A WIRRAL actor is set to appear in a new play being staged by a Chester-based theatre company following delays caused by the Covid pandemic.

Against The Grain was due to have staged its latest production, Mr Dumpling, by playwright and company co-founder Mark Newman and featuring Wirral-born Stuart Evans last year, but with lockdown restrictions in place, the show had to be shelved.

With restrictions now lifted, the company have a brand-new venue and dates for the production, which will now be staged at The Live Rooms, Chester in the autumn. It will be the first time that the popular live music venue has played host to a theatrical production.

Cast and crew were recently re-united at a read through of the script ahead of rehearsals which will commence soon.

Mr Dumpling tells the story of middle-aged man Graham who moves back in with his dysfunctional parents after splitting up with his partner. Little does he expect to find his mother operating a telephone sex line, and both of them at each other’s throats.

Playing Graham is Stuart, whose recent TV credits include Judge Rinder’s Crime Stories and the award-winning Channel 4 Aids drama It’s a Sin.The LIPA graduate has also recently filmed scenes for ITV drama series The Bay and Dodger, a new BBC period drama based on the iconic character from the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist.

He said: “It has been a long time coming but we are now ready to share Mr Dumpling with an audience. The impact of Covid has changed many lives and when you are a creative, you are really left twiddling your thumbs. The Against The Grain cast and crew are itching to bring this brilliant comedy to the stage. Just having our first read through gave us goosebumps and reignited our love and passion to create theatre.

“My character, Graham is a simple guy who only wants life to be easy yet he’s hit with so many revelations in the play. He has no choice but to take everything that is thrown at him. Each character has been pitched perfectly by Mark and, as outrageous the scenes and lines are, it is utterly believable. I am so excited to hear the audience’s reaction and of course, their laughter.”

Mr Dumpling will run at The Live Rooms from Monday, November 29 to Wednesday, December 1 at 7.30pm.