All Those On Board: New lido based musical from the Drip Drop Theatre

All Those On Board tells the story of a group of outdoor swimming enthusiasts who are intent on saving and reopening the town’s 1930s art deco lido which has been closed for almost 30 years. With a deadline for demolition fast approaching, the group members are determined to come up with the funding to save the lido, no matter what lengths they have to go to.

Writer, Emily Roberts, says “it’s the most colourful musical I’ve written to date. We have stripy deck chairs, beach balls, several rounds of vibrant swimming hats and there’s even a scene with multicoloured umbrellas and waterproofs - after all, it’s set in Britain. The cast double up as the musicians and between them play piano, violin, ukulele, banjolele, cajon, recorder, clarinet and saxophone.”

The idea for the musical came up after a chance meeting with members of Save Grange Lido in Grange-over-Sands. Emily was inspired by their determination to restore the town’s lido which closed in 1993. The first three nights of the tour are local to the cast and the last four nights are in towns with a lido connection.

Emily’s previous four musicals have covered a range of stories from widowhood to farming to Eurovision. She says “this is the first musical I’ve written in which the love story is not between two people. The love story in this is between a group of people and a lido”.

All Those On Board stars Rachel Burton, Helen Crompton, Andrew Cromarty, Christopher Williams, Mike Wray, T. Jay Simpson, Tracy Weatherer, Adrian Roberts, Emily Briscombe, Sally Haywood, Autumn Wray and Emily Roberts.

All shows start at 7.30pm and details can be found on the theatre website: dripdroptheatre.com.