Theatre company’s extra charge to spend a penny

An Ashford theatre company will raise money for charity by charging audience members to use the loo in the interval during their upcoming show.

Wiley Wolf Productions have been rehearsing for the musical Urinetown at the Liv2dance studios in Park Street in Ashford, staged in Maidstone next week.

The musical comedy follows the story of a society in a dystopian future where there is a ban on private toilets and the public amenities are charged for caused by a 20-year drought.

Company director Matty Hurst and his wife Coralie saw the show during its run in London’s West End and saw a golden fundraising opportunity for the charity Fight Bladder Cancer.

He said: “We are going to be charging audience members, theatre crew and cast members to use the loo during the interval and after the show. We’ve even been charging the cast in rehearsals. They bring their pennies every week.”

Coralie Hurst, executive producer said: “We hope that it will make the experience a little bit more authentic and it will be a fantastic touch to raise money for Fight Bladder Cancer. We were a little bit worried that it might be a sensitive subject but they said it was fantastic that we got in touch with them.”

Mr Hurst said they had chosen to perform a lesser known musical, adding: “It’s different. It’s not like your traditional musicals, and not everyone gets the chance to see shows in the West End.”

The company, who usually operate as a children’s theatre company at the Rare Breeds Centre in Woodchurch, is in it’s seventh year but this will be their first musical.

The show is performed at the Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone from next Thursday to Sunday August 7. Tickets are £14.50 and available from parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/Hazlitt-Theatre with matinees at 2.30pm on the Saturday and Sunday and evening performances at 7.30pm from Thursday to Saturday.