Listen at Lunch: stories inspired by Queen Bee

Actors Joanna Holden (who plays Eusapia), Rachel Donovan (Angel) and Karen Traynor (Ruth) from the North East Theatre Consortium’s production of Margaret Wilkinson’s Queen Bee, read two new stories inspired by the play:

In An Endless Road by PJ Langley, a man drives through silent and lonely country roads, haunted by an incident that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

In Spinnerinnen by Gibby Keys, a lonely young girl lives in a make-believe land of medieval princesses and fairytale castles, but her imagined and real worlds blur with disastrous consequences.

Joanna, Rachel and Karen will also be reading the stories at Queen’s Hall, Hexham, on Tuesday 19 May at 1.30pm. Call 01434 652477 for more details.

Buy the book

Don’t forget you can buy copies of the Queen Bee play text directly from us at www.newwritingnorth.com/shop/shop.php?section=1.

Listen at Lunch

New Writing North and Northern Stage present

Listen at Lunch

New ghost stories Inspired by Queen Bee

Following the success of the first Listen at Lunch, we are really pleased to announce Listen at Lunch 2.  It will take place in Stage 3 at Northern Stage on Thursday 14 May.

Actors Joanna Holden (who plays Eusapia), Rachel Donovan (Angel) and Karen Traynor (Ruth) from the North East Theatre Consortium’s production of Queen Bee will read two new stories inspired by the play.

In An Endless Road by PJ Langley, a man drives through silent and lonely country roads, haunted by an incident that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

In Spinnerinnen by Gibby Keys, a lonely young girl lives in a make-believe land of medieval princesses and fairytale castles, but her imagined and real worlds blur with disastrous consequences.

Tickets are £8 including lunch from McKenna’s (this must be booked no later than Wednesday 13 May), or £3 without. To book tickets call Northern Stage’s box office on 0191 230 5151 or book online at www.northernstage.co.uk.

Lunch is served at 1pm. Reading begins approx 1.30pm. The event is expected to finish around 2pm.

Joanna, Rachel and Karen will also be reading the stories at Queen’s Hall, Hexham, on Tuesday 19 May at 1.30pm. Call 01434 652477 for more details.

Queen Bee on Radio Newcastle

Don’t miss Joanna Holden, who plays Eusapia in Queen Bee, being interviewed by BBC Radio Newcastle’s Alfie Joey. Click here to listen

The making of Queen Bee

A contemporary gothic ghost story with a psychological twist

When Ruth, a psychiatric nurse, takes a job as a live-in carer in an isolated Northumberland house with her patient, Angel, and an elderly housekeeper, Eusapia, she is looking forward to an easy ride after her former employment in a busy hospital. Soon though, the women are threatened by a figure lurking outside. Is it a figment of a hysterical woman’s imagination? An intruder? Or could it be the previous master of the house? Locked indoors together, the three women become increasingly suspicious of each other. Someone is not who she says she is.

The women have created an eccentric world for themselves inside the house, with disturbing references to the outside world only occasionally seeping in. This provides the backdrop for the play’s quirky sense of humour with imaginative physical performances from actresses Rachel Donovan, Joanna Holden and Karen Traynor.

In writing the play, Margaret Wilkinson was inspired by the psychological depth of classic ghost stories such as Henry James’s novella Turn of the Screw and its film adaptation, The Innocents. Queen Bee is a ghost story for the stage, it is also a psychological exploration of personalities under pressure.

Who is to be trusted and who is to be feared? All the doors have been bolted against the unknown, but inside the struggle goes on. Who will be Queen Bee?