New Comedy Wolf Country Sinks Its Teeth into Yorkshire Folklore This January

This January, renowned theatre company The John Godber Company presentsWolf Country, a brand-new comedy about friendship, Yorkshire and the supernatural. The production is written and produced by Elizabeth Godber, whose previous work includes the UK Theatre Award-nominatedThe Comedy of Errors (More or Less), and directed by co-director of The John Godber Company and BAFTA award-winning writer Jane Thornton (Bouncers, UK Tour).

Combining the paranormal with an original Country Western score,Wolf Country unfolds in a world steeped in local folklore, strange happenings and things that go bump in the night. Darkly funny and atmospheric, the play explores the fragile line between the supernatural and the mind.

Set in a small Yorkshire town, best friends Alice and Eddy are happy with things staying exactly as they are, until news breaks of a potential werewolf running rampant. As Halloween approaches, Eddy rejects the rumours while Alice finds herself spiralling further down the conspiracy rabbit hole, especially after meeting self-proclaimed werewolf expert Connor. Based on the 18th Century East Yorkshire werewolf legend ‘Old Stinker’,Wolf Country draws on real reports of sightings and werewolf hunting documented in the local press, bringing a strange slice of Yorkshire folklore to the stage.

The show stars two members of The Godber Theatre Foundation, a charitable initiative run by The John Godber Company to support young people from underprivileged backgrounds in Hull and East Yorkshire into careers in theatre arts. Jade Farnill (Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre) plays the no-nonsense nurse Eddy, while Emilio Encinoso-Gil (Do I Love You?, UK Tour) takes the role of werewolf expert Connor. Completing the cast, Jo Patmore (Love’s Labour’s Lost (More or Less), Shakespeare North Playhouse) takes on the role of Alice, a country-music mega fan whose fascination with the supernatural begins to spiral.Writer Elizabeth Godber comments,I have always been interested in writing theatre that sits within the world of both reality and the supernatural, especially in the genre of comedy. I knew I wanted to write a play about living with Generalised Anxiety Disorder, a condition I myself have, but in a way that felt humorous and unique. Having grown up loving TV shows like ‘The X-Files’ and ‘Supernatural’ it felt natural to place the story as a type of ‘monster of the week’ episode, but with a deeper narrative of mental health within that.

Main image courtesy of Ian Hodgson

Back to HOME