Past Productions

Continuing Charles Dickens' tradition of performing the text live, and using Dickens' original abridged text, comedian Mitch Benn brings the beloved story to life for four performances only!

Come one, come all, and experience the final work of legendary Bulgarian playwright Stanislav Hristov (1941-????). With the playwright’s unfortunate disappearance, only one scene was completed. Now if only someone informed the play’s two characters. Join them as they reckon with their meaningless lives and delay the play's inevitable end. This one-hour-long new work is an existential horror-comedy that explores male friendship and tackles the relationship between characters, the playwright, and the audience. Cast: Rex Lee Connor Rowlett Directed by Emma Tolleson Written and Produced by Rex Lee Co-produced by Valeria Suaste and Hannah Limbrick

On the final day of the January transfer window, the chairman of a high-profile football club loses its top player. Now, with no time remaining, he must sign a replacement - all while balancing his crumbling career, broken marriage, and anxiety. DIRECTOR: Bruno Magnanti CAST: Michael Byers, Craig Edgley, Tremont Deigh, Victoria Sasso, Jonny Magnanti LIGHTING/STAGE MANAGER: Tasmin Wickremeratne

Willow is living through her worst nightmare. Not only has she discovered that her boyfriend is married, but his wife has just been murdered. And she is the main suspect. Worse still, her world isn’t her own, but the creation of Aaron, a crime novelist desperate for a bestseller. He thinks writing a novel with a Chinese-immigrant at its centre will tick everyone’s boxes. Aaron has decided that Willow will be his sacrificial lamb, but what happens when the lamb disagrees? Winner of the 2023 Vaults Festival Origin Award for new writing, The Lamb Disagrees is Eratle Wang’s debut play. Kibo Productions is thrilled to produce Eratle’s ambitious, unflinching take down of the western gaze on East Asian women. Cast: Gawa Leung, Martina Greenwood, Gerrie Skeens, Ben Butler Directed by Sharon Willems

Hans, the Witch and the Gobbin by Alan Cullen is a fun fairytale frolic through a fantasy forest. It has princesses, witches, forest queens, goblin-like creatures, fairy swineherds, and useless court physicians. Expect silly voices, big characters, and mistaken identities. Come and escape a cold autumn night for a few hours, and forget your troubles! While the show is suitable for all ages, we judge it’s best enjoyed by an adult audience, glass of wine in hand. Cast: Hans – Theo Tompkins Princess Alicia – Mhairi Boyle Castor – James Cross Senna – Dan Struthers King Rufus – Peader Donnelly Scratch – Georgina Whittaker Daisy – Sarah Beebe Crabtree – Alice McCartney Sylvester – Simon Berry Queen of the Forest – Sarah Jost Gobbin – Hannah Brown Crew: Director – Gabriella Guymer-Davies Assistant Director – Freddie Wride Stage Manager – Flick Hemming Poster by Jake Guymer-Davies

Shakespeare’s greatest work is presented in an intimate, stripped down production that ventures to answer the question, “Who’s there?” Our version of Hamlet will show that everyone can play Hamlet. Or Ophelia. Or Horatio, Rosencrantz, or… You get the idea. We will be exploring who Hamlet and the other characters are when they are played by actors of all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, and genders. We’ll keep all the famous speeches, do away with anything that isn’t interesting, and create our own version of this fantastic story. Cast: Elshadai Biru Sean Calvey El Chen Janina Enrile Jonathan Lazarovitch Yen-yen Loke Oral Norville Josie Stephens Tanvi Surana Director – Karack Osborn

What would happen if you just lit a match and put your whole life on fire? Harper has everything - she is an aspiring writer, she has a husband who loves her, a big house, and a beautiful daughter. But it doesn’t take much digging under the surface to realize that something is rotten. Set in the late 1950s, A Woman On Fire is a thrilling four-hander that follows a young woman struggling with addiction and depression as a consequence of untreated postpartum depression. With her husband finding himself tangled in a forbidden relationship with another man and on the brink of leaving, Therese, the family’s nanny, seems to be the only hope. But people have their own agendas and you have to be careful who you trust. Cast: Sarah Majland as Harper Boyan Petrov as Mark Öncel Camcı as Oliver Chloe Winney as Therese Directed by: Casper Aagaard Written by: Sarah Majland

“This isn’t… how the story goes.” Caitlyn and Kyle enjoy playing pranks and scaring campers on Lake Windermere, but their harmless fun turns into trouble when they’re tracked down by a nearby ghost-whisperer in ‘We Are Monsters.’ Upon the ninth floor of a skyscraper on Halloween night, a terrified Brody Jenkins receives an ominous phone call from a stranger on a broken-down train, in ‘Glass’. Directed by: Zach Wyatt Designed by: Laura Mugford Cast: Joseph Ryan-Hughes Laura Mugford Moses Alexander in 'We Are Monsters' Connor McCrory in 'Glass'

'Do you remember the day you got married? Did you make promises to each other? So did we. We made a lot of promises . . . Did you see them through?' You’re invited to the divorce party of Daria and Radu, two of your close friends who are splitting up. Together, we’ll toast to what was and could have been as we follow their investigation into where love was lost. But will going back through their time together divide them even further, or will memories of the good times make them question their choice? Witty and fast-paced, All’s Well That Ends is a darkly comedic, forensic journey into the romantic failures of our once happy couple. Join us for their last hurrah in all its beautiful, awkward glory. Cast: Nico Marica, Gerardo Cabal Directed by Leo Bacica

Troubled schoolboy Lyle walks out of his life and up into the mountains of the Lake District. On the edge of a mountain lake, he meets Jake, whose life is as far removed from Lyle’s as possible. Over the course of 24 hours, Lyle and Jake chip away at each other until they are no longer sure who they really are or what the future holds for them. At the mercy of the elements, all they have is each other. Chris Salt's play fell is a compelling and moving story of two young, funny, sensitive lads trapped by the poverty of hope and facing the challenges of friendship whilst growing up as a young adult in a rural community. “'fell' is a gift from heaven ... The script is so tight. Each word counting to bringing humour and drama to situations which are upsetting and very real." (North West End)

A week where non-binary theatre makers held conversations, shared new work, and ran workshops around questions of gender and representation on stage. Additionally, the Barons Court Theatre donated time for genderqueer companies and artists to use the theatre for R&D's.

Week 1 (5-9 September): Little Black Dress by John Mabey, directed by Pamela Farrugia Closing Doors by John Minigan, directed by Sharon Willems Just Nod by Anna Clart, directed by Vittorio Parri Bound Set by Stephen Dierkes, directed by Sebastiao Marques Lopes My Ghost by Nina Tolstoy, directed by Jagoda Kamov The Dating Pool by Arianna Rose, directed by Hannah Gooden ​ Week 2 (12-16 September): The Dying Speech of a Living Legend by Daniel Connelly, directed by Anna Clart Spark by Siân Rowland, directed by Isabella Forshaw Road Trip by Katherine Vondy, directed by Chelsea Sheldon Things Unsaid by Raegan Payne, directed by Ed Hulme Week 3 (19-23 Sptember): Two Girls by Allie Costa, directed by Beth Graham The Will of the People by Andrew Allen, directed by Amalia Kontesi Nil by Sea by Katie Pollock, directed by Estrella Mabika The Chronicles by Anna Halas, directed by Josh Hinds Drawing under the Microscope by Janine Sobeck Knighton, directed by Leo Bacica Like Clockwork by Andrada Anglieri, directed by David Frias-Roblas The Lock by Katherine Swan, directed by Sharon Willems

“I didn’t expect Love to show up, At my dreary new job. If we made eye contact I might explode. Cleanup in aisle four.” Getting a grip on love, life and everything is tricky, and just when she thinks she’s got a firm footing, Love unexpectedly slides into her…workplace! This makes for a slippery love story, with slippery floors and a very slippery vagina. Does she abandon her lifelong dreams to swim in the balmy waters of Love? Slippery When Wet is a one-woman show written and performed by Leanne Devlin. Witty, wistful, and gushing with emotion, this story is a reminder that you can only really jump into love when you have both your feet firmly planted on the ground.

A love letter to all the gay men in London Tyler is a 24-year-old gay man. He loves his mum, his friends, and partying. But there’s more to this story than what’s on the surface. Tyler wants to be loved deeply and passionately by somebody. But in the age of Grindr and hook-ups, it’s not as easy as it seems.

Smith’s 7th verse play, Pretty, Witty Nell® is a new and original one-woman tragicomic history, written entirely in rhyming iambic pentameter, that tells the true story of Nell Gwynne, the famous actress and mistress of the wild British monarch, King Charles II. In the introduction to his forthcoming book of plays, ‘Rogue Shakespeare®: 3 plays’ which includes Pretty, Witty Nell®, Smith says he wrote the one-woman show as a celebration of both women on the stage; and of Nell, “a one-woman force of nature.” Smith asks, rhetorically, “what better way to celebrate the life of this absolutely amazing woman than by writing her a tribute in the style of theatre (rhyming iambic verse) that made her famous?” Pretty, Witty Nell® is indeed the first ever play about Nell Gwynne written in iambic verse. The world premiere took place in Hollywood, California, in June 2019, where it delighted audiences and reviewers alike: “a standout solo show - perfect!” - Broadway World Pretty, Witty Nell® was also nominated for the Hollywood Fringe International Award – an award which Smith previously won twice in 2015 & 2016 with his verse plays, Love Labours Won and MacDeth! respectively. Starring Hannah Attfield, Pretty, Witty Nell® (50 mins) played 6 unmissable performances at Barons Court Theatre!

“...we have already done more than Greenpeace ever will to reduce emissions.” - Lee Raymond, ExxonMobil CEO until 2005 So… You Knew? is a gripping physical theatre drama that follows the life of Willie, a young scientist who discovers the truth about climate change back in 1982 while working for EcsonWobil (sounds familiar?). The show takes us on a journey through Willie's life until 2023, as he battles with his conscience and his desire for financial stability, while also facing pressure from his colleagues and bosses to suppress his findings. Drawing from real people, real statements and advertising from the fossil fuel industry and real scientific evidence, this compelling story is made up of hundreds of hours of research and hundreads of hours of having fun with it. This high-energy, inspiring one-man show So… You Knew? immerses the audience in a dynamic and multi-sensory experience, utilising projections, sound effects, and compelling video footage to create a truly engaging and memorable performance. Willie's story makes us wonder “what would you do if you discovered a truth that threatened everything you knew?”. Join us for an unforgettable exploration of one man's struggle to do the right thing, while doing all the wrong things. Performer: Bartolomeo Bartolini Director: Maria Cristina Petitti Technician: Alice Catanzaro

How do you look the enemy in the eye? A human rights lawyer, accustomed to solving unwanted cases, receives an unusual proposal: to organize a yoga workshop for the leaders of Peru’s most notorious terrorist groups: The Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru). The men are serving life sentences in a maximum-security prison since their arrest in the early 90s. Abimael Guzmán, Shining Path’s leader, is one of them. All prisoners have the right to rehabilitation. But how do you teach wellness skills to the perpetrators of the bloodiest civil conflict in contemporary Peruvian history? Can those responsible for such suffering change? To address these questions, the therapist confronts a group of now aged, fragile looking men, who remain invisible on stage. The sheer act of standing there, with the audience as witness, strengthens her resolve to confront her own family history. The Therapist is above all a settling of accounts with past demons. The play takes us back in time through our protagonist’s early years, marked by abandonment, and solitude. A time when violence stalked her country, as well as her home. Awards: Premio Luces 2019 Best Peruvian Play: La Terapeuta de Gabriela Yepes (Teatro de la Alianza Francesa) Written by Gabriela Yepes Directed by Sarah O'Connell Translated and performed by Gigi Guizado

“An intense ritual of youth. If Shakespeare were alive, he would have come to see this piece.” —NorthWestEnd Welsh creative Evan L. Barker’s new version of the under-cherished drama-comedy presents a bold and surprising hybrid of classical and contemporary text. Creating the modern-day school system; following sixth-form students navigating their way through the social hierarchy; into their adult life. Going between Verona (State Comprehensive), Milan (Private) & Mantua (Military School) Exploring corrupted youth, naive love, friendship & betrayal. With themes of class, loneliness, and abandonment.

1958. A thousand miles above the mighty USSR. ​ Last recorded transmission from the burning Sputnik 2. 'She melts you know. The snowchild. She melts...' Laika is trapped in a cardboard box, hurtling at 18,000mph into the unknown perils of space. But she isn't alone - the walls bend as she fills her square world with stories of wondrous planets made of fire, smoke and ash. Featuring live music, physical theatre and cutting-edge tech, Gilmore's story takes us on the final hours of Laika's infamous voyage, celebrating the soul who was the first to dance among the stars. Cast Isabel McGrady Ben Willows

“I am scared, that once this war is over, and I am sent home, that you won’t be here. That you might be gone.” Leonard and Violet, young, restless, and in love, spend their first night together knowing it may also be their last. It’s 1942 and, in a hotel room in Bath, they dream of their future while preparing for Leonard’s departure to the war. But the bombs begin to fall and their world will never be the same again. In the year 2002, the couple looks back at what might have been. Creatives: Written by Nick Payne Director Connor McCrory Designer Laura Mugford Produced by Just a Regular House Cast Laura Mugford Joseph Ryan-Hughes Nick Payne’s One Day When We We’re Young premiered at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield, in October 2011 in a Paines Plough and Sheffield Theatres production as part of the first Roundabout Season. This production has been licensed by arrangement with Curtis Brown Group Ltd.

What could possibly go wrong when one drunken night Anna, very gay, and Isaac, very very gay, have sex to heal from a breakup? What follows is a journey covering themes of queer families, abortion rights in the South, and the pursuit of building community, no matter how untypical. This queer dark comedy navigates blurred family lines, friendship, and dealing with the unexpected consequences life can throw at a person. At Birth is written, performed, and designed by Ty Autry (A Southern Fairytale) a genderqueer Southern creative, and Thalia Gonzalez Kane (A Drunk Lesbian Love Affair) a queer, Ecuadorian-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, and theatre scholar. Collectively, they've performed in North America, Australia, and Europe numerous times, garnering multiple awards and critical acclaim for their work on elevating queer voices. Directing the production is Atlanta-based, award-winning director Melissa Foulger (Artistic Director, DramaTech). Rounding out the creative team is Intimacy Director, Monty Davis (Atlanta-based fight and intimacy choreographer) and Dramaturge, Kat Sandler (Toronto-based award-winning playwright and screenwriter).

“In a world so full of hate, misunderstanding, and separation, we as people find love. It’s what gets us through, isn’t it? Love is how we survive.” ​ Growing up is hard enough, but when disaster strikes for Katie in the form of a ten-tonne truck, there is a whole other world of problems she has to deal with. ​ Totally Trucked is a rollercoaster of a one-woman show written and performed by Katie Damer. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and incredibly raw, this unique story is an astounding reminder of human strength and the power of holding out hope. Creative team: Katie Damer (Writer and performer) Naseem Partington (Producer) Kirsti Burch (Marketing Liason)

TRUMPETS & RASPBERRIES (Clacson, Trombette e Pernacchi) By DARIO FO, Nobel Prize Winner. A madcap political satire and farce about corruption and hypocrisy in high places and the plight of the common man versus the rich elites and the too-powerful corporations and institutions. Set in politically turbulent 1980s Italy, Antonio is a downtrodden shop steward at the Fiat Factory where Gianni Agnelli is the conceited, fabulously wealthy, famous boss. During a bungled kidnap attempt of Agnelli, presumed to be by Left-wing terrorists, Antonio an innocent bystander, saves him without realizing who he is. The hospital treating Agnelli, together with the authorities, believes their severely disfigured patient to be Antonio, and that he is one of the terrorists involved in the kidnap. It is a case of mistaken identity and absolute mayhem ensues in true Fo style! Cast: Alex Smith, Barbra Dunin, Simon Allder, Hannah Dormor, Leyon Stolz Hunter, Dorota Krimmel, Yasir Senna, Ian Crosson, Thea Rubina Directed by Gerrie Skeens

There should be a siren when love starts to leave. But it’s not like that. It’s a daily creep. John and Martha fall in love and prepare for a life of joy together. Things are good, but never quite perfect, and the two lovers are trying their darndest but they can’t quite seem to get on the same page. Until one day, destiny happens. ​ Kibo Productions present their first show of the year, a bittersweet romantic comedy from the pen of Roz Wyllie, starring May López and Michael Hajiantonis, and directed by Leo Bacica.

"This country'd be a whole hell of a lot different if every woman had a snake." Eve. A Cretan snake priestess. A 1930s burlesque snake dancer. And the modern woman who needs their stories. Slither is a modern feminist fable about family, faith, and finding your strength. ...with snakes. Creative team: Director: Sarah Beebe Assistant Director: Darcy Calcraft Cast: Adela McBrine Antonia Kasoulidou Anuli Changa Freddie Wride Keir Pagett-Mills Malavika Suresh Sarah Jost Sarah-Luna Ace

‘Love Songs in London’ is a joyful collage of the messy, crazy, uncomfortable, intimate, filthy, unpredictable, and slightly absurd encounters one has when living in the big smoke. It’s a southbound service of songs to stories to real conversations with the lovers of London. It will take a tour around the romantic alleyways of Aldwych, sit back and hear the titillating tales of the tube and learn just how erotic the exhibitions in the V&A can be. Mind the gap between your beating heart and Cupid’s bow and arrow. This process and production has been generously supported by the Earls Court Development Company. Written and performed by Lauren Ava Thomas

My Dead is the story of a woman who finds her life through her dead. Uncovering letters and autobiographies from her deceased grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents, and even great-great-great grandparents, she is shocked to discover her ancestors from England, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, and Mexico are passing down shared experiences that will alter the course of her life... leading her to ask: "My Dead. Do I really know them?" My Dead was originally developed as a 25 min thesis project at LAMDA in 2021. It has since developed into an hour long one woman play that is now embarking on a multi-country tour.

The High Life is a one-woman play about Kayla, a twenty-something black woman who is desperate to get out of her service industry job, and therefore enters the PR industry. It is a funny, vibrant, truthful piece about the lure and danger of toxic work environments, full of personal revelations, clandestine romance and some home truths that hit a modern audience hard. Directed by Sarah Githugu Performed by Feyshara Mendes Light Design by Josie Ireland

Bloody Influencers is a comedy about influencer Daisy Woolworth aka Lucija Antonija Matic, Instagram queen, who goes on a journey of finding something real in a world where everything she has is fake, starting with the feelings between her and her fiancé. She is on a journey of self-discovery when she faces an accident that causes her to change and find out what matters: the real connection with others, real care, and love that changes her life as she decides to go to therapy. Directed by Sofia Zaragoza Performed by Ena Begovic

Temz Thomas has been asked to give a speech at his old school about how his time there shaped him into the man he is today. While searching his old bedroom for his Blackberry from when he was in school Temz goes on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. In this solo performance, writer Akin Wright is asking the question where do you fit in when you're ‘too white for the black kids and too white for the white kids’? 'I am not Black' is a one-man show written and performed by Akin Wright and directed by Joseph Junkere

Ambitious banker Keren is determined to make her mark. In a male-dominated industry, she’s learned that the way to get ahead is to speak loudly, strut your stuff, and sell sell sell. But the siren’s song is calling her name, drawing her back to her roots. Meanwhile, Keren’s grandmother Morwen knows it’s time to pass down her wisdom, knowledge and place in her grieving community. Inheriting the village’s leadership was never part of Keren’s plan, but her daughter, mermaid-obsessed Ellie, loves it here. Drawing on Cornish mythology, Morveren is centered around a hidden coastal village where women make the rules and no one has to shout to be heard. Using theatrical magic and a digital choir to imagine an alternative way of living, Morveren is a celebration of community and a coming of age for three generations of women. Directed by Lou Corben Cast: Charlotte Blandford, Aysha Niwaz, Alessandra Perotto