By Tristan Pegg Nestled in the heart of Richmond is a theatre company that specialise in producing classics in a new light, in an atmospheric atmosphere, with original, live music. The company’s name, Ruby in the Dust. The leading lady, Linnie Reedman, and leading man, Joe Evans, behind this innovative theatre experience actually happen to be my mother and step-father.

The idea of creating a theatre company came about when they decided to turn Anton Chekov’s short story entitled the Grasshopper into a full scale production. This resulted in the debut production of Ruby in the Dust Theatre Company, titled Honest Hands Theatre Company at that time, at the fringe venue, the Union Theatre.

Since then, Ruby in the Dust has been delivering many plays known to be classic and giving them little unusual twists; some of these plays include Poprygunya, adapted from their first play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s classic play, except set in Mussolini’s Italy and Dorian Gray, the story by Oscar Wilde that was banned from book shops up and down Victorian London due to its homosexual themes.

Miracle, a South African play written by Reza de Wet about a travelling band of performers, has just finished a run at the Leicester Square Theatre. It featured famous actors Sussanah York and Tim Woodward.

Currently, they are planning a further production of Dorian Gray, under the title of the Extraordinary Cabaret of Dorian Gray, in which instead of playing through Dorian’s life, it is set at the end of it. Dorian sees his life flash before his eyes and that is what the audience sees as well.

Plans for the future include Hutch, a play about live-fast die-young musician Leslie Hutchinson and a come-back of Romeo and Juliet.