Reasons to be cheerful - A Smile Club tours up north and it's not what you think

Welcome to Smile Club. Life’s so much better when you smile. Everyone knows that. So go on – give us a smile.
    
Set in a dystopian world in which a government drive exists to tame unruly women, Smile Club is a darkly comic one-woman show performed and written by Andrea Heaton (Fidget Theatre), with writer Adam Z. Robinson (Shivers, The Book of Darkness and Light.). Produced by Red Ladder Theatre Company and directed by Artistic Director Rod Dixon (Mother Courage and Her Children/The Damned United), this pertinent, thrilling and sharply satirical new play will tour nationally to theatres and community venues in March and April, opening at Leeds Playhouse on Thursday 5 March.
      
Smile Club follows Lisa, a Smile Club attendee. She’s been through it all and she now knows – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that nobody likes a girl who makes a fuss; nobody likes a girl who can’t take a joke. She also knows that life is simpler when you let things go. And she certainly has. All of it. Join Lisa as she presents the perks and rewards of being a Smile Club Member. Hear about her descent into dejection, rage, and bloody violence, before her remarkable transformation into the smiley, well-adjusted human you see before you today.
      
Writer and performer Andrea Heaton says: “Smile Club started as an idea from an anecdote from a friend about a man who wouldn’t allow a woman through the barrier of a train station until she’d given him a smile. It takes place in a dystopian near-future where women are routinely sent for smile treatment to correct their behaviour, wearing them down to the point of giving in and accepting the status quo. The play is inspired by movements such as MeToo and Everyday Sexism, as a way of voicing anger about the way women are treated, but it’s darkly funny and thrilling. We can’t wait for you to join the club.”
    
Red Ladder Theatre Company is one of Britain’s leading national touring companies, dedicated to producing high quality work which contributes to social change and global justice. It is a champion of new writing, particularly that which challenges or agitates and gives a voice to those who are often unheard on our stages. Through Red Ladder Localit tours quality productions into community spaces and non-theatre venues. Recent work includesGlory (UK tour) Mother Courage and Her Children (50th anniversary production); The Damned United(UK tour); The Shed Crew (world premiere production); Wrong ‘Un, The Parting Glass, The Life and Soul and Playing the Joker (Red Ladder Local).


Smile Club, Bramall Rock Void, Leeds Playhouse
5 – 7 March. Press night Thursday 5 March, 8pm
Box office: 0113 213 7700; leedsplayhouse.org.uk

Tour listings
Leeds Playhouse 5 – 7 March.
Theatre Royal Wakefield 8 March
Cast, Doncaster 11 March
Harrogate Theatre 12 and 13 March
Theatre Deli, Sheffield 14 March
The Dukes, Lancaster 17 March
Hunslet RLFC, South Leeds Stadium 18 March
Arts Centre Washington, Sunderland 19 March  
Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax 20 March
Rockingham Centre, Hoyland, Barnsley 21 March
Hawksworth Wood Village Hall, Leeds 24 March
Gipton WMC, Leeds 25 March
Shaw Lane Sports Club, Barnsley 26 March
Queen’s Mill, Castleford 27 March
St John’s Parish Hall, Barnsley 28 March
Grove Hall, Pontefract 29 March
Hull Truck Theatre, Hull 31 March
Lincoln Drill Hall, Lincoln 1 April
Torch Theatre, Pembrokeshire 2 April
Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristoli 3 and 4 April
The Cluntergate Centre, Horbury, Wakefield 5 April