Pemads will stage the beloved British play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Little Theatre at the Athenaeum in Athol Fugard Terrace from Wednesday.
The play is directed by award-winning actress and director Lesley Barnard and features a multi-talented cast in Yolande Farrow as Mari Hoff, and Gemma Barnard as Little Voice, Gareth Bain as Ray Say and Bennie Gerber as Mr Boo. The cast also includes the now well-known talents of Tim Collier as Billy, Jamie-lee Reynolds as Sadie and Mark Farrow in a cameo and as master set-builder.The play was written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright, and is set in a Northern English town in the late 1980s.
It opened in 1992, directed by Sam Mendes, with a premiere at the Royal National Theatre and with Jane Horrocks as Little Voice. In 1993, it won the Laurence Olivier award for best comedy and enjoyed a successful revival in 2009 with Diane Vickers (X-Factor UK) taking over as Little Voice. The play was adapted for the big screen in 1998, then just called Little Voice, and starring Horrocks in the title role, Brenda Blethyn as Mari Hoff (for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), Michael Caine as Ray Say, Jim Broadbent as Mr Boo and Ewan McGregor as Billy.
The play is about a shy, reclusive girl named Little Voice and her larger-than-life, out-of-control mother, Mari.Desperately missing her late father, Little Voice spends her time locked in her bedroom listening to his old record collection and perfecting astonishing impersonations of famous divas including Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Dusty Springfield.When Mari starts dating small-time club agent Ray Say,  he  hears Little Voice sing and believes she's his ticket to the big time. 
“This play is part fairytale – you want Little Voice to be rescued by Billy – part Greek tragedy in the relationship between Little Voice and Mari, but also a triumph as Little Voice finds her own voice,” Barnard said.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice will run nightly at 7.30pm from August 15 to 25.
There is a matinee on Sunday August 19 at 2.30pm. There is no show on August 20.
Bookings are at Computicket.