The Other Side Of The Net follows the story of professional tennis players American No 1 Stella Myers and British No 1 Rose Winterburn. Stella is desperate to be the first player since Steffi Graf to win all four grand slams in one calendar year. Rose has her heart set on being the first British female this millennium to win Wimbledon. Trouble is, they can’t both realise their dreams at the same time.
Writer Emily Roberts, says “the whole idea for the show came about during a trip to Wimbledon last summer. I was sitting on Court No 1 between matches and began thinking about how fun it would be to create a song involving tennis racquets in the choreography. That was pretty much all it took to start what has now become a full-length musical.”
“With each new musical, it’s good to try out different ideas in terms of the staging. In last year’s seaside-themed All Those On Board, there was a lot of focus on colour using deck chairs, beach balls, umbrellas, waterproofs and vintage swimming hats. This time, it’s all about the on-stage tennis matches. Audience members will become tennis fans at the four grand slams in Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon and New York. If you’re coming to the show, expect to be cheering for Stella or Rose along with the rest of the crowd.”
It will be the first time since Drip Drop Theatre’s 2012 production run of Going Grey that all the shows are in one venue. As Emily explains “we performed at Ripon Arts Hub for one night during last year’s musical tour. The venue suited us well so we decided to do our full run there this time. It also means we can prepare our on-stage tennis court in one place.”
The Other Side of The Net stars Elle Kay-Coles as Stella Myers and Emily Briscombe as Rose Winterburn alongside another fifteen cast members. It features sixteen new original songs, live acoustic band, stylish sportswear, tennis commentators, plenty of racquet and the occasional bowl of strawberries and cream.
The show is sponsored by Upstage Academy, Ripon and Platinum Print, Harrogate. All shows start at 7.30pm and details can be found on the theatre website: dripdroptheatre.com.