A double bill of two classic plays – My Mother Said I Never Should and The Caretaker – opens at the Lantern Theatre this week.

PurpleCoat productions will present Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker on May 1 and 3, and all-women classic, My Mother Said I Never Should, by Charlotte Keatley on May 2 and 4.

This follows on from their successful production of Pinter’s The Homecoming, which they premiered at the Lantern last year before being invited to revive it at the Stratford Arts Festival.

“The Caretaker is a classic 20th century play,” says the shows’ co-director, Karl Falconer, “and one of Pinter’s most well known. Those who saw Jonathan Pryce play the role when it was at the Everyman in 2008 will know how good this show can be.” It tells the disturbing story of brothers Aston and Mick, who invite a tramp back into their home.

“It’s a scary play,” adds Karl. “You never quite know where you are with anyone, or anything. It’s scary because it’s so plausible – these characters could easily live over the road from us, hidden in their homes with the curtains shut.”

Complimenting the show is the all-female production of My Mother Said I Never Should. A popular A-Level text, it spans 80 years in the life of one family from Oldham, following the four women across their lives, as they struggle to cope with changing attitudes to family and lifestyle.

“It’s the perfect play for somewhere like Liverpool,” says Karl. “It deals with an ordinary, Northern, working-class family, and how the expectations and demands of women have changed across the last hundred years. Women’s duties, marriage, single parenting, working mums; it covers the whole range of challenges that everyone can respond to. It’s an incredibly moving, and real story.”

PurpleCoat have spent the last 18 months returning to the Lantern with a series of sell-out shows, starting with The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, through to Shirley Valentine in February. The company have also agreeing a deal for their first feature film, which will star One Foot in the Grave’s Richard Wilson.

Tickets are on sale now for both productions. A special £15 ticket is available for booking both shows, saving £10. Tickets are available online at lanterntheatreliverpool.co.uk or via the Box Office on .