Rotterdam by Jon Brittain
Arts Theatre, 6-7 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JB
Wednesday 21st June – Saturday 15th July 2017
After its triumphant win at the 2017 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Donnacadh O’Briain’s critically acclaimed production of Rotterdam by Jon Brittain will be returning to London following a highly successful run at Trafalgar Studios and at 59E59 Theater’s Brits Off Broadway in New York.
Anna Martine Freeman (The Nether), Alice McCarthy (Boris: World King), Ed Eales-White (Strap In – It’s Clever Peter) and Ellie Morris (Peter Pan Goes Wrong) reprise their roles in this poignant and highly comic production.
Alice wants to come out as a lesbian. Her girlfriend Fiona wants to start living as a man. It’s New Year in Rotterdam, and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she’s gay. But before she can hit send, Fiona reveals that he has always identified as male and now wants to start living as a man named Adrian. Now, as Adrian confronts the reality of his transition, Alice faces a question she never thought she’d ask… does this mean she’s straight?
Rotterdam is a bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality and being a long way from home by acclaimed writer Jon Brittain, co-creator of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, and writer of What Would Spock Do? and A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad).
Director Donnacadh O’Briain comments, Rotterdam made me laugh-out-loud and well up with tears from the first time I picked it out of a pile of scripts, and it continues to do that every time I see it. It’s an honour and a joy to share that with the theatre capital of the world.
Jon Brittain was inspired to write Rotterdam after a couple of his friends transitioned in the late 2000s. He became aware of the absence of transgender stories in pop culture and wanted to address this on the stage. Through writing this show, he researched and consulted widely including talking to trans people and their partners, conducting a reading for members of the trans communities and discussing the show with various organisations, including Trans Media Watch who then endorsed Rotterdam, and the charity Gendered Intelligence, who the company dedicated their Olivier award to.
Brittain has written four wonderful characters, the central couple giving McCarthy and Martine the chance to put in two powerful performances. (Time Out).
While the themes are gay and transgender – and quite cutting edge, as the subject is relatively rare in theatre – it is a piece that is universally human. (The Upcoming)
Brittain handles complex issues with great honesty and thoughtfulness, but also with a refreshing amount of wit. (Evening Standard)