Three siblings facing the end of the world in this drama premiere

Branch with Prue Griffiths, a members of Leeds University’s PR and marketing team; Lynne Whitaker, a retired civil servant; and Joe, who works in IT. The four met while acting with Huddersfield Thespians.

Root & Branch produced its first play, A Respectable Wedding, last year at Great Manchester Fringe and they’ll be taking 18 Victoria to the festival in July this year.

Joe heads a small cast of three in 18 Victoria, playing the youngest sibling Ben. Lynne is stage managing and Prue has been working behind the scenes to promote the show.

For Julie, the aim of setting up a company was to pursue a career in theatre after retiring from teaching.

She says: “Another driving factor was age. Three of us are women over 50 and we were fed up with the lack of roles for older women.” She has experience of fringe theatre and short films.

Prue’s background was in community theatre, while Joe has been involved with the semi-professional Huddersfield company Dick & Lottie.

They plan another production later this year to mark World Aids Day in November.

Tickets for 18 Victoria are £8 to £12 from thelbt.org.uk or 01484 430528. Root & Branch Productions members (from left): Julie Root, Prue Griffiths, Lynne Whitaker and Joe Geddes at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield

Picture by Laura Mateescu