One of the country’s most versatile touring theatre companies, Mikron Theatre, will celebrate 50 years of touring with an exciting remount of its hugely successful 2015 production of Maeve Larkin’s Raising Agents.

Featuring music written by the acclaimed folk duo O’Hooley and Tidow (Gentleman Jack, BBC), the anniversary tour will start at Marsden Mechanics Hall on 7 April and will tour around the UK by road and river until 22 October.

Raising Agents tells the story of Bunnington Women’s Institute. A bit down-at-heel with memberships dwindling, the WI can barely afford the hall, let alone a decent speaker. So when a PR guru becomes a member, the women are grateful for new blood. Initially, the milk of kindness begins to sour when she re-brands them as the Bunnington Bunnies. 

With stakes higher than a five-tiered cake stand, a battle ensues for the very soul of Bunnington, and perhaps the WI itself! On the threshold of one century into the next, this tale of hobbyists and lobbyists asks how much we should know our past or how much we should let go of it.

The production’s cast includes Thomas Cotran (Great Expectations, Dundee Rep/Horsecross Arts); Alice McKenna (Beauty and the Beast, Theatr Clwyd) and James McLean (A Christmas Carol, Derby Theatre) and newcomer Hannah Bainbridge. 

Raising Agents is directed by Rachel Gee, with design by Celia Perkins and musical direction by Rebekah Hughes.

Director Rachel Gee said: “To direct for Mikron in our 50th year of touring, with such a brilliant show and team, is an honour and pleasure. The WI is such an incredible story to share, and I know everyone will love the tales, trials and tribulations.”

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