Forget February and its storms and gales – we now have September in the Rain to look forward to!

That is not a weather forecast but the title of John Godber’s comedy, opening in the Barn Studio in Welwyn Garden City early next month.

Four times winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy, Godber is reputedly the UK’s most performed playwright, after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn.

Known mainly for observational comedies, like Up ‘n’ Under and Bouncers, both of which have been performed at the Barn, he knows how to write them.

"On a good night," he says, "you want laughter and tears at the same time."

And that’s what you get with September in the Rain.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Simon Parr is Jack and Mary Powell his long-suffering wife Liz, who have spent their annual holiday in Blackpool every year of their married life come rain or shine.Simon Parr is Jack and Mary Powell his long-suffering wife Liz, who have spent their annual holiday in Blackpool every year of their married life come rain or shine. (Image: Supplied by Barn Studio)

Cliff Francis directs Simon Parr and Mary Powell as they return to play Jack and Liz in John Godber’s two-hander.

The play follows the life and holidays of Liz and Jack, Godber’s own grandparents, based on the stories they told at length, over and over again.

We were introduced to them back in September, when they opened the Barn comeback season with Happy Jack, that played in the main house at the Barn Theatre.

If you were lucky enough to catch it, you’ll remember that Jack was not happy. And he still isn’t.

He’s grumpy and his long-suffering wife, Liz, is bored with her lot and a nervous wreck.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Simon Parr is grumpy Jack and Mary Powell his long-suffering wife Liz, who have spent their annual holiday in Blackpool every year of their married life come rain or shine.Simon Parr is grumpy Jack and Mary Powell his long-suffering wife Liz, who have spent their annual holiday in Blackpool every year of their married life come rain or shine. (Image: Supplied by Barn Studio)

In Godber’s play we glimpse the couple's far-from-perfect marriage both in its early days – when they spend a mainly wet 1950s week in Blackpool, arguing, falling out, yet somehow enjoying themselves – and towards its end, when they make a final visit in old age.

Nostalgic songs and reminiscences conjure up a lost world of donkey rides, deck chairs and your dad with his trousers rolled up and a knotted hanky protecting his bald head.

It's an intimate play that will undoubtedly evoke memories of our own holidays by the sea and the yarns we heard again and again from our parents and grandparents.

September in the Rain runs in Barn Studio from Wednesday, April 6 to Saturday, April 9 at 8pm, with a matinee at 2.30pm on the Saturday.

Tickets cost £10 and are available from the box office on 01707 324300 or online at www.barntheatre.co.uk.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Simon Parr is Jack and Mary Powell his long-suffering wife Liz in September in the Rain, the next production in the Barn Studio in Welwyn Garden City.Simon Parr is Jack and Mary Powell his long-suffering wife Liz in September in the Rain, the next production in the Barn Studio in Welwyn Garden City. (Image: Supplied by Barn Studio)