And Then Come The Nightjars

About the show

A Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds In-House Production. Written by Bea Roberts. Directed by Owen Calvert-Lyons.

A tender, frank and funny play about an unlikely friendship between a Devon farmer and the vet who is assigned to cull his precious herd.

“savagely funny” – The Guardian

Michael is a cantankerous farmer whose only love are his prize-winning cows, Jeff is an alcoholic vet whose wife is about to leave him for the local estate agent. As this pair find themselves in the epicentre of the 2001 Foot and Mouth pandemic they forge a friendship through humour in the face of adversity. With the army at the gates, Michael is desperate to save his beloved herd. Can Jeff save Michael’s farm? And can Michael save Jeff from himself? And can obscure trivia about 1980’s Dutch footballers help them to do it?

Bea Roberts play is a poignant, riotously funny and deeply moving exploration of unexpected friendships, and the losses that can draw us together.

And Then Come The Nightjars was joint winner of the inaugural Theatre503 Playwriting Award.

“A tender, finely observed portrait of male friendship, and a stirring requiem for the vanishing dignity of rural England” – Evening Standard

“A right little cracker, a small but beautifully observed two-hander about a dying way of life and male friendship that spans 12 years… a savagely funny and sad play” – The Guardian

Access Performances:

BSL Interpreted: 7:30pm, Fri 13 March
Audio Described: 7:30pm, Sat 14 March
Captioned: 2pm and 7:30