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CAST ANNOUNCED FOR RSC’S EUROPEANA, PEER GYNT AND BLINDNESS AND SEEING, PART OF PROJEKT EUROPA

Europeana based on the book by Patrik Ouředník
Adapted by Maria Åberg and Judith Gerstenberg

Directed by Maria Åberg
Swan Theatre, 9 April – 25 July 2020

Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen

From a translation by John Northam
Adapted by Barbara Frey and Judith Gerstenberg
Directed by Barbara Frey
Swan Theatre, 1 May – 23 September 2020

Blindness and Seeing based on the novels by José Saramago

Adapted by Tiago Rodrigues
Translated by Daniel Hahn

Directed by Tiago Rodrigues

Swan Theatre, 1 August – 26 September 2020

Casting details are announced for Europeana, Peer Gynt and Blindness and Seeing, three productions that are part of PROJEKT EUROPA, a season of work at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, exploring, celebrating and interrogating our relationship with Europe. 

The company will comprise sixteen actors, most of whom will appear in two or three of the productions, which run in the Swan Theatre between April and September 2020.  In most cases roles will be decided upon during the rehearsal process.  The company includes: Nandi Bhebhe, Hannah Bristow, Jacqui Dubois, Rina Fatania, Sandy Foster, Georgia Frost, Richard Hope, Miles Jovian, Richard Katz, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Barbara Marten, Ako Mitchell, Chris New, Bathsheba Piepe and Brigid Zengeni.

PROJEKT EUROPA is co-curated by RSC Associate Artist Maria Åberg, and Judith Gerstenberg.  Maria will direct Europeana, following her acclaimed productions of The Duchess of Malfi in 2018 and Doctor Faustus in 2016. Born in Hamburg, Judith has worked as a dramaturg in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.  Maria and Judith will be joined by a number of other leading European theatre artists for the season, including Barbara Frey, who directs Peer Gynt and Tiago Rodrigues, who directs Blindness and Seeing. 

Maria Åberg said: “From directors to designers, costume designers to dramaturgs, composers to video designers, PROJEKT EUROPA offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see world class European theatre, made in Stratford. I’m hoping the season will excite and inspire, spark curiosity and debate, and that we can truly offer our Stratford audience the very best of European theatre making right now. The majority of the artists involved are making work for a British audience for the very first time, so the season really does present a unique opportunity to experience a genuine theatrical experiment at a landmark moment in our shared history.”

PROJEKT EUROPA also includes Voices from The Edges of Europe, a series of newly commissioned monologues from prominent European writers to be presented in The Other Place; Decameron 2020, a unique collaboration between the RSC’s Next Generation ACT young company and Mattias Andersson, one of Europe’s most exciting directors of theatre for young people; and a rich and varied feast of talks, debates, exhibitions and events, all designed to explore, interrogate and celebrate our relationship with Europe.

PROJEKT EUROPA

Europeana opens the season from 9 April to 25 July 2020 – a new adaptation from the book by Patrik Ouředník by Maria Åberg and Judith Gerstenberg, directed by Maria Åberg. This playful theatrical experiment based on the satirical Czech novel of the same name compresses a hundred years of European history into a fast-paced and eclectic narrative which collides the invention of the bra with the tragedy of the Holocaust, Barbie with dictators and fleeting human moments with epic events.

Company: Nandi Bhebhe, Hannah Bristow, Jacqui Dubois, Sandy Foster, Georgia Frost, Miles Jovian, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Ako Mitchell and Chris New.

Joining Maria Åberg on the creative team are Ana Inés Jabares-Pita (Designer), Richard Howell (Lighting), David Ridley (Music), Claire Windsor (Sound), Ayse Tashkiran (Movement) and Judith Gerstenberg (Dramaturg).

Peer Gynt, a radical new staging of Ibsen’s epic European myth for the 21st century will follow from 1 May to 23 September 2020. The production is directed by Barbara Frey, prominent European director and Artistic Director designate for the Ruhrtriennale and adapted by Barbara Frey and Judith Gerstenberg from a translation by John Northam.

Richard Katz plays Peer Gynt, and Barbara Marten plays Aase.

Company: Jacqui Dubois, Rina Fatania, Sandy Foster, Richard Katz, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Barbara Marten, Ako Mitchell, Chris New and Bathsheba Piepe.

Joining Barbara Frey on the creative team are: Bettina Meyer (Designer), Bettina Munzer (Costume Designer), Kai Fischer (Lighting), Josh Sneesby and Gemma Storr (Music), Carolyn Downing (Sound) and Judith Gerstenberg (Dramaturg).

Blindness and Seeing completes the season from 1 August to 26 September 2020. Based on the Nobel Prize winning novels by José Saramago, Blindness and Seeing is a poetic and evocative vision for the future, adapted and directed by rising star Tiago Rodrigues, Artistic Director of the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon, from a translation by Daniel Hahn. 

Company: Hannah Bristow, Jacqui Dubois, Rina Fatania, Sandy Foster, Georgia Frost, Richard Hope, Richard Katz, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Ako Mitchell, Chris New, Bathsheba Piepe and Brigid Zengeni.

Joining Tiago Rodrigues on the creative team are: José Capela (Set Designer), Alex Lowde (Costume Designer), Jack Knowles (Lighting), Pedro Costa (Sound), Ingrid Mackinnon (Movement) and Judith Gerstenberg (Dramaturg).

Voices from The Edges of Europe premieres in June 2020 – a series of seven newly commissioned monologues written by a range of artists including playwrights, journalists and lyricists from the outer edges of the European continent. Artists include Yıldız Çakar, Davide Carnevali, Theodora Dimova, Christos Ikonomou, Shumona Sinha, Sjón and Sivan Ben Yishai.  

The seven pieces will be performed as part of the 2020 Mischief Festival in The Other Place in June and July.  Full details to be announced.

Decameron 2020 The RSC’s nationwide Next Generation ACT young company will join forces with the newly appointed Artistic Director of Dramaten in Sweden, Mattias Andersson to create a new piece of work inspired by Boccaccio’s Decamerone.  This performance will combine classic text with documentary material created by the young members of the ensemble. Mattias will be joined by Maja Kall as Designer. The RSC acknowledges the support of the Swedish Arts Council and the Embassy of Sweden in London in the creation of Decameron 2020.

The Next Generation talent development programme gives young people from backgrounds currently under-represented in the cultural sector the chance to explore a career in acting, directing or working backstage. This unique collaboration will premiere in July 2020 at The Other Place.

Snowflakes
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John St, Islington, London EC1V 4NJ
Tuesday 31st March – Saturday 18th April 2020

Think of us like the active hand of impotent rage.

How far would you go to right a wrong? Snowflakes takes Cancel Culture a little literally to question ideas of morality, revenge and justice with gleeful, violent abandon. Combining the technological nihilism of Black Mirror with the dark comedy and horror of Inside No. 9, it lacerates modern outrage and trial by social media.

Marcus and Sarah work for a very special start-up. They do the job that so many people call out for in the comments section so outsource your rage, disgust and vitriol and let’s get to the truth before the media storm blows over. They may not based in a co-working space but they do have an app: Justice isn’t blind, it’s streamed to millions. Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe!

Making his writing debut, Robert Boulton (False Choices, King’s Head Theatre; Baked Beans) will also star in Snowflakes as Marcus alongside Niamh Finlay (Gutted, The Marlowe Theatre and UK Tour; Everything that Rises Must Dance, Complicité) as Sarah and John MacCormick (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Windsor Castle; Room 88) as Tony.

Director Mike Cottrell comments, We speculated that it would be fascinating to delve into the darker sides of the human experience and what we realised quickly is the frightening fact that you don’t have to delve too deep to find that in the world right now. The constant flood of doubt in our politicians, in our media, in our own consciences can seem overwhelming and hard to comprehend. We wanted to take that feeling and explore what lengths people will go to find meaning and to purpose in a chaotic world.

The Lowry, Salford- until Saturday 22 February 2020

Reviewed by Joseph Everton

4****

Ghost Stories is exactly as described, a story that has you glancing over your shoulder, staring nervously into the shadows and sat braced for the next terrifying scare. Every one of your deepest, darkest fears are explored by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s petrifying production in its first ever UK tour. Even the programme advises those ‘of a nervous disposition’ to reconsider attending due to ‘moments of extreme shock and tension’. For a midweek shot of adrenaline, Ghost Stories does not disappoint.

The storyline, which I cannot reveal, seems a little irrelevant at times, with frequent terrifying moments providing a distraction. Extended monologues lull the audience into a false sense of security, a rolling baseline builds and the stage is plunged into darkness. As you peer into the blackness, searching anxiously for the next shock, sliding further into your seat, Ghost Stories James Farncombe’s subtle lighting is used expertly to conceal, cast shadows and then reveal spine-chilling scenes which set the heart racing. Each scare is followed by a nervous laughter which ripples through a shaken audience. The set design by Jon Bausor is intelligent and possesses a magical quality, making the next terrifying moment almost impossible to predict.

With expertly-crafted, supernatural special effects (Scott Penrose) and sound (Nick Manning) which ranges from delicate to deafening, Ghost Stories is perfectly designed to provide repeated jump scares. However, as the tale comes to its conclusion, the plot provides a shocking, psychological twist.

Although not for the faint-hearted, Ghost Stories is a brilliant theatrical experience, unlike any other

Kings Theatre Edinburgh – until 22 February 2020

Reviewed by Manetta McIntosh

4****

I did not know what to expect from this play as I hadn’t heard of it previously. I knew it had some well-known names attached, co-directed by Kathy Burke, so expected it would be a decent watch, but I did not expect to feel a range of emotions very early on. This is a play about people, how they connect and how they communicate or don’t communicate. But in a week where the news is dominated by #bekind, showing how we never really know what is going on with our closest friends and family, the issues in this play were particularly poignant.

The staging was simple but effective. A few large lightboxes that were moved by the actors on stage to create everything from a hospice to a garage reception to a nightclub. My favourite part of the staging was how they managed to show the busy working day of a nurse in a hospice by having people pass or take away simple props as she delivered her monologue. It has a small cast of 6, the play is delivered predominately as monologues with a hint of interaction, some of the characters’ lives overlap but that is not the main theme. The play shows us how we can appear to be composed and focused on the outside but is that really a side effect of demons that we are dealing with on the inside?

Every character has something going on that most of us can relate to, Chizzy Akudolu plays Josie who is trying to achieve educational greatness vicariously through her son Manny (Caleb Roberts). She feels that her father didn’t really care about her education and ‘if only he had pushed her, she could have….’ As a result, she has been more engaged in her sons’ education and perhaps pushed him into an environment that he would not have picked for himself. Chizzy has a way of making you laugh one minute and then have you on the brink of tears the next, it was an emotional rollercoaster, perfectly delivered.

Another stand out performance for me was given by Charlotte Bate, she played Ange who is a Hospice nurse. She has her own childhood demons she is dealing with which has resulted in a rift between her and her sister, Clare (Polly Frame). Clare works in HR, both jobs require skilled communication, yet they lack this skill when dealing with each other. On top of the issue they are dealing with Clare also thinks she was visited by a ghost when she was younger, this is why she doesn’t want to be on her own, the mystery is hilariously solved at the end of the play. Again, moving performances peppered with black humour.

Our other couple are Bex, (Simone Saunders) and Graham (Andrew Turner). Graham is a taxi driver, his wife Bex has cancer. This had me a little confused initially, the parts with Bex and Graham are forward and back through a short timeline. Because they are not in scenes together initially, I had not realised they were a couple. Grahams’ scenes were in the present whilst Bex’s were in the recent past and eventually they come together, or that’s how I perceived it. Graham is struggling with depression, as a taxi driver he tries to engage with his hires, but this does not relieve the feelings of loneliness as people do not always want to talk to him. A chance encounter with Josie could have ended differently for him if she had not reached out when she did. This is a stark reminder to us all that you never really know what the person next to you is dealing with, and how our actions could mean the difference between saving someone’s life in that moment or not. Bringing us right back to #bekind.

The Old Vic, Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Underbelly Productions and Wardrobe Ensemble present the WORLD PREMIERE of

Judith Kerr’s
MOG THE FORGETFUL CAT
Adapted by The Wardrobe Ensemble 

#mogtheforgetfulcat

• The fully-staged world premiere production will open at Nuffield Southampton Theatres (16 – 25 July) before heading to McEwan Hall with Underbelly at Edinburgh Fringe (5 – 30 August)
   
• Further dates to be announced

The acclaimed Wardrobe Ensemble adapt Judith Kerr’s beloved and iconic stories in a first-ever stage version of Mog, the final author-approved adaptation by the late Judith Kerr, in a first-time collaboration between co-producers The Old Vic, Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Underbelly Productions and The wardrobe Ensemble.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres Artistic Director Sam Hodges said ‘These are very special stories from one of this country’s greatest writers for young audiences. We couldn’t be more delighted to be working with the brilliant Wardrobe Ensemble and opening this world premiere here in Southampton, building on our growing reputation for family work.’

‘Bother that cat!’

Mog always seems to be in trouble. She forgets that she has a cat flap and she forgets that she has already eaten her supper. But sometimes, Mog’s forgetfulness comes in very handy…

Helena Middleton of The Wardrobe Ensemble said ‘I absolutely loved the Mog books growing up. We used to have a book fair at my school and I would literally race there to make sure I was the first to get my hands on a copy. I am so delighted to be part of the team which will bring Mog to the stage and honour Judith Kerr’s gorgeous stories and illustrations.’

With songs, live music and a whole menagerie of creatures little and large, these timeless tales of family and friendship are brought to life to allow a new generation of children to fall in love with Mog. 

Holly Reiss, Underbelly Executive Producer said: ‘We are delighted to be bringing the cherished story of Mog to life for audiences of all ages at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year, capturing the hearts and imaginations of the next generation of theatre- lovers. Family shows are an essential part of Underbelly’s programme at the Fringe and we are thrilled to be bringing this much-loved story to the stage for the first time.’

Join Mog and the Thomases on a journey through one year in the life of a really remarkable cat, as she catches a burglar, gatecrashes a cat show, goes to the vee-eee-tee and eats lots and lots of eggs.

Look out for further announcements of more dates coming soon.

Suitable for ages 3+.

Listings information

Nuffield Southampton Theatres
16 – 25 July
17 – 25 July 10.30am (no performance 19 July)
18 – 25 July 2pm (no performance 19 July)
16 & 17 July 4pm
Tickets: Adult – £17.50; Child – £15.50.
Book by 29 February and save £1.50 per ticket
Box Office 023 8067 1771 / https://www.nstheatres.co.uk/whats-on/mog
Friends Priority bookings 19 Feb
General On Sale 20 Feb

Underbelly 
Venue: Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe, Bristo Square – McEwan Hall
5 – 30 August 11am (no performance 18 August)
Tickets: Previews – £11.50 / £10.00
Mondays / Thursdays – £13.50 / £12.00
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays – £14.50 / £13.00
Box Office: 0131 510 0395 / http://www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/whats-on

Award Winning play ‘The Haunting of Blaine Manor’ to come to Tyne Theatre & Opera House

Thursday 1st Oct 2020

Winner of the Salford Star ‘Best Play of the Year Award’, The Haunting of Blaine Manor, is coming to Tyne Theatre & Opera House on Thursday 1st October 2020.

After the spectacular success of last year’s tour, the most talked about haunter since The Woman in Black, is back on tour.

Written and directed by Joe O’Byrne, The Haunting of Blaine Manor leaves behind the modern world of O’Byrne’s critically acclaimed Tales from Paradise Heights series of plays and films.

Set in England 1953 at what is said to be the most haunted building in England, a building with a horrific history, Blaine Manor. Follow the story of renowned American parapsychologist Doctor Roy Earle, famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums.

Featuring a firecracker cast as well as an original chilling sound design and haunting title theme, the award winning production captures the spirit of M R James and gives a nod to the classic black and white films of the Hollywood Golden Age.

“There’s a great deal here to appreciate and enjoy. I loved the nods to horror tropes, the powerful sense of place, the lavish period set.” – Richard Stamp, Fringe Guru

“Genuinely scary with tremendous atmosphere developed. If you like dark, psychological dramas with a potential paranormal dimensions, this is a must see.” – John Waterhouse, Manchestersalon.org.uk

“Written and skillfully directed by Joe O’Byrne this is a ghost story with a cinematic quality…a story of twists and turns. That this is a play people have returned to see is a sure sign of its enduring merit. See it if you dare!” – Emily Oldfield, Louder Than War

Tickets are priced: £18.50, £14.50 concessions (under 16s & over 60s), £56 family ticket

Tickets on sale now at www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk

Nottingham Theatre Royal – until 22 February 2020

Reviewed by Louise Ford

4****

A Monster Calls; speak the truth ,it will set you free.

A Monster Calls is an adaptation (by Sally Cookson, in 2018) of the 2011 novel by Patrick Ness; a novel written for young adults which deals with a young boy coming to terms with his mother’s illness and whose fears grow when no one will really talk to him about it.

From the opening scene of the mother (Maria Omakinwa) nursing her young son to the final scene in the hospital the spectre of the yew tree casts a long shadow over the life of Connor (Ammar Duffus).The play is a powerful and emotional portrayal of Connor’s life, a twelve year old boy coming to terms with school, his family and most importantly his mother’s illness. It has a slow start which builds in intensity with the nightmare sequences, the frantic pace of school life and the decline of his mother’s health. All the time the anger within Connor builds until it finally irrupts and “people can see him.”

The set is minimal, just plain white, with twelve chairs and the ever present tree; a creative masterpiece using thick ropes hung from the roof. The tree can be at times threatening and ominous and at others nurturing and protective; with the potential to actually provide a cure. It comes into its own as the home of the Monster (Keith Gilmore). 

The Monster is conjured up by Connor from his inner most fears and dread. It appears at 12.07 at night to taunt him, from the old yew tree in the garden. The taunting takes the form of stories. But, as in all good fairytales nothing is straightforward .

This is a modern fairytale that weaves together fables and legends with realistic circumstances, exploring human nature and relationships. 

The score composed by Benji Bower enhances the action on stage and adds poignant refrains to the difficult and emotional scenes. The costumes and props are low key and simply allow the story telling to carry the plot along.

Overall it is a powerful, moving and emotional play which gives a voice to a young person’s inner most fears. It was lovely to see a younger, than usual, audience visibly moved by the final scenes .

The Lowry, Salford – 17 February 2020

Reviewed by Angelos Spantideas

4****

Daniel Hay-Gordon and Eleanor Perry are Thick and Tight, a dancer/performer duo from London who use physical theatre to pay homage to the work and life or criticise the opinions of historical figures, such as Barbara Cartland, Derek Jarman and Marcel Proust. The cast is completed with Vidya Patel, Harry Alexander, and Gary Clarke exemplifying the features and blemishes of Winston Churchill, Andy Warhol, and Queen Elisabeth I.

The night is filled with political messages laid on parody and satire and expressed through dancing, miming and lip syncing by a series of performers who fill the stage with energy and pure talent. The cast does not shy away from calling out misogyny, racism, games of power and power abuse, while there is also a big appreciation to the purity of love and being in love as expressed in poetry and art.

Each section of the show feels original and full of character, with the personality of each performer filling the room. Each part is a bold and relevant piece of contemporary art, with the well thought design of the set and costumes, and the crafty lighting creating a game of shapes and shades that does not go unnoticed

Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until 22 February 2020

Reviewed by Steph Lott

3***

Most of my friends in the mid-90s watched Band of Gold. The TV series was a firm favourite at the time and Kay Mellor’s portrayal of sex workers in Bradford was respected not only as a drama but also because it depicted prostitutes with respect. Their lives, the reason they became sex workers, was central to the plot.

What I like about this play is that sex work is shown as just that – work. It’s not smutty, or glamorous – it’s what some women have to do to take care of their children, or as a means of earning a living when they don’t think they have any other way of making money.

This production for me was very mixed and a bit frustrating. We have here a fabulous cast but I think the play is too rushed for them to be able to do the characters justice, certainly in the second half of the play.

The first half works much better than the second. I found that Sacha Parkinson gave a very credible, touching performance as Gina. Her decision to become a prostitute is naïve and tragic, and ultimately believable. You feel her gradual despair as her choices diminish and as one by one all those around her either exploit her in some way or just don’t help her, lost in their own difficulties. I thought Olwen May’s performance as Gina’s mother, Joyce, captured so well the trap of women struggling to survive – work, men, children, the need to put food on the table. When Joyce suggests that perhaps going back to an abusive husband might be the best thing, it’s just awful but that’s the choice so many women face.

Kieron Richardson shone as Gina’s abusive husband Steve. His pathetic bitterness and drunken rage, his twisted reaction to Gina’s death, was a sterling performance. Joe Mallalieu as the sleazy loan shark Mr Moore provided the perfect explanation as to why Gina was faced with the choice that she made, and between the lack of support from her mother and the abusive men in her life, the decision to become a prostitute seemed inevitable

AMANDA BOXER TO STAR IN

MUM

A NEW PLAY ABOUT LOVE, LOSS AND DEMENTIA

BY JULIET COWAN

OPENING AT THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE

18 MARCH-4 APRIL

Amanda Boxer will star in the world premiere of MUM, a new play about love, loss and dementia by actress and comedian Juliet Cowan, directed by Yasmeen Arden, opening at the Playground Theatre on 18 March and playing until 4 April, with a press night on Friday 20 March. Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre will star as ‘Roz’, Lucille Findlay as ‘Laurel’ and completing the cast are Lilly Driscoll and Martin Edwards.

“I thought that if she wasn’t getting run over or shitting herself, all would be OK with the world.”

MUM is a play about identity, love and losing your mind. Roz and Laurel are struggling to manage their mum, who has dementia. Mum is struggling to manage the real world and the compelling world of her hallucinations.

What does it mean to be a mother? Who gets to decide what is real? And when is it OK to laugh instead of cry?

Juliet Cowan says: “I wrote this play as a response to certain hallucinations my mother had. I felt it was so sad that she had to be in them all alone without any of us there to accompany her. So I decided to people her hallucinations with an audience who experienced them alongside her. I like theatre that is a sensory and immersive experience. I hope that MUM is a way for us all to come together and explore the highs and lows of having one foot in this world and the other in somewhere altogether more dreamlike.”

Yasmeen Arden says: “MUM touched my heart and my imagination from the moment I first read it and I was immediately excited to be part of it. Juliet writes with such honesty and truth and in a such a unique style, so the play holds a very real sense of loss on a multi-sensory level, with the most beautifully layered female experience and a truly joyful playfulness.”

This is Juliet Cowan’s first full-length play. Her show, Eat, Pray, Call the Police, sold out at The Zédel and she is currently writing a follow-up called Fuck Off And Leave Me Alone. Juliet is also an actress, best known for her roles in Killed By My Debt, PhoneShop, Pulling, Hank Zipzer, Cuckoo, Sarah Jane Adventures, Skins and Fresh Meat. She’s currently preparing for her role as ‘Barbara Monke’ in Amazon’s adaptation of the novel The Power, opposite Eddie Marsan and directed by Reed Morano. She started her career as a stand-up, beating Jimmy Carr, Russell Howard and Andy Zaltzman in the finals of So You Think You’re Funny.

Yasmeen Arden is Artistic Director at Small Truth Theatre. Most recently, she collaborated to create the Kensington Karavan, a micro-theatre festival in a retro caravan, commissioning and directing new work by Emma Dennis-Edwards, Abi Zakarian, Jessica Butcher and Sid Sagar. Directing credits include: The award-winning The Three Sillies (Arcola Theatre/Somersault/Tour), Poking The Bear by Chris Bush, Elexion by Chloe Todd Fordham (Theatre503), Over The Hill There’s Something Better (New Diorama), Dead Yard (Playwrought/LAB), We are Beautiful (Catalyst Festival), as well as site-specific work such as On The Line (Ivy House/Merge Festival/Platform Southwark) and The Unfortunates on the streets of Watford (Watford Palace Theatre). Yasmeen is currently developing Tapestry by Chloe Todd Fordham and Christopher Hogg’s drum & bass musical Casey & Corey. 

Amanda Boxer was born in New York and trained at LAMDA. She won Best Actress in the London Fringe Awards for Strange Snow (Theatre Technis). Theatre credits include: Boots (Bunker Theatre), The Blue Hour of Natalie Barney (Arcola), Mosquitoes (National Theatre), Babette’s Feast (The Print Room), Blue Heart (Bristol Tobacco Factory and The Orange Tree), Medea (Almeida Theatre), Uncle Vanya (St James), Prisoner of Second Avenue (Vaudeville), The Sea Plays (Old Vic Tunnels), The House of Bernarda Alba and The Graduate (Gielgud Theatre), A Touch of the Poet (Young Vic/ West End), Macbeth (Arcola Theatre), The Destiny of Me and Many Roads to Paradise (Finborough Theatre), The Arab Israeli Cookbook (Gate/Tricycle Theatre), The Pain and the Itch and The Strip (Royal Court), Cling To Me Like Ivy (Birmingham Rep), The Rivals (Theatr Clwyd), The Yiddish Queen Lear (Southwark Playhouse/Bridewell), Come Blow Your Horn, The Fall Guy, The Misanthrope and Absurd Person Singular (Manchester Royal Exchange), Way of the World (Cambridge Theatre Company) and A State of Affairs (The Duchess Theatre).

Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre trained at Oxford, Queen Mary University London and The Central School of Speech and Drama. Theatre credits include: Target Man (The Kings Head); As You Like It (Shakespeare in the Squares); Electra (The Bunker); Romeo and Juliet (The Globe). TV credits include: Silent Witness, Doctors and EastEnders. Film credits include: The Beach, About A Boy and Shoot the Messenger. Her radio play When Fanny Met Germaine was broadcast in 2019 and she is currently developing several shows for TV and radio. She is assistant director on The Happy Tragedy of Being Woke (Theatre de Complicité) and Death of England (National Theatre).

Lucille Findlay is an award-winning community performance practitioner, actor, writer and singer songwriter who trained at Chichester. Lucille has worked as a session vocalist and performance coach for many years with vocal credits including Jason Mraz, James Morrison, Casey Abrams and Shaun the Sheep Movie Soundtrack. TV credits include: The Bill, EastEnders, Alexis Sayle and Holby City. Theatre credits include: The Blue Room (The Gate), a development of Nine Nights (Arcola) and Black Women Dating White Men (The Drayton Arms).

Lily Driscoll is an actor, writer and poet from London. Credits include: Bricks (The Old Vic for OV12), Enough (Kensington Caravan festival), Only You (Theatre 503), Puppy (The Vault Festival), The Numbers (Amazon Video/Winner of the Creation Award) and Heads A Poppin (Fright Fest winner for Best Short Screenplay). TV credits include: Jekyll & Hyde (ITV), Humans (Channel 4), Tag (BBC) and Silent Witness (BBC).

Martin Edwards was a journalist for more than a decade, having worked as a crime reporter for local newspapers and then the BBC, before training professionally as an actor at The Oxford School of Drama and The Academy of Live & Recorded Arts (ALRA). He has performed at various venues including Trafalgar Studios, Soho Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham and Southwark Playhouse. As a writer, his work has appeared at Theatre503 and Talawa Theatre Company. He is currently under commission by Radio 4 to write his debut radio drama, due for broadcast in September 2020.

MUM is directed by Yasmeen Arden, with design by Jasmine Swan, lighting design by Ben Jacobs, sound design by Nicola Chang, and is produced by Kitty Wordsworth and Zoe Weldon.

The Playground Theatre W10 is London’s newest off-West End venue. The Playground works with established and emerging artists nationally and across the globe; showing performing arts, drama, festivals and comedy. This ethos has fostered many bold and imaginative new works. Located in W10 near Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove, Portobello Road and White City the theatre is fully engaged with its rich and diverse community.