It’s more than 60 years old, but a new version of Spring and Port Wine in Bolton this month shows the play is a relevant as it ever was, says star Mina Anwar
The original play was written for radio in the late 1950s and within two years it had been adapted for television and the stage at the Bolton Hippodrome. It had success in London’s West End in the 60s and there were performances on Broadway and a tour to Australia. In 1970 a film version was made which remains one of the key kitchen sink dramas.
And yet, Mina Anwar, the Accrington-born actor who will take a lead role in a new production at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton this month, says Spring and Port Wine is just as relevant today as it ever was.
The play is set in the home of the Crompton family with a domineering father struggling to adapt as his four children grow up.
In this version, which is set in spring 1966, Mina plays the wife and mother, often described as “long-suffering”, but she said: ‘That’s just another way of describing someone who’s patient and deals with everything. She responds to things rather than reacting to things – it's a beautifully observed piece of writing. She is always moving, she never sits, she’s constantly dealing with things.
‘It’s interesting to play a woman my age but from a different era, like the people I knew growing up. This play is really important and this narrative has never belonged to an Indian woman from the north of England before.
‘There was so much societal change happening in the 60s and the play is such a fascinating observation of northern working class families. It feels like a period piece but it’s so relevant to the changes in politics, economics and society we are seeing today – there's always a new generation coming through and that transition has to be negotiated.
‘It’s a very funny and very moving play about family dynamics and it seems so appropriate for the times we are living through, with the struggles we are all dealing with and the cost of living crisis.’
The play will be presented in the round, giving a real sense of intimacy with the audience right there in the Cromptons’ kitchen with them. That will be a very different experience to Mina’s previous stage role in the West End Show Life of Pi, a show that was delayed more than a year by the pandemic.
She last performed in Bolton just before the lockdown forced theatres to close their doors. ‘It was Shirley Valentine at the library during the Octagon’s renovation and that was just before the pandemic changed everything. We were playing to sell out audiences and suddenly the theatres were shut. It’ll be good to be back.
‘I spent eleven months in the West End doing Life of Pi and after something intense like that it can be hard to know what you want to do but this story speaks to me. I know these people, I grew up surrounded by them and it will be interesting to re-visit them.’
In Spring and Port Wine, Mina will play opposite Liverpool-born Les Dennis who comes to Bolton fresh from playing Grandad Trotter in the West End production of Only Fools and Horses.
The production will be directed by the Octagon’s Artistic Director, Lotte Wakeham, and Mina added: ‘I’m delighted and excited to be back in Bolton in such a well-loved play. The Octagon Theatre is a magical space. After playing a sold out run of Shirley Valentine in 2020, I can’t wait to work with the brilliant Lotte Wakeham again. A community needs a vibrant, brave theatre to tell their stories, and I’m certain this classic northern play will resonate with the generous Octagon audiences.’
Mina, who is a former pupil of Accrington’s Moorhead High School, got her big break in the mid-90s sitcom The Thin Blue Line and she went on to numerous television roles including parts in Coronation Street, Shameless, The Bill and Doctor Who.
Before her appearance in Life of Pi, she was in the acclaimed musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. She is also a classically trained mezzo soprano, sings big band jazz and has performed on backing vocals for The Charlatans.
Spring and Port Wine will be at the Octagon Theatre Bolton from February 3-March 4. Tickets start from £15. To book, call the Octagon Box Office on 01204 520661 or go to octagonbolton.co.uk
READ MORE: Theatre review: Spring and Port Wine, Bolton Octagon
