CLF THEATRE ARCHIVE
Here are a few pics from various productions at The CLF Theatre. Flyers, performance stills and some physical shots of the theatre in all it's glory. CLF Theatre was built in May 2012, with events hosted in the space throughout 2011 whilst the space was renovated. A huge amount of thanks go to The Royal Court Theatre for helping us with the design and building of the space. Not only were their plays brilliant, but the legacy that they have left in Peckham is beyond measure. Theatre Updates ...
Plays staged on a monthly basis + Theatre, Cabaret and comedy staged in the main bar space.
A few shots of the Theatre and various productions - Click to Enlarge.
Here you'll find galleries of past productions at The CLF Theatre. recent productions like The Man Who by Peter Brook and Othello Peckham to earlier works by Townsend productions 'The Raggered Trousered Philanthropist' and The Royal Court Theatre, 'Liberian Girl', 'The Westbridge', 'Belong' and 'Vera, Vera, Vera' + More.
2013 - 2011
It's been a great year for Theatre so far with Opera In Space's take on Purcells Dido and Aeneas, Anthony Greens stunning Othello Peckham, The Royal Court Theatre's Strange Undoing Of Prudencia Hart, Bola Agbaje's Take A Deep Breath And Breathe + more. Look out for new works in October with Dorian Gray followed in Novembers with the stunning, intense work Children Of Fate by Juan Radrigans + more.
CLF THEATRE TRAILER ARCHIVE
Award winning Haste Theatre in collaberation with director Ally Cologna is proud to present Beyond Cragporth Rock, a devised production.
Beyond Cragporth Rock invites the audience to join a rollercoaster ride of bleak laughs and horror. The lights rise upon a bizarre sprawl of bodies. Six sisters, living in a ramshackle cottage on the edge of an eroding cliff, explain differing versions of their mutual demise. Beyond the foud walls lies a nightmarish, futuristic world plunged into a dystopia by economic crisis. Afraid of the outside, the sisters live in constant fear of faceless foes and unspecified attacks. Here we find them ten years later, fresh risen from their own deaths to tell their bizare, back-to-front story.
Haste Theatre and Ally Cologna create a heightened microcosm of humdrum family life put under intolerable pressure. With six highly individual beleaguered characters playing games of mutually destructive intent, this black comedy ticks away to a terrible, tense finale.
Haste Theatre
Presents
Beyond Cragporth Rock
Cage Play
HOW TO CAGEPLAY
1. Come to the Bussey Building between Tue Sep 9th and Thur 11th.
2. Push musicians around a room (they are your minions).
3. Observe what kind of music they make in different places.
4. Use them to direct the piece however you want
5. Or just listen and watch.
Musicians will engage with different Johns (Adams, Cage, Cale, Coltrane, and Williams) depending on their position in space.
Combine, juxtapose, isolate or ignore as you see fit.
Peformers: Joe Richards / Gwenaelle Rouger / Nicolas Rouger.
Director: Racheli Sternberg.
Musical Director: Louise D'Heudieres.
Designer: Sarah Beaton.
The Factory Theatre
Presents
The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a theatrical retelling of Homer's epic tale as you've never seen it before. Performing the tale of Odysseus' tumultuous journey home one book at a time, The Factory's actors use improvisation, songs, dances, new writing, audience stories, their own life experiences, random instructions, hoops and sticks to weave the story anew to each and every performance.
All of the actors know all of the roles in the story, and the characters they are playing change night to night and even book to book. Our actors and our audiences are often invited to share their own personal stories, which are then tenderly woven into the evening's show; by the end of the performance the sense of communion between actors and audience members is profound.
Since Autumn 2010, over 150 actors, musicians, choreographers and writers have worked with The Factory under the direction of 2014 Tony nominated director Tim Carroll (Twelfth Night and Richard III Shakespeare's Globe, West End and Broadway) to bring the company's unique spirit of spontaneity, playfulness and imagination to The Odyssey
What force on earth could possibly lead someone to kill the one they love?
By Jove Theatre brings their new adaptation of Shakespeare's classic to the CLF Art Cafe following an incredibly successful preview at the theatre's "write here, right now' festival in April. Recasting the lead as a gay woman and updating the setting to the present day - a Britain in the wake of the same-sex marriage bill being passed - this production features newly written text in dialouge with Shakespeare's original material.
New perspectives are offered as these characters speak back to and resist the destinies pre-determined for them by literature's most formidable force. The piece scrutinises the many forms of prejudice still prevelant in Britain today and how they can powerfully interconnect to bring about tragedy, in the process addressing important issues such as domestic violence and being gay in the modern British army.
By Jove Theatre
Presents
Othello
Changeling Theatre
Presents
William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
“Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”
Verona. Two families united in civil war. Two young lovers united in forbidden love. The tragedy of Juliet and her Romeo. A fated romance between two impetuous and desperate lovers. A long feud between the Montague and Capulet families disrupts the city of Verona and causes tragic results for Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet who fall in love, but whose families will not allow them to be together. But Romeo and Juliet’s destiny is locked and they cannot be apart. In achieving their fate, they must pay the ultimate price.
Presence Theatre and Actors Touring Company
in association with the Belgrade Theatre present
CHORALE: A Sam Shepard Roadshow
Sam Shepard is America's most adventurous and poetic living playwright. Sam Shepard begins and ends with a road: the route to promise and fulfillment, or damnation - though sometimes the two seem perilously close.
Here is a rare opportunity to experience his work through this unique roadshow that travels the length of that road, backwards, forwards, and any other way it is possible to go.
3 PLAYS - The Holy Ghostly, The War in Heaven and The Animal (You)
2 FILMS - Savage/Love and Tongues
1 GIG - Herons! Live
plus a Workshop on the theatre of Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin
"You'll see restless ghosts, wrecked cars, dead horses and invisible highways. And without peyote the sights you think you see will be even more powerful. You'll hear the voice of a fallen angel and brush against the spirits of the western deserts. You'll experience the outer reaches of Americana and be astonished by the actor shaman Joseph Chaikin, Shepard's conscience and guide. When you hear the guitars jangling and the engines revving you'll know the roadshow is in full swing."
-Simon Usher, Artistic Director
Tiata Fahodizu
in Association with Watford Palace Theatre
Present
The Epic Adventure of Nhamo
Nhamo, a dashing young goatherd, stumbles upon a mysterious Narrator who has just hours to complete his masterpiece: the ultimate African TV drama. All that's missing is a hero and Nhamo fits the bill – if he can defeat his arch nemesis, woo the girl of his dreams, appeal to audiences the world over and learn his lines. By midnight.
This madcap farce, from one of the leading British-African theatre companies, turns storytelling on its head in a Zimbabwean comedy of epic... epicness.
Cast:
Tanya Fear,
Dan Gilet,
Nyasha Hatendi,
Ery Nzaramba
Directed by Lucian Msamati
Tackroom Theatre and Moya Productions
Present
Holiday & The Eisteddfod
Moya Productions and tackroom theatre are thrilled to present the UK premieres of Holiday by Raimondo Cortese and The Eisteddfod by Lally Katz.
This double-bill showcases the work of two of the most exciting and contemporary Australian playwrights.
HOLIDAY is an existential musical comedy. Two grown-up men sit beside a child's paddling pool. Two open souls, they talk freely about life's oddities, and sing divine songs about the nature of love.
THE EISTEDDFOD is a fresh, poetic farce about an agoraphobic brother and sister, who create a fantasy world inside their own flat. They take abusive lovers, teach advanced level German and train hard to star in Macbeth for the upcoming eisteddfod - which threatens to explode their world forever.
Cast: Andrew Buckley, Louise Collins, Paul Woodson
Director: Abbey Wright
Set Designer: Fi Russell
Lighting Designer: Gary BowmanSound Designer and Composer: Angus MacRae
The Chronic Love Foundation [CLF]
Presents
New Writers Festival
The Chronic Love Foundation [CLF] Proudly Presents the Inaugral “Write Here…Right Now” New Annual Writers Festival at The CLF Art Cafe, Peckham.
The best in new Theatre, Cabaret, Film, Music, Spoken Word and Opera from across the capital exposed, explored and championed across several floors of this amazing warehouse space. Running Tuesday to Saturday [with Fri May 02nd closing night party giving you free entry to Boombox x Kaya Festival, with The legendary Don Letts, Jerry Dammers, Andy Smith + Guests] Like all things CLF this is gonna be a bit of a departure from the normal “new writers festival”. Write Here…Right Now coming with an eclectic line up of the arts forming the spine of the 3 week festival.
From nights dedicated to twisted cabaret to scratch night theatre shows made up of 6 15 minute performances. Then there’s nights dedicated to new film, contemporary dance [where the body tells the story], new musical writing explored live alongside new musical works explored through DJ culture, Spoken Word nights where life is verbally dissected and spat out at the speed of thought, theres new Opera, new Art + so much more......
Siteline Productions
Presents
Very Brief Encounters
Very Brief Encounters is the perfect comic tonic for those of you touched by Valentines blues. Come and witness the weird and wonderful world of speed dating as several hopefuls get their dreams crushed and realised in equal measure. See passion spark into life and lust bounce off the walls like a ping pong ball in this hilarious romantic comedy that will have you shaking with laughter. “Roses may be red, violets are normally blue, but Very Brief Encounters is guaranteed to tickle you!
Written by Thomas Willshire
Cast:
Anna Bond,
Johan Buckingham,
Polly Smith,
Jawaad Malik,
Katherine Roberts.
Whistlestop Theatre
Presents
Twelfth Night or What You Will
After a storming summer tour with their premier production Whistlestop Theatre are back with another exciting abridgement of a Shakespeare classic – Twelfth Night, or What You Will…Come and warm your winter cockles on our retelling of this classictale of comedy, cruelty and unrequited love with some gender-bending thrown in to boot.
Full of broken hearts, dreams and liquor-laden melodies we begin to wonder if anyone or anything is quite what it seems to be. Will it all end up alright on the night? You will have to come and find out...
"If only all Shakespearean plays could have been written for this team of actors. " - Kirsty Epps, Audience Club
"their adaptation of this classic had me at times smiling, regularly chuckling and very often laughing uncontrollably." - Alfie Woodcock, Whats on London
"condensed to just 90 minutes which, by the way, manage to captureperfectly the essence of the story"
- Olivia Popica, Remotegoat
January 2014
THE FACTORY
Presents
After HOMER
THE ODYSSEY
Writers Who Have Contributed to The Odyssey So Far Include:
Tim Carroll
John Donnelly
Federay Holmes
Jay Luxembourg
Barbara Norden
Cathy Rosario
Director: Tim Carroll
Associate Directors: Louis Scheeder and Tamara Harvey
Assistant Director: Reuben Grove
Movement: Sian Williams
Music: James Oxley
Producer: Liam Evans-Ford
Associate Producers: Simon Muller and Emma Attwell
The story that changes every time it is told.....
The myth of Odysseus’ epic journey was ancient when Homer committed it to writing. Almost three thousand years later the stories still echo through our narrative memory.
Since Autumn 2010 over 150 actors, musicians, choreographers and writers have met regularly and worked with Tim Carroll and The Factory to turn their unique spirit of spontaneity, playfulness and imagination to Homer’s epic story. The Odyssey premiered in April 2012 at Blackwell’s Bookshop, Oxford, in a unique collaboration with Creation Theatre.
Combining movement, song, text and improvisation, each performance is an original retelling that recreates the spirit of one of the world’s oldest oral storytelling traditions.
The Odyssey is a co-production between Creation and The Factory.
December 2013
Ignition
Ran Dec 5-7
TOURING AUTUMN 2013 AND SPRING 2014
"A man sits in a car in the dead of night and forces himself to finish three bottles of vodka. He seems happy enough on his stakeout. But what is Lloyd up to? Is he just out for a good time? Is he homeless? Or might he be planning the perfect murder? To be honest, he doesn't really seem the sort...
Nicholas Richards acclaimed play makes it's London debut."
November 2013
We Will Be Free!
Ran Nov 29-30
A new play by Neil Gore following the hit sell-out production of THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS,
Townsend Productions a new drama set in 1834 about the Tolpuddle Martyrs thatfollows the extraordinary true story of George and Betsy Loveless. He was a Methodist preacher and the leader of the six Dorsetshire farm labourers who were tried, convicted and condemned to harsh transportation by an oppressive Government for having the temerity to swear a secret oath and form a union to fight against a succession of wage cuts inflicted by the local landowner
CHILDREN OF FATE
“Anyone who wants to live has got to change the world.”
INSIDE INTELLIGENCE
presents Siån Reese-Williams (Emmerdale's Gennie Walker)
in the UK premiere of Children of Fate
by Juan Radrigán
Translated and directed by Robert Shaw, Children of Fate exposes with tenderness, humour and infinite love the devastating effects of Thatcherite ideology on the forgotten lives of millions dispossessed and brutalised by years of the Pinochet dictatorship.
Dan Maclane
Sian Reese-Williams
Offue Okegbe
Julia Tarnoky
October 2013
DORIAN GRAY
Ran 7th October - 26th October 2013
When Dorian Gray first sets eyes on his portrait, he becomes captivated by his own good looks. Inspired to forfeit his very soul to retain his beauty, he sets himself on a downward spiral into the darkest corners of London life.
In a mixed-media, physical, and multi-sensorial retelling of Oscar Wilde’s controversial only novel, Poise Performance presents a Dorian Gray completely removed from the stylings of the nineteenth century theatre, guiding audiences through the conflictive and seedy world of duality, excess and hedonism.
CAST & CREW
JENNIFER ESSEX
TOM MEDCALF
MATTHEW CROUZIERES
DOMINIC BROUARD
VIRNA SOLOGAISTOA
GINNY GRAHAM
JAMES HITCHMAN
JOSH WARD
LIANE ESCORZA
LYNNE McCONWAY
DEJONIE LANGELLIER
SEPTEMBER 2013.
CITY LOVE
Ran Sep 09 - 28 2013
Lucy and Jim are on their own.
To the rest of the world they seem to be doing OK: they have jobs, friends, ambitions (well sort of).
Until their chance meeting on the number 12 night bus causes them to spiral into a world of love, pain and (mis)communication.
Award-winning writer Simon Vinnicombe takes a funny and unflinching look at how trivial insecurities can send us crashing into self-destruction. Sharp observations transform the mundane into the epic, and Vinnicombe’s slick, witty and agonizingly accurate text will pierce the heart of anyone who has ever been in love.
REVIEWS, Click logos to visit
AUGUST 2013.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH & BREATHE
A Play by Olivier Award Winning Playwrite Bola Agbaje, Directed by Toby Clarke
Ran Aug 13 - 31 2013
Inspired by the Greek mythology Lysistrata, this honest, humorous and moving new play by Bola Agbaje explores the power struggles, choices and determinations of young men and women wrapped up in a life where rules are made and broken and relationships are tested to their limits.
“Guys think the way to solve problems is by fighting and killing.”
“If all women round here stopped having sex with their mans, they’d start respecting us because we call the shots!”
REVIEWS, Click logos to visit
AUGUST 2013 Continued
THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART
Presesnted by The Royal Court Thatre & The National Theatre Of SCotland
Ran Aug 05 - 09 2013
One wintry morning Prudencia Hart, an uptight academic, sets off to attend a conference in Kelso in the Scottish Borders. As the snow begins to fall, little does she know who or what awaits her. Inspired by the Border Ballads – and delivered in a riotous romp of rhyming couplets, devilish encounters and wild karaoke – Prudencia’s dream-like journey of self-discovery unfolds among and around the audience.
With a rollicking text by David Greig, barnstorming live music; and a ‘terrific, inventive sense of fun…’ (The Scotsman), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart is the lock-in to end all lock-ins. Directed by Wils Wilson.
National Theatre of Scotland cannot be held responsible in the event of any member of the audience losing their head, their heart or their very self during the course of the performance.
5 stars - The Times
“You shouldn’t miss this show for the world…rambunctiously life-affirming and touchingly beautiful”
4 stars - The Herald “More vibrantly alive than any piece of theatre I’ve seen in Scotland for years”
REVIEWS, Click logos to visit
AUGUST 2013 Continued
Peckham The Soap Opera
Ran Aug 01 - 31 2013
Peckham: The Soap Opera is based on an original idea by the Open Court writers. Lead writers Bola Agbaje and Rachel De-lahay then worked with volunteers from the Peckham area to come up with ideas for a fictional soap world set in Peckham and created the story arc for the ten episode series, co-writing the first two episodes. The Royal Court commissioned eight more writers to write a five minute episode each. The full list of writers is: Brad Birch, Alice Birch, Adam Brace, Robin French
July 2013.
Endgame
From Samuel Beckett, Presented by Rye Mummers
Ran June 25th- 13th
"Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order.” This is not at all the picture most people have of a Beckett play but in ENDGAME, two characters engage in round after round of
verbal sparring as they prepare for the inevitable. The black humour that emerges is sometimes as frightening as it is funny.
Directed by Chris Haydon and starring Ricci Harnett, Peter Benedict, Fiona Watson and Billy Colvill. Endgame is Beckett's most acclaimed play written in a Theatre of the Absurd style.
June/ July 2013.
Axis Arts Presents
This Solemn Mockery, Midnight at the Rue Morgue, Lads, A Midsummers Nights
Ran June 10th- July 6th
10 June – 6 July Axis Arts present Fourplay - a summer festival of theatre by London's fiercest emerging artists. Doors 730pm for all plays.
Lads: Runs Mon June 10 - Sat June 15 [Level 1]
Four lads explore what it is to be a man today. Does lad culture have a place or is it time to grow up? Everything appears to be golden for Stuart, Nic, Jeffy and Rupert. They are all pretty content with life at the moment. But after an incident on a particularly messy Thursday night their world has been rocked. With their friendships tested and their own expectations challenged, will they ever be the same again?
Midnight at The Rue Morgue, The Madness Of Edgar Allan Poe: Runs Mon June 10 - Sat June 15 [Level 3]
Ba-Laylah Productions welcomes you to The Rueful Morgana, a dilapidated music hall and vaudeville theatre in the heart of nineteenth-century Baltimore, known to its seedy and insalubrious clientele as the “Rue Morgue”. Yet among the contortionists, ventriloquists, musicians, and good-time girls that haunt the tables at this once-great performance hall, there lurks a dark presence: a mysterious masked figure with the power to make them confess their most closely-guarded secrets... Inspired by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe.
This Solemn Mockery: Runs Mon June 17 - Sat June 22 [Level 3]
Two worlds collide in This Solemn Mockery, when young Henry William Ireland claims to have found a lost play of William Shakespeare. The characters of the play and those of Ireland’s life weave their stories together sending them all down a dangerous path fraught with murder, scandal and betrayal.
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Mon July 01 - Sat July 06 [Level 3]
How far would you go to get what you want and is what you want really what you need? This modern retelling explores the need for love, attention and freedom and asks the question, just how far is too far? This modern interpretation of Shakespeare's classic is directed by William E.P Davis.
June 2013.
The Inferno
A Velvet Loop Production
Ran July 16th- 27th 2013
'Abandon hope all ye who enter here' are the infamous words carved into the entrance of Dante Alighieri's vision of eternal damnation. In presenting a dark journey through the complex world of catholic dogma, Dante tries to elucidate the very nature of humanity. This is the inspiration for a new theatrical production that will be consuming the CLF arts cafe this July.
This promenade performance will incorporate the full spectrum of senses to immerse the audience in the poetic scenes created by Dante. The audience itself will take the role of Dante and they will be led by Virgil, a narrator who will guide them through hell and, hopefully to spiritual salvation. Each of the nine acts will represent the nine levels of hell. A combination of live action and multimedia will be used to explore both the themes of the original text and what relevance, if any, Dante’s idea of hell has today.
May 2013.
Vesta
presented by Fighetta
Ran May 12th - 16th 2013
Welcome to the world of Vesta! A love-struck, exuberant and darkly comic celebration of humanity inspired by the films of Federico Fellini. Our one hour show contains startling imagery and bad behaviour, this playful physical piece is brought to you by six lascivious ladies. Join us on an adventure into the stuff of dreams! Witness the grisly and the beautiful in a sumptuous visual feast that will tickle your funny bone and leave you wanting more.
The Shepherd's Chameleon
presented by Utopis Theatre
Ran May 8th - 25th 2013
This is your chance to escape the drudgery of everyday austerity and embrace the madcap world of absurdist comedy. Your guide is the master of the absurd, Eugene Ionesco the man who turned the world of comedy upside down.
In this fast-paced physical production, the playwright is the shepherd and the world of theatre a constantly changing chameleon. Take a ring-side seat and watch Ionesco take on his critics. It's a ridiculous battle of wits that you won't want to miss.
April, 2013
Villain
by Sarah Sayeed
Ran May 2
a play consisting of four monologues based on local icons from soho and south London, the play explores the notion of modern mythologies and the natural humour to be found in everyday life. Villains' reminisces about soho in the 80's through narratives Given by the notorious Trisha from Trisha's Bar, Bernie Silvers' ex-Henchman Marty Brown, and a tale from a local Pedallo driver who witnesses the dynamic between the crooks and the police in Soho which has existed since before the 1900's
April, 2013.
Tell Tales
A play by Jackdaw
Ran April 2nd - 5th
Following Jackdaw's success last March, TELL TALES returns, bigger, better & even more exciting! A theatrical, comical, experimental, musical extravaganza including a free exhibition of work from up and coming London photographers and visual artists. Offering artists from all disciplines the opportunity to come together, play, collaborate and try out new ideas in front of a supportive audience, TELL TALES promises to have something for everyone.
March, 2013.
A Thousand Miles of History
A new play by: Harod Finley
Ran March 4th- 30th 2013
SAMO IS DEAD appears on buildings across lower Manhattan, as a teenage Jean-Michel Basquiat kills off his graffiti phenomenon and launches a fine art career. As Basquiat moves out of the streets and into the galleries of SoHo his new friend Keith Haring does likewise, having caught the art world's attention with his subway drawings. Together, they rapidly become international art superstars, befriending the legendary Andy Warhol in the process. The lives and work of all three artists become intertwined as they reach the highest highs, and discover what waits beyond them. A Thousand Miles of History is a moving and at times hilarious tale of love and loss, family and art, sex and commerce. SAMO LIVES.
Royal National Theatre of Fools
With Men in Coats
Ran: Tues, March 5th
The Royal National Theatre Of Fools, returns with another stunning night of blinding tom foolery and bafoonery - 5 Acts performing over 2hrs of blistering cabaret - with very special guests Men In Coats (Spectacular Silliness), Evil Kinell (An idiot stuntman), Lindsay Sharman (Deranged and Uncompromising Poet), Peter Hoopal (Modern Clown), Jack, (Silent magic in a Welsh Accent) + Your compere Mike Raffone (The Fools Fool)
Getting The Men In Coats is a real cabaret coup for us. They started in 1998 and had a number of sell out Edinburgh shows as well as TV, and have toured the world and appeared on The Royal Variety Show. They're video on youtube has has over 20 million hits and has entered the top 100 most popular youtube posts of all time.
Othello
Presented by Othello Peckham Theatre Company
Ran: Tues, March 5th
Shakespeare's character, Othello the Moor, is a renowned mercenary soldier. This updated production sets the play within the booming yet mysterious world of western military security companies, the private armies of today. Against the backdrop of the cut-throat competition for military contracts, this production explores the more localized battle of Othello ...against his own demons as Iago, desperate for revenge, tragically destroys Othello’s relationship with his precious Desdemona.
Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
Presented by Opera in Space
Ran January 9th- 26th
Opera in Space are back dragging operatic performance kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. This fully immersive, electrifying production of Dido and Aeneas is Purcell as you've never seen him before. This tragic tale of love and deception is performed in English and features Dido's Lament one of the most revered arias in the operatic repertoire. This groundbreaking promenade production leads the audience through two floors as characters sing and dance to tell the tragic story.
October, 2012.
Miss Julie
By: Odd Man Out Productions & The CLF
Ran: Oct 31- Nov 17
Miss Julie is a play about power and status, lust and remorse, set during the festive celebration of midsummer night. Julie – the count’s daughter – and Jean – a footman – enter a dangerous game of lust and status. Julie wants to break free from the shackles of her status, while Jean wants to climb up the social ladder, aspiring power and wealth. On this hot and sultry night the game takes over..
Starring Nicholas Clarke, Lydia Orange, Henriikka Kemppi and members from the local community.
Directed by Vernon Douglas
Music improvised by Jose Gandia
Sound design by Alexia Mankoskaya
Design by Deborah Spink
Light Design by William Glenn
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
Presented by Townsend Productions
Ran: Oct 21st- Oct 24th
This highly acclaimed, hilarious adaptation of Robert Tressell's classic book from Townsend Productions is presented jointly with Southwark Socialists/Independent Socialist Network.
The play has excited and enthused audiences all over Britain and has recently wowed audiences and critics alike at the Edinburgh Fringe. Now it comes to London for the first time.
I Was Jack Goldstein
Presented by Eyesore
Ran: Oct 10th- Oct 14th
The artist Jack Goldstein managed to be many things to many people during his troubled life. A member of the notorious CalArts mafia, he was briefly a celebrity artist with eight assistants, owned a collection of Corvettes and was a lover to major art dealers in the New York scene, but with an appetite for hard drugs his reputation as the artists artist was succeeded by one of a burnout, a junkie, a disappearing act. Then Jack became a legend, a myth and finally a suicide when he hanged himself just as his reputation was seemingly on its way to being restored.
Director CS Leigh knew Goldstein. In the years since the artists suicide in 2003 he created a series of dangerous site specific performances. Using elements of the original archival material shot during those performances he created a short film set to a soundtrack by Thurston Moore. Leigh has decided to return to the subject and to explore it in deeper focus within a theatre space. “I wanted to go back to Jack Goldstein because the memories I have of him are at once haunting and enlightening. Suicide is the one great silencer. I ask myself, what is on the other side of all of that eternal silence?”.
What those final days, hours and minutes look like before taking that ultimate step is what this performance examines rather than trying to dissect the reasons for arriving at that final destination. Goldstein who talked about a fear of disappearing finally made it his life's central focus and its defining action.
The Girls
Presented by The Project
Ran: Sept 17th to Sept 29th
THE GIRLS is a powerful and disturbing new production from THE PROJECT Theatre Company, and BAFTA winning writer director Ray Harrison Graham.
In the drama, where first time actors play themselves, four young people's true stories and real lives unfold in their own words. They have lived through, and seen more than most adults.
ON the eve of the riots in Croydon, four young people sit in an empty room, awaiting yet another compulsory counselling session. They know nothing about each other, or the circumstances that have brought them all there. Their only common bond: distrust and hatred.They have no desire to be there, and no respect for the educational system they believe has failed them. While they await the arrival of the absent group leader, they unintentionally fall into a counselling session of their own. Painful truths are exposed, harsh views aired and tempers fly. What begins as a mundane counselling session leads to life changing events for all them.
This compelling drama exposes the brutal truth of existence for many of our young people today. It also provides some insight into why levels of teenage knife and gun crime remain so high, and into the recent eruption of civil unrest.
Love is Not Enough
Charles Yassini+ Justin Marosa
Ran: Aug 14th to 31st
Brian attempts to secretly reunite his fiancé Tamara with her family on the day of London's Notting Hill Carnival. The day also coincides with the memorial of Tamara's father Eugene. Tamara never attended her father's funeral and this has created a rift within her family with divided loyalties. As we follow the journey of the day, family secrets are revealed.
The 5 Day Play
Presented by Royal Court
Ran: Aug 6th to Aug 10th
Everyone has a story. What's yours? A fantastic chance to create and perform a new play in just 5 days! The workshops culminate in a group performance of the finished play at theatre local
July, 2012.
Vera, Vera, Vera
Presented by Royal Court
Ran: July 4 to July 24
The boy who comes back from a war far away in a wooden box is glorified and called a hero. As the funeral plans are made in a small Kent town, his siblings squabble over who he was. Maybe the fanfare isn’t needed for this heroic martyr.
Vera Vera Vera is a blackly comic play about what we are willing to fight for. Hayley Squires is a bracing new voice, clear eyed and loud, looking at violence, neglect and apathy.
Hayley Squires is an actor. This is her first play and her first submission to the Royal Court.
Director Jo McInnes most recently directed Red Bud at the Royal Court, as well as appearing in Wastwater by Simon Stephens as an actor. Her directorial credits also The Verdict in 2007 on BBC1 and the world premiere of Marine Parade by Simon Stephens at the Brighton Festival.
May, 2012.
Belong
Presented by Royal Court
Ran: May 31 to June 23
Election lost, speeches made and controversy stirred – Kayode’s hiding. He’s not even answering the door to the cleaner, and Rita is not going to start getting out the Hoover in her designer heels. Escaping the political heat in London he flees to Nigeria – a British MP and a self-made man. Once there, he gets caught up in a whole new power game.
Bola Agbaje’s satirical new play questions our notion of home.
Bola Agbaje returns with her new play Belong: a co-production with Tiata Fahodzi and the first play to be produced under the company’s new Artistic Director Lucian Msamati.
