Stephen Joseph Theatre’s Brief Encounter actors re-enact classic scenes with iconic steam locomotive at Scarborough Railway Station

Stars from the upcoming production of Brief Encounter at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre took time out from rehearsals to meet a movie star – the LMS Royal Scot Class 46115 Scots Guardsman, the locomotive which featured in the classic 1936 film Night Mail.
Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore, who play Laura and Alec in the Stephen Joseph's production of Brief Encounter, with the LMS Royal Scot Class 46115 Scots Guardsman at Scarborough Railway StationAnne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore, who play Laura and Alec in the Stephen Joseph's production of Brief Encounter, with the LMS Royal Scot Class 46115 Scots Guardsman at Scarborough Railway Station
Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore, who play Laura and Alec in the Stephen Joseph's production of Brief Encounter, with the LMS Royal Scot Class 46115 Scots Guardsman at Scarborough Railway Station

The theatre is directly opposite the town’s railway station, so the actors had only to cross the road to meet the engine, which was hauling the Scarborough Spa Express on a round trip from Carnforth, near Lancaster – much of David Lean’s 1945 movie version of Brief Encounter was filmed at Carnforth Station.

Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore play star-crossed lovers Laura and Alec in this new production of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter, adapted for the stage by Emma Rice, and directed by Paul Robinson, at the SJT from 22 July to 27 August

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Brief Encounter is a co-production from the Stephen Joseph with Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Pete Ashmore, Joey Hickman, Robert Jackson, Lara Lewis, Natasha Lewis, Rishi Manuel and Anne-Marie Piazza star in Rice’s playful adaptation which turns Coward’s film inside out, adding joyous musical numbers and physical comedy while still maintaining the classic romance of the original.

The film starred Trevor Howard and Celia Johnspn as the star-crossed lovers. The film was based on a Coward one-act play Still Life which he adapted for the big screen. The film also starred Stanley Holloway.

The Scarborough Spa Express is run by West Coast Railways, and will travel from Carnforth to Scarborough and back twice more this summer, on Thursdays August 4 and September 1.

Brief Encounter can be seen in the Round from Friday July 22 to Saturday August 27.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It will then be performed at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, from Wednesday September 7 to Saturday September 10; at Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake from Wednesday September 14 to Saturday October 8 and at Octagon Theatre Bolton from Thursday October 20 to Saturday November 5.

Tickets for the show at the Stephen Joseph, priced from £10, are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com