Tag: Arcola Theatre

Arcola Theatre announces 2023/24 season

Dalston’s Arcola Theatre has announced its 2023/24 season.

In Studio 1, the opening production is Sputnik Sweetheart, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel.

Studio 2 opens with Max Wilkinson’s Union, which is followed by Hannah Kumari’s ENG-ER-LAND.

Continuing the season in Studio 2 are Freek Mariën’s The Wetsuitman, Matthew Seager’s In Other Words, and comic drama Gentlemen.

Political comedian Mark Thomas brings Ed Edwards’ England & Son to the theatre in November, before Aoife Kennan’s Scratches completes the season.

Read on for full details of each production…

STUDIO 1

Sputnik Sweetheart
October 23 – November 25, 2023
Based on Haruki Murakami’s novel, adapted for stage by Bryony Lavery and directed by Melly Still
A coming-of-age play from cosy coffee shops in Tokyo all the way to the salty beaches of Greece, as we follow one young man on his mission to find his missing best friend, Sumire. But Sumire is not a damsel in distress. She is bold, she is creative, passionate and headstrong. She’s curiously obsessed with modelling herself in the image of Jack Kerouac, and more than anything, she’s desperately head-over-heels in love with her muse, Miu.

STUDIO 2

Union
July 19 – August 12, 2023
Written by Max Wilkinson and directed by Wiebke Green
On the eve of the biggest deal of her career, Saskia, an uber-successful property developer runs from the meeting, all the way home down the Grand Union Canal. Plagued by phone calls and ghosts, she meets a myriad of characters looking to make or break her. She realises, as her shiny life unravels, that she doesn’t know herself anymore or the city she once loved. Can she still save a little piece of it?

ENG-ER-LAND
August 15-19, 2023
Written and performed by Hannah Kumari and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair
Kumari brings her acclaimed solo show back for one final public run, to coincide with the Women’s World Cup.

The WetSuitMan
August 29 – September 2, 2023
Written by Freek Mariën, translated by David McKay and directed by Trine Garrett
Three actors, twenty-eight characters, one true story. It’s 2015 on the coast of Norway. A retired architect finds a wetsuit, and in it, the remains of a body. The detective unit hits one dead end after another – until another body in an identical wetsuit washes up in the Netherlands.

In Other Words
September 5-30
Written by Matthew Seager and directed by Andy Routledge
They call it ‘the incident’ now. What happened when they first met. He always said it was part of his ‘romantic plan’, but they both know that’s rubbish. Connected by the music of Frank Sinatra, this intimate, humorous and deeply moving love story explores the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and the transformative power of music to help us remember the past, connect with the present and hope for the future.

Gentlemen
October 4-28
Written by Matt Parvin and directed by Richard Speir
Freshers’ term. Greg has taken to university life like a duck to water. Kasper is struggling to fit in. Summoned to a mediation session with Kasper and the college welfare officer to discuss an accusation of plagiarism, Greg deftly argues his way out of trouble. But when the allegations evolve into something altogether more damaging, how long can Greg remain untouchable?

England & Son
November 14-25
Written by Ed Edwards, performed by Mark Thomas and directed by Cressida Brown
Set when The Great Devouring comes home, England & Son is a one-man play written specifically for political comedian Thomas. With some deep, dark laughs – and some deep, dark love – along the way, England & Son emerges from characters Mark knew in his childhood and Ed’s lived experience in jail. Prepare to be taken on a kaleidoscopic odyssey where disaster capitalism, empire, stolen youth and stolen wealth merge into the simple tale of a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him.

Scratches
November 6-11
Written by Aoife Kennan and directed by Gabriella Bird
Described as a funny and honest new play about self-harm and recovery. Meet GIRL. For too long, she’s been hiding her scratches with unfashionably long socks, clever white lies, and period pads. But now she and her fabulous BEST FRIEND are here to set the record straight.

Arcola Theatre out for maatin’s Duck

Omar Bynon will star in Duck, a one-man show coming to the Arcola Theatre from June 27, 2023.

This story follows a British Indian schoolboy attempting to reach dizzying heights of cricketing glory, whilst having to contend with the challenges of adolescence, the pressures of sporting competition, and come to terms with his identity in an environment that doesn’t cater for difference.

Written by  maatin, it is directed by Imy Wyatt Corner, associate artist at Arcola Theatre.

On Friday, June 30 and Saturday, July 1, playwright and producer maatin is hosting three performances designed for those who are usually underrepresented in theatre – both on the stage and in the audience – to feel welcomed, celebrated, and comfortable. Inspired by the BLACK OUT performances curated and championed by playwright Jeremy O Harris, and entitled A Space For Us, these performances are particularly open to those who identify as Desi, Brown or Muslim, but are an invitation to all who are a minority in white spaces.

The 15:30 performance on Saturday, July 1 will be followed by an event with figures from the world of sport and academia in discussion with the playwright on south Asian representation and discrimination in sports and beyond, including broadcaster Miriam Walker-Khan, policy researcher Alba Kapoor and author & academic Duncan Stone.

maatin said: “This role was written to give a south Asian performer a stage all to themselves, bringing audiences into the seldom-seen perspective of a British Indian, Muslim teenager boy, while playing a wide variety of characters. Omar Bynon is an exceptionally talented performer who has the charisma and skills to bring Ismail’s world to life on stage. Additionally, it’s an fact that those of us from minoritised identities rarely make up large numbers in theatre spaces, particularly those who identify as non-white. It is my biggest goal to try and change that. To purposefully invite communities that have been excluded – whether deliberately or otherwise – into the theatre should be seen as a positive act that I hope will be celebrated.

Duck comes from Katy Galloway Productions. The assistant director is Maryam Shaharuddin, with set designer Maariyah Sharjil, composer/sound designer Holly Khan, movement director Hamza Ali, lighting designer Jonathan Chan, video and projection designer Rachel Sampley and IBSL performer Nadeem Islam.

Duck runs from June 27 – July 15.

It’s the summer of 2005, and Ismail – ‘Smiley’ to his schoolmates – is about to become the youngest-ever member of his elite public school’s First XI cricket team. A star player full of ambition and talent, he sets his sights on immortality – breaking the school batting record and getting his name into Wisden. But at the start of the season, new coach Mr. Eagles takes a particular dislike to him, for reasons Ismail can’t quite put his finger on. Desperate to prove himself, he runs into a patch of poor form at just the wrong time. Bad luck on the pitch leads to issues off it too, and Ismail finds that no one – friends, family, teammates – seems to get what he’s going through.

Set during England’s famous Ashes victory and the events of 7/7, Ismail discovers that cricket might not be able to take care of everything as it once did.

Elf Lyons, Nicholas Armfield sign up for Arcola’s The Misandrist

Elf Lyons and Nicholas Armfield will take the lead in Arcola Theatre’s The Misandrist.

Lyons (Swan) and Armfield (Camberwell Green) will play “intimidating” Rachel and “nice guy” Nick in the play, which sees them meet at a stick-floored bar in Piccadilly and what was meant to be a one-night stand becomes a sexual odyssey of self-discovery – and mutual destruction.

Prickly freelancer Rachel is at the beginning of an existential crisis. Trapped in endless short-term contracts for a faceless government department as the economy continues its slow decline, jobs are being squeezed. Nothing feels safe or secure. Nothing feels like it’s progressing. Maybe this existential limbo is Rachel’s punishment for stealing Tupperware at the office Christmas party. But that wasn’t her fault. It was the really good kind “The boxes fit into each other! They just stack so perfectly. You know what, there’s structure, that’s what it is”. And we all know that’s just too tempting.

Adrift, isolated, and insecure, they scramble for new ways to connect. Somewhere along the line, they decide to explore flipping the narrative. Metaphorically, and very, very literally.  As they navigate their “situationship,” Rachel decides it’s time to TAKE BACK CONTROL. Can some playful, passionate pegging provide a pathway of discovery to new parts of themselves, and each other?

Bethany Pitts (The Beach House) directs the latest work from writer Lisa Carroll (Cuckoo). The designer is Cara Evans and the lighting designer is Peter Small.

The Misandrist is at the Arcola from May 11-June 10, 2023.

Carroll’s The Misandrist plays to the Arcola

The Arcola Theatre will host the debut run of Lisa Carroll’s The Misandrist.

Prickly freelancer Rachel is at the beginning of an existential crisis. It’s 2018, Brexit looms large yet never “gets done”. Rachel prays for a second referendum that will never come. The economy continues its slow decline, jobs are being squeezed. Nothing feels safe or secure. Nothing feels like it’s progressing. Maybe this existential limbo is Rachel’s punishment for stealing Tupperware at the office Christmas party. But that wasn’t her fault. It was the really good kind. 

Then Rachel meets engaging go-getter Sule. Two second-generation immigrants, who meet at a sticky-floored bar in Piccadilly and share an Uber home. Sule intrigues Rachel, and she hasn’t had sex in two years, so when one thing leads to another, she sleeps with him. A few late nights and a few “what u doin?’’ messages later, they’ve fallen into a causal relationship. Over the next few months, around the contract extension and Brexit negotiations, they realise they’ve begun to offer each other something that neither can find elsewhere; in the middle of a lot of meaninglessness, they’ve found a genuine connection.

Adrift, isolated, and insecure, they scramble for new ways to connect. Somewhere along the line, they decide to explore flipping the narrative. Metaphorically, and very, very literally.  Can some playful, passionate pegging provide a pathway through the pitfalls of modern relationships and present the possibility of a deeper bond?

Rachel starts to really like Sule. Sule starts to really like Rachel. And Rachel doesn’t know how to be liked. So self-sabotage seems like the best plan. Memories get twisted, who did what to whom, who f*cked who, literally and metaphorically, gets muddled. And somehow Brexit is still happening. There are two very different sides to this story, yet somehow, you’re rooting for everyone to come out OK. But of course, nobody ever wins.

The Misandrist was longlisted for the Womens’ Playwriting Prize and reached the final 40 scripts in the Verity Bargate Award . It also reached the final 40 for the BBC Writers Academy and final 30 scripts of the BBC Comedy Room among nearly 3,500 applications. This is its debut run.

The play will run at the Arcola Theatre from May 10–June 10, 2023.