"Sand House" - the Play
Why a Sand House Play?
The team behind the ongoing promotion of Doncaster’s lost Victorian marvel, as a heritage and educational resource, believes that there are lots more people out there who would really enjoy finding out all about the Sand House and who would be amazed by it. In spite of the books, numerous newspaper articles, illustrated talks, radio interviews, exhibitions, television coverage and our online presence, we have only reached a fraction of our potential audience. A stage play, which took place in 2018, provided a way of reaching new people – and a different demographic – as well as telling the story in a way that was more accessible for many.
In 2024 we went on to produce an audio drama, adapted from the stage play. This allows listeners anywhere in the world to enjoy the remarkable story of the Sand House.
Sand House stage play
The Sand House stage play ran for five performances at Cast theatre, in Doncaster, in June 2018. The creative team was led by writer Peter Spafford and director Olwen May. Three performances sold out and the others also attracted large audiences.
During the course of the project, we produced a short documentary film, which you can watch by clicking below.
The outcome
The play was a great success! These are just a few of the comments received from audience members:
“A complete and absolute triumph”
“Truly fabulous, so incredibly well written and performed”
“What a brilliant experience that was”
“This is quite possibly the best piece of theatre I have ever seen in CAST’s Second Space!”
Sand House audio drama
In order to bring the Sand House play to a much wider audience, it was decided to produce an audio drama, as an adaptation of the stage play. It was recorded in August 2024, in the studios of Chapel FM, Leeds. The sound designer/music composer was Nicolas Lewis.
Click on the image below to listen to the 70-minute long audio drama. It is also available on many podcast platforms; search for ‘Sand House audio drama’.
Once again, we have been delighted by the comments from listeners. Here are just two examples:
“What a real find this audio drama was for me, and I hope for many others. Captivating. Creative. Touching. Humorous. Inspiring. Meaningful. Profound. I fell in love with the whole production. Both the child and adult actors were just superb.”
“Have just listened to Sand House and was totally gripped and amazed. I had intended to listen to another story but my finger slipped on the screen. A very happy accident indeed. I shall definitely seek out a website to learn more.”