It's Creative Cow’s 5th Birthday and the Devon based company is taking a classic 70's comedy on the road in it's biggest tour yet.

Born in the Gardens by Peter Nichols combines an examination of the choices faced by a comically eccentric family with a sharp look at the state of the nation.

The play was first performed in 1979, just after The Iron Lady came to power. British behaviour was changing under the onslaught of a different morality in business and upheaval in social structure. 

As director Amanda Knott points out, it is a timely revival: She says: “Born in the Gardens is a beautifully written and very funny play, while at the same time being a devastatingly accurate snapshot of it’s times. Britain was as broken then, certainly divided, as it is now and our historical perspective on the play makes it even more fascinating.

Living in a crumbling mock-Tudor house in Bristol are elderly Maud and her stay-at-home son Maurice who have settled into a routine seemingly undisturbed by the very recent death of Maud’s husband.

Maud wants nothing more than a good sit down, to chat with the people on her television and to create exotic cocktails made with ingredients like “tequinol”. One of many hilarious Bristolian malapropisms uttered by Maud, others include “michaelwave” and "Afrodisiac" for her hairdo. 

70-odd Maud is played by 30-something Katherine Senior who is up for the challenge. She says: "Leaving aside the obvious comic potential of the role, Peter Nichols has created a character with a history. She's so much a part of her time but she yearns for a past beyond even that."

Maurice (Edward Ferrow) overprotects his mother, talks to the cat, plays his drums and adores his jazz 78's. Into this idyll comes the future - Maurice's older brother Hedley (Jonathan Parish), now a Labour MP, and his twin sister Queenie (Rachel Howells) who escaped to America. Can Hedley and Queenie convince Maud and Maurice to split up, turn their backs on Bristol and lead a more "normal" life in L.A. and London?

Press quotes from 2011

WhatsOnStage " the hugely talented and inventive Creative Cow continues to promote and present top notch theatre around the UK and Hard Times is a fine example of their work.

The Guardian“..great fun, and exuberantly performed.. inventively and with vim..” (The Fair Maid of the West) 

The Stage "in a production that engages and entertains there are many memorable skilfully delineated characters" (Hard Times)

"The Creative Cow performers are simply stunning...directed with incisive attention...don't miss this superb production." (Look Back in Anger)