“Our members describe us as a second family, a tribe. It’s a joy to be part of that”

“What cloying meat is love when matrimony’s the sauce to it?”

From November 14-25 Bristol’s Stepping Out Theatre offer a dry look at marriage with their immersive production of Sir John Vanbrugh’s 1697 Restoration comedy The Provoked Wife in the beautiful setting of his own design, the 18th-century Kings Weston House on the outskirts of Bristol.

A Heritage Lottery Fund project, the play is being performed in the very house that the playwright himself designed. The Provoked Wife was penned by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1697, one of several plays written before he switched careers and became an architect instead. Kings Weston House is one of his designs, as is Blenheim Palace.

Stepping Out is a charity that helps people experiencing mental illness. Founded in 1997, the company has helped thousands of mental health service users, empowering them to connect with the arts and the wider community. Patron Mark Rylance says; “If you want to hear something true, go and hear what Stepping Out Theatre are saying.” Like all Stepping Out productions, The Provoked Wife will feature a mix of professional actors and talented service users.

Here is director and Stepping Out founder Steve Hennessy.

This year marks 20 years since I set up Stepping Out Theatre. Back then I was a social worker – but also a playwright with a deep love of theatre, and I had a sense of the huge capacity that theatre has to help people heal from mental health problems. I ran regular drama workshops with mental health service users that I worked with at a psychiatric hospital and in the local community. We put on a production for World Mental Health Day 1997 called The Voyages of the Starship Lunar Sea. The show won a national award for Best Event, World Mental Health Day. This success led to the creation of Stepping Out Theatre – and we have never looked back.

Some of the cast of ‘The Provoked Wife’ at Kings Weston House. Photo: Adam Gasson / adamgasson.com

We now run regular drama workshops, open to anyone experiencing mental health issues. These weekly sessions are a great introduction to the group. We’re currently working towards our Christmas show: most years, during our 20-year history, we have also put on a big summer production which is our flagship project. We had a year off this year, but we’re thrilled to be putting this on again in 2018.

These workshops really are an integral part of Stepping Out: it’s much more than a drama group and really is a community. We’ve got people in the group who have been coming for 15 years and longer, and the friendships and bonds that are formed are incredible.

I feel strongly that this sense of community is missing from our society, and that this affects our mental health: we are fractured, fragmented. In Medieval times, communities used to put on a mystery play every year: the whole village would get involved. Nowadays the biggest cause of mental health problems is isolation. Our groups strive to counteract that and create a sense of belonging.

Scene from a previous Stepping Out production, ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’

The words that people who come to the group use to describe it are ‘second family’ and ‘tribe’ – and it’s a joy to be part of that. Anyone is welcome, whether they are referred by a professional or just want to come along themselves. All the groups are completely free and we also have an active social life, planning theatre trips and days out together.

We also run professional productions as a way to raise money for the charity, which service users can also get involved in. Our next one is the Restoration comedy The Provoked Wife, which we’re putting on at Kings Weston House. We like to do lots of different types of production and to try new things all the time. We’ve never done a Restoration comedy before, so we’re excited to be putting this on.

The Stepping Out office is in Shirehampton so we’re very aware of how wonderful Kings Weston House is. We’ve done parties and events there in the past – including a fantastic one with the The Fantasy Orchestra.

The house was designed by the architect Sir John Vanbrugh, who also penned The Provoked Wife: a perfect pairing that we wanted to explore. The connection between theatre and architecture is very interesting and also one we wanted to explore. We’re really doing that with this performance as we’ve updated it and made it an immersive piece which uses the house, which could even be described as an extra character.

Briony Waite, our director, is taking the play in exciting directions. The play has been given a modern treatment, keeping with the spirit of the original, but adding more music and dancing. Audiences can expect a sumptuous blend of baroque and Latin American music and the costumes will be based on Restoration clothes, with a touch of spice to lend a party feel. Imagine lots of frothy lace and tulle to reflect Vanbrugh’s interior at Kings Weston House, but with a lot of ladies’ underwear plus a pinch of the Hellfire Club! We are also thrilled to be supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund for this production.

More from ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’

Norman Routledge, who now owns Kings Weston House, has really given it a new lease of life. It is a hidden gem, and one that a lot of Bristolians aren’t aware of.

We’re holding a very special gala dinner as part of the run to raise money for Stepping Out. It’s on November 18, and can be paired with either the matinee or the evening performance. This sumptuous dinner is going to be held in the grand dining room and will be steeped in history. We are honoured that George Ferguson, a man who understands the unique relationship between theatre and architecture, will be our special guest for the evening. Actor and composer John Telfer will also be joining us: best known for his roles in Bergerac and for 14 years as the The Archers’ Reverend Alan Franks, John is also a talented composer and wrote some of the music we are using for the production.

As the history of the house and the play is so unique, we’re also doing some outreach work around it. Local schools will be attending workshops in the house and we are running an exhibition at Bristol’s Central Library. Many of our service users are involved in this and will be in costume to publicise the show. Plus we are offering special highly discounted rates to schools for all performances and a special matinee performance for schools only (Wed Nov 22), with tickets just £2.

We’re really looking forward to welcoming people to The Provoked Wife. and inviting them to discover Kings Weston House and its history with our unique immersive performance. Upon entry, before the play has even begun, guests will arrive and take in the splendour of this house, with its magnificent ceilings, marble fireplaces and stunning suspended central staircase. Actors will be coming out of paintings and from behind statues, getting people into the swing of the evening.

Stepping Out’s 2010 community theatre show ‘Waiting for Wilmot’ was a tribute to their co-founder Ian Wilmot, who dies in 2008

Sir John Vanbrugh believed that “the stage is a glass for the world to view itself in; people ought therefore to see themselves as they are; if it makes their faces too fair, they won’t know they are dirty, and by consequence will neglect to wash ‘em.” So people can enjoy an extremely entertaining and wry look at themselves via the cast of actors who will be holding up the figurative mirrors and pulling the audience into an experience they will never forget.

Stepping Out perform The Provoked Wife at Kings Weston House from Nov 14-25, Tue-Sat 7.30pm plus Sats  2.30pm, £12/£10 concs. The gala dinner on Nov 18 is £30 – tickets for the matinee or evening performance should be bought separately. For more info, visit www.steppingouttheatre.co.uk

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