2022

Saturday 22nd July 7.30pm

 

 

How has actor awareness helped you ?

Actor Awareness gave me the chance to showcase the short version of my play in front of an audience and get feedback. And now they’ve given me the chance to showcase a whole hour of work, in front of public, industry and reviewers; a really invaluable opportunity.

What do you hope to get from the festival?

Feedback, first and foremost. And to see how the material plays out in front of an audience – what works and what doesn’t. And the chance to network, see other people’s work and make contacts. 

In three words tell us your writing style ?

Punchy, funny, dynamic.

In one sentence sell us your play ?

A dystopian drama about a post-Brexit British Muslim ban.

 

About the Writer & Director…. Colleen Pendergast

Colleen Prendergast trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. As an actor, her credits include The Mortal Ash (Bush Theatre) and The Comedy of Errors (Nuffield Southampton). As director her credits include After Penelope (White Bear/Rome International Fringe Festival) and The True History of the Tragic Life and Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana (Hope Mill Theatre).

2022 is her first full length play.

 

Cast

Gower – Richard Innocent

Richard Innocent trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Recent theatre credits include 2022 (Brockley Jack, Old Red Lion Theatre) and The True History of the Tragic Life and Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, The Ugliest Woman in the World (Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester). Richard is a graduate of the University of Leeds, and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe for Fourth Monkey Theatre Company and Aireborne Theatre. 

Colquhoun – Jayne Edwards

Jayne is an actor, writer and voice over artist. Since graduating from Bretton Hall, she has worked extensively creating and performing new work, both scripted and devised. As an Associate Artist for the Pensive Federation she has performed at The Oldham Coliseum, Tristan Bates Theatre and The Vaults. In October 2016 she was awarded the Special Mention in the 3 minute round at Monologue Slam, Theatre Royal Stratford East. 

Selwa Dewan – Lauren Santana

Lauren has been lucky enough to play a variety of exciting roles in London venues, including Juliet in The Secret Theatre Company’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ She has also performed with a company in Vienna and recently filmed in New York for an upcoming fantasy book trailer, ‘The Shadow War Saga.’

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Worsooz

Wednesday July 19th at 7.30pm

WORSOOZ, Longlisted for the Papatango Playwrights Award, London                Written   by Catherine Kay / Directed by Kevin Russell / Performed by Actor Awareness      

An assured piece of writing – beautiful and tender. Suzanne Bell (New Writing Associate, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester / Everyman Theatre, Liverpool)

Refreshing, political and feminist.Janis Chambers (New Writing Associate, Octagon Theatre, Bolton)  

Detailed characterisation, playful dialogue, touching and funny.  A promising voice.  (Papatango Playwrights Award, London)   

A play born out of Thatcher’s Britain…When Worsooz meets her estranged father Nick, her mother Alberta is immersed in a secret relationship with girlfriend Anne and building their plan to rid the world of domestic violence.  Isolated and disgusted by her mother’s relationship, Worsooz is lured into criminality by her father Nick and immerses herself in to a secret world where only men can belong.  Set in the late 1980’s against the backdrop of the rise of the women’s refuge movement, Worsooz is a semi-autobiographical story of how far one girl will go for the love of a father.

Worsooz journeys to the dark corners of Thatcher’s Britain to explore the lives of people living in a city where there’s ‘no such thing as society’.  The people are real, their stories universal.  This is 80’s Britain but just as relevant today in 2017.

Worsooz is directed by Kevin Russell who directed the successful revival of Hang by Debbie Tucker Green for the Edinburgh Festival 2016, winning Best production of a Drama and Best Performance in a drama for Tiannah Viechweg at the Derek Awards.  The production also played at the Brighton Festival and will be produced later this year in London.  Other directing credits include the London premier of the Bryony Lavery adaptation of Henrik Ibsen, A Dolls’ House.  Memory of Water, Shelagh Stephenson, My Best Friend by Tamsin Olgesby, Barons Court Theatre, all receiving 4 and 5 star reviews.  Homefront, Rosie MacPherson Jermyn Street Theatre.  6am Hospital Chapel, Dick Curran Bread and Roses Theatre.

Catherine Kay is a writer, actress and producer from Manchester. Her first play Bubbysaurus attracted positive feedback from literary managers in new writing theatres like Hampstead and Soho Theatre, directors like Max Stafford Clark and iconoclast writers like Edward Bond.  A single parent at 18 and unimpressed by not seeing the sorts of writing for performance that reflected her own life experiences, Catherine produced Bubbysaurus a play about Love, Friendship, Babies and Raves at Contact Theatre (Manchester) and the production gained critical acclaim with sell out audiences and was later nominated for an MEN Theatre Award for Best New Play.

After a long stint in the literary wilderness, Catherine returned to theatre with her second play Just One Day an uncompromising and unsanitised story about sexual violence and the F word.  The play was researched and developed with the support of Manchester Rape Crisis and STAR (Surviving Trauma after Rape) Wakefield.  Catherine produced Just One Day at Lowry Theatre (Salford), receiving a 5 star review.  The script was published by Playdead Press in 2014.

Catherine Kay says of her new play, ‘I’m very excited about the production of Worsooz.  I wrote the play as a wedding gift for a close friend of mine. I’m also really pleased about working with the director Kevin Russell and the brilliant Actor Awareness, I wish they’d been around when I first started out to help fight my corner. It’s very uplifting and empowering the way that they’re collaborating with actors, writers and directors.’

Worsooz will be published by Playdead Press later in (2017)       

How has Actor Awareness helped you?

Actor Awareness has been a god send in terms of my play Worsooz being seen and heard by the general public.  Their divine intervention has enabled me to collaborate with talented professionals and use my work as a vehicle to generate opportunities for others and exercise my lofty ideals about art being for everyone.

What do you hope to get fro the festival?

Due to an hour long extract of Worsooz being performed at the festival I have already secured the publication of the script.  Additionally to this I would like the full play to be commissioned by a new writing theatre or on the strength of public and industry feedback secure funding for a co-production of the play.

In three words tell us your writing style?

In Yer Face

In One sentence tell us your play?

Power is never given it is taken.

Above photo taken at the Actor Awareness scratch

About the writer….

Catherine is a writer, actor and producer.  She studied a Postgraduate in Writing for the Stage at The Arden School of Theatre and a Masters in Screenwriting at Screen Academy (Scotland).  Her credits include Bubbysaurus, nominated for an MEN award for best new play and produced at Contact Theatre (Manchester) and Unity Theatre (Liverpool).  Just One Day produced at The Lowry Theatre (Salford) and published by Play Dead Press.  Worsooz, longlisted for The Papatango Playwrights Award (London) and published by Play Dead Press (2017).  Catherine is currently writing a musical / lyrical love letter dedicated to her beloved hometown of Manchester.

Directed by Kevin Russell

Kevin directed the 5-star Edinburgh & Brighton Fringe sell out  ‘Hang’ by Debbie Tucker Green 2016-2017.

Hang won Best Drama and Best Individual Performance for Tiannah Viechweg at The Derek Awards and was short-listed with two other productions for the prestigious James Tait Black Award. Kevin is an experienced director directing a wide variety of styles including the London Premier of Bryony Lavery adaptation of Henrik Ibsen: A Dolls House a new musical for Goldsmith Universcity, London and several new pieces of writing.

Additionally Kevin recently directed a new play called: 6am Hospital Chapel for Free Rayne Artists which was performed at the Southwick Playhouse April 2017.

 

Cast

Heather Howard plays Matilda

Jayne Edwards plays Anne (Worsooz mother girlfriend)

Nigel Fyfe plays Nick (Worsooz dad)

Mark Forester plays Geordie Nicks friend.

Vicky Winnings plays Alberta (Worsooz mum)

Kate O’ Rourke plays Joyce

Chloe Dark plays Worsooz

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Come Die With Me

Thursday 20th July, 7.30pm

Written by Vicki Connerty / Directed by Shian Denovan

‘I had tighter cheekbones after I laughed my way through Vicki Connerty’s black comedy’​ ​British Theatre. ​Upstairs, a man is dying. Downstairs, his family attempt to navigate their way through the entirely unfamiliar and oft-absurd waters of grief with varied levels of success. A darkly comic tale of love, loss and laughter.

 

How has Actor Awareness helped you ?

Actor Awareness was the first scratch night to fully stage my debut short play, ‘Come Die With Me’ which was a fantastic experience. It also got me my very first 5* review from BritishTheatre.com! Being asked to extend it for the New Writing Festival was amazing and terrifying in equal measure – nothing scares a procrastinating playwright more than an immovable deadline but the Actor Awareness guys have been nothing but supportive and encouraging, despite my occasional midnight ‘gaaaaaaaaaaaah, I can’t do it!!!!’ emails! 

 

What do you hope to get from the festival? 

An extended run somewhere would be quite nice! But in lieu of that, I’d just like to sell out my show and not have anyone walk out, fall asleep or throw cabbages at me afterwards. Luckily, I have a brilliant director and a talented cast so I’m hoping for a cabbage-free zone.  

 

In three words tell us your writing style 

Naturalistic, irreverent, optimistic. 

 

In one sentence sell us your play

Come Die With Me is a darkly comic tale of one family’s attempt to navigate the unfamiliar and oft-absurd waters of grief and loss. 

About the writer…. 

After spending two decades working in the media industry in the U.K and Australia, Vicki returned to London in 2016 to take up a place at the prestigious Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where she is studying for an M.A in Writing for the Stage and Broadcast Media.

In February 2017, Vicki saw her debut short play, ‘Come Die With Me’, performed as a rehearsed reading at Fizzy Sherbet’s new writing night before it was selected by Actor Awareness to be staged for the first time at their scratch night in April. Since then, it has been performed as part of Little Pieces of Gold’s new writing night at Southwark Playhouse and recently enjoyed a 3 night run at Bread & Roses Theatre in Clapham as part of ‘The Platform’.

In April, she was one of four playwrights selected for Reading Between The Lines Theatre Company’s annual writing relay event, #OffTheBlock6 where each writer was given one day to write a 20-minute play, with all four plays then being rehearsed and performed on the Friday. As a dedicated and lifelong procrastinator, Vicki is still recovering from the experience of writing a play in a day.

Despite questioning the logistical and financial wisdom of writing a play that requires a full-size coffin, she is tremendously grateful to Actor Awareness New Writing Festival for breathing yet more life into ‘Come Die With Me’.

She is also grateful to the National Theatre for supplying aforementioned coffin at a discounted rate and to her white van driver Tomas for dragging it all over London and up several flights of narrow fringe theatre stairs without complaint.

Vicki is the author of a blog (‪www.fellowshipoftheringlets.com).

 

Directed by Shian Denovan

Cast

Stella Ross – ‘Helen’

Jacqueline Johnson – ‘Debbie’

James Robert Gordon – ‘David’

Saria Steel – ‘Rachel’

C’est La Vie

Written by Stephanie Silver  /  Directed by Emelia Marshall Lovsey

How has Actor Awareness helped you?

Actor Awareness is like a baby for me and working alongside Tom Stocks over the last 2 and half years , I find myself wanting to do more and more and help the campaign along further. My passion is new writing and events so I produce the new writing nights and events such as the New Writing Festival. It gives me a chance to try out and platform some of my work and meet lots of great and creative people. There is a lot of people who follow the campaign and regulars who come to events and this gives a great sense of working towards a shared interest. Actor Awareness has given me confidence and the shove to just get on with things and a realization that there are other roles I like doing in theatre such as writing and producing.

What do you hope to get from the festival?

I have had ‘C’est La Vie’ on in May at Wandsworth fringe and 3 nights at Theatre N16, I would love for it to venture to another venue but 6 actors is a lot of people and at this moment in time I can’t afford the financial risk, so the festival is another chance to tell a rather important story.

In three words tell us your writing style?

I asked my friend who directs most of my work this question as my writing is very broad, she says ‘gritty, gripping and relevant’

In One sentence tell us your play?

Funny, sexy, raw, real and sometimes painful to watch

About the Writer

Stephanie Silver (that’s me)

Stephanie is an actor/writer and producer. Her first play ‘The Monologues of a Tired Nurse’ was a candid honest portrayal of working in the NHS after 8 years as a nurse herself. The play received 4-stars London Theatre Pubs & Breaking The Fourth wall and has toured around London 2017 and Edinburgh 2016. She also produces bi-monthly new writing events for Actor Awareness and is producing their upcoming new writing festival. Her 2nd play ‘C’est la Vie’ won an open submission in Australia 2017 and was produced in Melbourne by Owl and cat Theatre, it was produced in London at Theatre N16 in May by Glass Half Full Theatre. Stephanie completed the playwriting lab 2016 with play ‘Baby’. Stephanie produces her own work through Glass half Full Theatre, website here https://tanheartssteph.wixsite.com/glasshalffulltheatre

Director Emelia Marshall Lovsey

Emelia has worked extensively with Glass Half Full, acting, directing and now collaborating in writing for their next production ‘Walk of Shame’ . Stephanie and Emelia met at a Lamda audition and after met, planned world domination and have been inseparable since. ‘C’est La Vie’ is Emelia’s first full length directorial début.

 

Cast

Harry Boyd as Josh and Charlotte Hunter as Susie

Gianbruno Spena as Matthew and Stephanie Silver as Louise

Kate ‘o Rourke as Maxine and Philippa James as Claire

Productions stills by Jennifer Evans photography

 

Speci-Man

                                                                

     ‘Speci-Man’ was a short play taken from an early scratch night, written by Jayne Woodhouse and Directed by Calum Robshaw the show opens the New Writing Festival Monday 17th at 7.30pm.

How has Actor Awareness helped you?

Enormously! By staging my work and providing audience feedback which has been so important in helping me progress. I’ve had the confidence to develop 2 short pieces which were performed at Scratch Nights — Speci-Man and Owls — into full-length plays as a result. Actor Awareness has also enabled me to connect with many very talented actors, directors and other writers, so that I can see and learn from their work.

What do you hope to get from the festival?

I’m hoping to discover whether my play can hold the audience’s interest for the full 60 minutes, which will mean finding out whether the lines I thought were funny really do make people laugh. This is a great opportunity to bring my writing to a wider audience in a great venue, and to gain valuable lessons for re-writing from their feedback. And I also hope the piece will be strong enough for the hard-working cast and director to get noticed, too.

In three words tell us your writing style…

Edgy, challenging, real

In one sentence sell us your play

Speci-Man is a comedy about gender, where you discover what one of the last surviving men on earth might be like.

About the writer…… Jayne Woodhouse

I have been a professional author for several years, and have written many successful non-fiction books for children and curriculum resources for schools. More recently, I made the move into fiction, publishing a trilogy of novels for children and an eBook collection of short stories for adults, Getting Away. For the last three years I have also been teaching creative writing to adults and have really enjoyed seeing people achieve their own successes as a result of my courses. I began writing for the stage in 2015. This means I now get to write all the good stuff (the dialogue), while missing out the boring bits. I have had a number of short plays performed locally and in London theatres; my first full-length play, ‘Living with George’, premiered at the Brighton Fringe in May this year. Actor Awareness have been very supportive of my writing: their ethos of involvement for all and encouragement of new work are things which I value highly. Two of my pieces from their scratch nights, ‘Speci-Man’ and ‘Owls’ have developed into long plays. I really enjoy the collaborative process of working in theatre, which is so different to the solitary life of a novelist. I am particularly interested in contemporary issues confronting society and also creating strong, challenging roles for female actors.

Cast

Adam is played by Dave House

Dr Morgan Ellis is played by Vivi Gaskin

Prof Gwen Reece is played by Catherine Irlam

New Writing Festival

17th-22nd July @ Barons Court Theatre

So we are back, 2nd year in a row with our showcase with some of the scratch nights best talent. As we progress as a campaign we recognise and see that we are in an over saturated competitive industry, this doesn’t mean we give up, it just means we have to work harder, make savvy decisions, be the driver of our own career. We here at Actor awareness really believe that each person, actor, director or writer needs to be able to look for and create work themselves in order to be able to get a foot in any door. We remain in (very much still) a hierarchy in London theatre. Agents, theatres, CD’s pick from the drama school élite, but if you can put something out there, a play, a story, you never know what will come back your way.   If you have a story that is worth sharing then it’s worth doing and our showcase aims to represent and showcase some of Actor awareness best new writing, as well as actor and directors.

The line up covers contemporary and working class issues that are at the core of what Actor Awareness believe should be being made, stories with real people, real guts and some that make you laugh till your face hurts

All shows were picked after being seen performed at Spotlight studio as part of one of our scratch nights, writers have taken 15 minutes and now will present 1 hour of material to a paying audience. Each show will follow a Q & A bar the two full length productions ‘C’est La Vie’ and ‘Staffroom’ these two shows are fully produced and do not require audience feedback.

Industry professionals have been invited to the entire run and given a free press pass allowing them to view any play they want for free. We hope this encourages industry people looking for exciting new shows to programme or produce , to come along.

The Line up is as follows

 

• Monday 17th, 730pm, ‘Speci-Man’ Written by Jayne Woodhouse and Directed by Claum Robshaw

 

The setting is 1000 years in the future when most of the male species have died out. Adam, one of the few remaining males, is housed in a research institute, supervised by Morgan. She has called in the help of Gwen, a psychologist, to help diagnose Adam’s strange behaviour. He appears to be regressing to male stereotypes from 2017. The play is a humorous take on gender stereotypes and is played for laughs, whilst stressing serious contemporary issues.

 

• Tuesday 18th, 730pm ‘C’est La Vie’ Written by Stephanie Silver, Directed by Emelia Marshall Lovsey.

 

Premiered in Australiaa March 2017 to 4 Star reviews,‘Silver’s written is clever and keany observed’ Samara Dunston ‘C’est La Vie applies a blow torch to human bonding’ The Blurb. The play deals with 3 couples struggling under a privatised healthcare to keep their relationships going. Set post Tory re-election 6 people struggle to keep their heads above water. In a damaged fast paced society, how does modern love survive?

 

• Wednesday 19th, 730pm ‘Worsooz’ Written by Catherine Kay, Directed by Kevin Russell      

 

Worsooz meets her estranged father Nick, her mother Alberta is immersed in a secret relationship with girlfriend Anne and building their plan to rid the world of domestic violence. Isolated and disgusted by her mother’s relationship, Worsooz is lured into criminality by her father Nick and immerses herself into a secret world where only men can belong. Set in the late 1980’s Worsooz is a semi-autobiographical story of how far one girl will go for the love of her father. Shortlisted Papatango Playwrights 2016

 

• Thursday 20th, 730pm ‘Come Die with Me’ Written by Vicki Connerty Directed by Shian Denovan

 

‘I had tighter cheekbones after I laughed my way through Vicki Connerty’s black comedy’​ ​British Theatre. ​Upstairs, a man is dying. Downstairs, his family attempt to navigate their way through the entirely unfamiliar and oft-absurd waters of grief with varied levels of success. A darkly comic tale of love, loss and laughter.

 

• Friday 21st 730pm ‘Walk of Shame’ Written by Stephanie Silver and Emelia Marshall Lovsey and Directed by Emelia Marshall Lovsey

 

Meet Liam for him it’s a night of glory

Meet Alice for her it’s a Walk of Shame

Meet two people whose lives intertwine in a night of Double Vodka shots, between the classes and glasses two people change their lives forever. ‘Hard hitting’ ‘‘The dialogue is courageous and does not shy away from cold detail’  British Theatre

 

• Friday 21st 9pm ‘Submission’ Written by Shafeeq Shajahan, Produced by Liver and Lung Productions

 

Sameer, a young British Pakistani, struggles to reconcile his sexual desires with his Islamic roots and values. On the day of his 23rd birthday, Sameer hosts an unprecedented after-party with four friends. A series of unwelcome events unfold, triggering an unhinged response in Sameer. Not only does he begin to question his faith, he also begins to acknowledge the cruel realities that queer people of colour face. Torn between his allegiance to Mecca and his desire for temporal modernity, Sameer recites spoken word come Quranic compositions, forcing us to contemplate the importance of integrating age-old philosophy with new-wave ideology.

 

• Saturday 22nd, 730pm ‘2022’ Written and Directed by Colleen Pendergast

 

Christmas Eve. An immigration detention centre. Five years in the future. Post Brexit Britain has lurched sharply to the right. In the wake of the break with Europe, Scotland has seceded from the Union. A hard border now exists between England and Scotland, and after global instability and a huge economic crash, it has been made illegal to be Muslim in Britain.

 

 

• Saturday 22nd, 9pm ‘The Staffroom’ Written and Directed by Michelle Payne

 

5- Stars London Theatre Pubs ‘Could easily be a TV sitcom’

They’re teaching our children, but are they teaching the right things?

Three young teachers navigate their way through adulthood and educating. A peek inside a state school staff room. With fad diets, Instagram abs and the government imposing a sugar tax, do the educators even know what is good for us? A Geography, History and PE teacher form an unlikely friendship within the dynamics and the solace of the staff room, bonding over all that matters; biscuits and banter.

Go to the shows specific blog post to find out more ……

Theatre Must See’s

Barons Court Theatre

Feb 20-26th, 7.30pm, 25th Matinee at 2.30pm

The Monologues of a Tired Nurse

Written by a nurse this plays looks at what it means to FEEL like a nurse, working on the front line everyday, putting on a brave face.

Sally and Emily two nurses at opposites in their career. They soon find out they have more in common then they ever realised. Both using nursing as their way to make good in the world, what happens when one day they  realise that they’re not strong, enough, fast enough, good enough to keep on going, keep on working, some days they’re just so damn tired. The NHS is at a all time crisis with nurses under extra pressure. This play looks at the heart of the frontline workers and what it means to be them.

Kings Head Theatre

Call: 0207 226 8561
boxoffice@kingsheadtheatre.com

Glitter Punch written by Lucy Burke

Directed by Peter Taylor

 8-25th February at 9.30pm

After a critically acclaimed, sell out Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Some Riot Theatre return to London with their brand new play Glitter Punch. 16 year old Molly is seeking an escape from a difficult upbringing plagued by an over worked mother and alcoholic stepfather. When she collides with the mysterious John, the two embark on a journey of forbidden love, pushing the boundaries of conventional romance and forcing us to question how far we would really go for the one we love.

 

Tea and Good Intentions by Instinct Theatre

Written by Felicity Huxley Miners

Check this play out under the Without Decor scheme. Performances 11th & 24th Feb

https://www.facebook.com/events/1382318331788023/

Lonsome SchoolBoy Productions

Presents 

He(ART) written by Andrew maddox

With some 4 stars already rolling in, go and see this story of classes. I saw this one already and the performances by  Flora Dawson and Shane Noone elevated the play. The topics covered were great like affording NHS medical bills and the dynamic of relations between Alex Reynolds and Jack Gogarty’s characters, could of done with exploring more to really get to the core of the relationship. On a whole it was a very touching story with layered themes and from a talented writer. A defo see for the Fringe circuit !

Book via N16 website here: http://www.theatren16.co.uk/heart

Hedda Gabler is on at the National which is worth a see if you can grab a ticket. My new years resolution is to go to more of the theatres I don’t like The Bush and The Arcola which always seem to programme a diverse selection of plays.

 

 

Instinct Theatre

Lily Driver                                    Felicity Huxley Miners

Instinct are a young theatre company run by strong independent women, what’s not to like!

You have been working on a new play ‘tea and good Intentions’ How did this play come about?
Tea and Good Intentions was actually created because of an Actor Awareness Scratch Night! I saw the call out for the evening happening as part of the Guildford Fringe for submissions on class and wanted to tell a story about someone who transcends class. It was created as a short 15 minute piece but we got some great feedback and the refugee crisis in Syria was on the news every day with more and more destruction happening that it got turned into a full length play.

Tea and Good Intentions is about a Syrian migrant who has been rehoused in England and the middle aged woman who has opened her home to him for all the wrong reasons. Hilarity and heartbreak ensues as this unlikely pair start to mean far more to each other than they intended. In this new world of far right politics and mass hysteria all played out through the media and online Tea is a story of humanity, of two people who desperately need each other and of the coming together of communities. It is a very British look at a crisis which affects us all but at the heart of it it’s a comedy.

What is the plans at current for ‘tea and Good intentions’?

We have been selected to be a part of The King’s Head Theatre’s Without Décor season, which is a development scheme for new writing. We have two matinee slots; Saturday 11th February and Friday 24th February where we stage the show in full with minimal set. We are casting at the moment and will start rehearsals throughout January. We’re so excited to be performing the play in full and will be looking to transfer for a full length run later in the year.

You held a new writing night last year, do you plan to do more in 2017?
Yes, we’re in talks at the moment to set up a regular new writing night. We held a night at The Hen and Chickens Theatre which was originally intended as a one off but after having some wonderful reviews and getting to work with such a big, diverse team we want to keep hosting them! We found it was such a good way to meet other creatives and see what other work is out there, as well as for writers, directors and actors to come together and develop their skills. We’ll put details up on our website and have a big open call out again for actors, directors and writers.

You have been working alongside Adam Morley for a upcoming project in 2017, tell our readers a bit more?
We are collaborating with Adam to create a bizarre, musical, thrilling adaptation of the Greek comedy Lysistrata. Again, this has political overtones; with more of our world leaders than ever are women and the topic of female empowerment is becoming ever more prevalent.

Lysistrata gathers the women of Greece and convinces them to swear an oath that they will withhold sex from their husbands until both sides sign a treaty of peace. Even though it was written over 2,000 years ago, Lysistrata perfectly captures the futility of war, gender inequality and echoes modern day politics with terrifying accuracy.
It has been very important to us and Adam to cast blind throughout the process. Ethnicity is simply not relevant in the play and so we’re really looking forward to working with hard-working, talented people regardless of background or race. We will be staging this in the autumn of 2017 for an initial short London run.

Going into 2017 what do you and everyone at Instinct want to achieve?
We have so many plans! We would love to set up the New Writing Night as a regular event. We have got Tea and Good Intentions to stage for the initial showcase at The King’s Head and then hope to take it elsewhere as well as working on Lysistrata we will be busy enough! We want to keep growing and developing as a company and work with as many inspiring, exciting, talented people as possible as we gain so much with each new person we work with.

We’ll keep updating our website with what we’re up to and would love to hear from some Actor Awareness supporters! We regularly attend the new writing nights and have cast several people from them so please come and say hello and keep up to date via our website: http://www.instinct-theatre.co.uk/  and Twitter: @InstinctTheatre

Theatre on The Cheap

Christmas by Simon Stephens

Directed by Jamie Eastlake and Sarah Chapleo

Sunday 11th -22nd December / Sunday Matinee 18th, 4pm

9pm/Tickets £15/£10

The reality is that Christmas is a depressing time for many. With the aftermath of Brexit and Ukip and Farage and the clear manipulation of the white working class for political gain, Theatre N16 are delighted to produce Simon Stephens Yuletide treat. One night in an East end pub, four men confront their past and brace themselves for an uncertain future

The Snow Queen

Directed by Scott Ellis and Tatty Hennessy.

Sun 11th – Thurs 22nd December 19:30 pm/Tickets £15/£10 

Greta’s brother, Kay, has been acting strange. He’s mean and moody and won’t play games. The Snow Queen must have snatched him, and left an imposter in his place. With her new friend, the wise-cracking, fame-hungry talking Crow to guide her, Greta must set out across the snow to search for her brother in the Snow Queen’s palace and bring him home in time for Christmas. Funny, magic and full of surprises, this new modern adaptation of The Snow Queen is a perfect family Christmas adventure. 

Actor Awareness ‘Best of Scratch’

THE STAFF ROOM written and directed by Michelle Payne

CAST: Craig Webb, Faye Derham, Hilary Murnane

They’re teaching our children, but are they teaching the right things? Three young teachers navigate their way through adulthood and educating. A peak inside a state school staff room. With fad diets, Instagram abs and the government imposing a sugar tax, do the educators even know what is good for us? A Geography, History and PE teacher form an unlikely friendship within the dynamics and the solace of the staff room, bonding over all that matters; biscuits and banter. The Staff Room, following it’s 5 star review from London Theatre 1 at Theatre N16 in the Summer, has been offered it’s first professional outing at the Queens Theatre Hornchurch in July 2017.

The Monologues of a Tired Nurse written by Stephanie Silver         Directed by Simon Nader

Cast: Sally played by Stephanie Silver/Emily by Emelia Marshall Lovsey

A look at 2 NHS nurses struggle to maintain their head above water. Performed at sell out nights at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016. Due for a run 20-26th Feb at Barons Court Theatre 2017 and Wandsworth Fringe at Fragility Takeover at The Cats Back 2017. Supported by RCN Rep and #ScrapTheCap Campaign for nursing pay.

 

Love and all That Crap by Oliver Retter

“And they all lived Happily Ever After”… Bullsh*t!

Love And All That Cr@p is a light-hearted ‘coming of age’ story about finding love in our modern day society. Follow a young man as he makes his discovery in awkward, amusing and arousing ways such as discovering your sexuality through porn; the naivety of your ‘first time’, a blind date gone terribly wrong and the all too true horrors of a one night stand as well as other stories and experience a cabaret of song, poetry and hilarity in this embarrassingly true story about love and all its unsaid difficulties.

OCD Theatre (Original, Contemporary, Dynamic) emerged from East 15 Acting School’s Contemporary Theatre course and has continued to produce intriguing new work which were praised for their daring and eye-opening subjects

Written & performed by Oliver Retter. With special thanks to Adam Weeks and Lottie Finklaire for their dramaturgical support.

Love And All That Cr@p contains strong language and a ridiculous amount of glitter.

 

Birth of a Nation written by Dave House & produced by IndigoChildArts

Satirical look at the failings of a Tory government riddled with NHS pains, Boris Johnson and Brexit.

 

 

 

We are very proud of all our plays that have gone on to be developed and hope to hear more about their progress in the future.

Now we look forward to 2017- Deadline for the first scratch with the theme ‘Working Class’ is Jan 7th. Send submissions to tanheartssteph@gmail.com or tomstocks0805@gmail.com. We are looking for 4 shows, 15 minutes long with 3 actors max and 1 director.