Suzan’s play set to shake up city
AN award-winning play by Prestbury playwright Suzan Holder, wife of Noddy Holder, will be performed at a festival.
‘Shake It Up Baby’ – the story of lovelorn Bev, a committed Beatles fan and housewife who launches herself into the world of internet dating – was awarded the North West Theatre Best New Play award after being performed in Manchester last year.
Suzan, a journalist and TV producer who worked at ITV and produced the daytime show Loose Women as well as being theatre producer for BBC One’s Mrs Brown’s Boys, spent three years as a writer and director of Prestbury Youth Pantomime. She also ran her own business, Dramarama, for 10 years, teaching drama to children at Prestbury and Whirley Primary Schools.
She is responsible for a cluster of sell-out shows at Mads Little Theatre in Macclesfield, with Cinderella, Aladdin and Peter Pan all gaining rave reviews at the theatre.
Original scripts for each of the shows are now selling in countries as far away as Canada and Chile as well as all around the UK.
Suzan said: “‘Shake It Up Baby’ explores life, love and lonely hearts in the suburbs of Liverpool. Bev has always been a good girl and not taken too many risks but when she joins an online dating agency she is really stretching herself out of her comfort zone.
“The play looks at whether it’s brave, or foolish to ‘shake things up’ in your life. I think I sort of know how she feels!”
She added: “I do miss working with the kids but I’m still in touch with lots of them and they’re so supportive. It’s them encouraging me now!”
The play will be at The Unity Theatre, Liverpool, on September 23 and 24 as part of the Ticket to Write Festival. Tickets are £12/£10 from unitytheatre liverpool.co.uk.