Take your seats at the Island for Etherdome

Penny Dreadful’s Etherdome is a tongue-in-cheek, lively true story of three rival dentists in nineteenth century America and their search to patent pain-free surgery.

Ambition, love, betrayal and a little chloroform on the side. This energetic play is definitely not your average trip to the dentist but it does make a fun mid-week night out.

It’s the start of the so-called Scientific Age; major surgery including amputation, heart surgery - and tooth extraction – is still carried out with only a stiff whisky or a stick to bite on.

In a fairground tent, alongside tea-leaf fortune-tellers, an amazing discovery is made by accident. But who actually made it?

This extraordinary disaster comedy will take you on a quest for pain relief via a detour of carnival sideshows, a bluegrass chorus, laughing-gas parties to nightmare operating theatres and a duck pond.

It includes an excellent set and cast and some great moments of audience participation. Think Hammer House of Horror meets Horrible Histories.

Playfully self referential, Etherdome offers a chance to consider what life would be like without the medical advances it light-heartedly presents.

You can see Etherdome at the Island Arts Centre on Thursday September 21 at 8pm.

Tickets priced £11.50/9.50 concession are available by contacting the Island Box Office on 028 92 50254 or online at islandartscentre.com.