troubles but find there are still a few clouds on the horizon.

Actor Mark Stratton, who spent his youth in Middlesbrough, swaps Whitby where he now lives for the rather warmer shores of the Spanish island as his gift-of-the-gab character Alan Fairley – a gambler who’s battled through divorce and bankruptcy – now happily teeters on the brink of a property fortune.

Mark, who’s also a director of the Esk Valley Theatre Company, has worked in theatre with Sir Alan Ayckbourn and John Godber as well as on TV.

Joining him are locals Cheryl Marie Dixon, who trained at Northumbria University and plays Alan’s younger girlfriend Stephanie, and Dangerfield actress Tracy Gillman whose recent stage work includes the Newcastle premiere at Northern Stage of Rutherford and Sun.

Here she plays Paula, a woman pining for home, while her not-so-happy husband Don – who joins Alan in his money-making property scheme – is played by David Lonsdale who’s best known for his TV role as series regular David Stockwell in Heartbeat and The Royal.

It’s not long before their high life in the sun is marred and they’re at each other’s throats – especially when the men are on the golf course.

There’s always trouble in paradise it seems but, if the play still leaves you with a yearning for the sun, then you’ll find the theatre is also offering ticket-holders a chance to win a holiday abroad.

The play opens tonight and is award-winning Durham-born writer Skelton’s third to premiere at the Gala, following Beamish Boy in 2007 and 2008’s Get Off At Gateshead.

Sun Trap runs until July 3. June 28 is a Pay What You Like Night and there are free Gala Engage tickets (aimed at 16 to 26-year-old local people) available for June 25, 29 and 30. For tickets – and details of the prize draw to win vouchers for a trip to the sun – visit www.galadurham.co.uk or call the box office on 0191 332 4041.

Barbara Hodgson