************************* The play tells the story of Joy, a child left with her grandma in the Caribbean when her mother leaves to go to England. Communication between mother and daughter is sparse and comes through occasional letters and presents of new shoes and ribbons. When Joy’s beloved grandma dies, she is unceremoniously shipped to England where she meets her mother with a label around her neck like a parcel. Joy enters a new world, moving into her strange new home with its indoor bathroom and appliances like a washing machine – so different from her simpler island home. An uneasy and troubled reconciliation ensues, as she becomes the outsider to her mother’s new family of husband and half siblings. Weeding Cane, directed by Wyllie Longmore, is told simply and movingly in a sparse poetic style. The actions and words of Joy and her mother, movingly played by Carla Henry and Juliet Ellis, are underscored by an evocative double bass played live on stage by Jim Parris. This is a well crafted and moving new play by Sonia Hughes. Having built her reputation as a performance poet of some note, Sonia ‘retired’ from the spoken word scene and is fast building a name as an exceptional playwright with an original style. She said about the play , ‘I started writing in 1999 when I joined a family literacy project at my son’s primary school. As part of this project I wrote the story called Weeding Cane. Weeding Cane, the short story, was written surprisingly quickly. It was a story I’d observed in my own house as my sister had come to join the family from St Kitts when I was one and she was twelve years old. So the words just tumbled out of my head onto the page in one evening. The play, took far longer. After raising funds and approaching the green room in Manchester, I interviewed other women who had been through similar experiences of being left in the Caribbean and then brought to England to join their families. This immediately made the story I needed to tell richer and more complex. This tour marks the launch of a new theatre company - Weeding Cane. Through the making of Weeding Cane I discovered that I would like to make plays, rather than write them, that I want to work collaboratively with other artists from the beginning of the process, rather than sit alone with my computer. So, my next job is to write for the critically acclaimed company, Quarantine, who are making a show called Susan & Darren, looking at a mother and son relationship. The play that I'm writing for Nottingham Playhouse is a play that once again starts with my family - my father and his brothers. Weeding Cane's next major production will be collaboration between myself, Juliet Ellis, the designer and actor in Weeding Cane and Vicki Amedume, a circus aerialist. Based on the Bible's Song of Songs, the show will explore black female/white male relationships in a challenging and visually explosive way.’ The role of Joy is played by Carla Henry, whose credits include appearances on stage in Romeo and Juliet at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, as well as appearing on television in Bob and Rose, Clocking Off and Blue Murder. Juliet Ellis will join her onstage in the role of Joy’s mother. Juliet’s acting credits include Coronation Street, Emmerdale and appearing on stage in King Lear at The Contact Theatre in Manchester. “ the strength of Hughes’ writing is its simplicity……Wyllie Longmore gives the piece a sensitively unostentatious staging.” The Guardian Tickets are priced at £8.00 & £9.00 (Under 25s and Students at £3.50) and can be obtained by visiting the York Theatre Royal Box Office or by calling 01904 623568. The production is also part of York Theatre Royal’s, buy one event get another half price offer in The Studio. **************************