BEVERLEY – There’s mischief in the moonlight this autumn. From 28 October to 1 November, East Riding Theatre welcomes the premiere of Wolf Country, the latest work from The John Godber Company — a wry, unsettling and strangely tender story about friendship, folklore and the itch to reinvent yourself.
Written by Elizabeth Godber, the play follows Eddy and Alice: two twentysomethings stuck in the familiar lull between old routines and the lives they think they should be living.
When Connor appears — charming, intense, and obsessed with East Yorkshire werewolf legends — the pair are drawn into something they don’t fully understand. As Halloween closes in and the nights grow colder, odd things begin to happen.
Is Connor unravelling? Are they being played? Or could there really be something out there on the Wolds after dark?
Godber takes her cue from one of our strangest local legends: the tale of “Old Stinker”, the wolf-like creature said to stalk the back roads between Beverley and Hull.
Sightings — whispered by farmers, lorry drivers and late-night dog walkers — surfaced again as recently as 2015 and 2016.
Wolf Country doesn’t simply retell the myth; it lets it bleed into the present, brushing up against the anxieties, bravado and brittle loyalties of modern young adulthood.
At its best, The John Godber Company has always balanced humour with heart, and this production looks set to do the same.
Expect a story that’s playful one moment and goosebump-quiet the next — part coming-of-age, part fireside ghost tale, and unmistakably rooted in East Yorkshire’s fields, folklore and flatter-than-flat horizons.
It’s also another welcome reminder that Beverley can host new writing that feels genuinely about here — not just performed here. On a dark October night, with
Halloween in the air, Wolf Country looks a fitting invitation: come for the story, stay for the shiver.
Wolf Country runs at East Riding Theatre from 28 October to 1 November.
