Medway stage set for red hot love

The complexities of mid-life crisis will be explored on a Rochester stage this month.

Medway Little Theatre (MLT) will examine the greater meaning of life when the stage doors open for its latest play, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers.

The Neil Simon play, which premiered in New York in 1969, is the story of fish-restaurant owner Barney Cashman (Simon Watson) and his aim to transform his mundane life in to an exciting sexual adventure.

Determined to escape his drab 23 year marriage to wife Thelma, Barney embarks on an affair with another woman for just one afternoon.

Inviting potential suitors to his mother's apartment while she is at work, Barney encounters the troubled characters of Elaine Navazio (Liz Taylor-Moon) and the young out-of-work actress Bobbi Michelle (Jessica Hayhow), whose lives centre on sex addiction and smoking dope.

But after meeting family friend Jeanette Fisher (Stephanie Anderson), Barney gradually develops greater confidence with women and gains new hope that his life can finally become special.

Writer Neil Simon – who has gained multiple awards for his comic dramas including the Pulitzer Prize for Lost in Yonkers in 1991 – describes his tales "as dramas that happen to be funny."

The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, which was nominated for a 1970 Tony Award for Best Play, sees MLT's Andy Taylor direct his second production, following the very successful Private Lives in 2011.

Opening on Thursday, March 21, the play will run for nine nights at the Rochester High Street theatre until Saturday, March 30, with each performance at 7.30pm.

Tickets range from as little as £6.50 up to just £8, while audiences can take their seats for £5 on Monday, March 25, thanks to the theatre's dedicated Bargain Night.

To book, contact MLT's Box Office Manager, Janet Watson, by phone, on: 01634 400322, or buy tickets online here.