Park Theatre today announced details for their inaugural season of 2020. Featuring an array of premieres and celebrated revivals, the new season places particular focus on stories surrounding race, faith and sexuality to reflect the theatre’s ever-diversifying community.
Artistic Director Jez Bond says: “Once more this season we’re bringing a wealth of new writing to the stage - in terms of both UK and world premieres, along with an exciting 10th anniversary revival. As a theatre that embraces its local community we are proud to be collaborating with a diverse range of artists to present a variety of plays which will engage and resonate with all Londoners.”
The London transfer of Hope Mill Theatre’s celebrated RAGS The Musical opens the new Park200 season, as the songwriters of Wicked & Annie and the book-writer of Fiddler on the Roof tell the powerful tale of a group of Jewish immigrants arriving to start new lives in America. Simon Callow’s translation of La Cage aux Folles [The Play] follows, as the French farce that inspired four blockbuster films and a Tony Award-winning musical makes its English language world premiere. Next is Bruce Norris’s Tony and Olivier Award-winning Clybourne Park: a powerfully sharp satire set over two different time periods, revived for the play’s 10th anniversary. Park Theatre and Talawa Theatre Company (the UK’s most successful Black theatre company) partner for A Place for We, telling an inter-generational story of London’s changing communities. The Garden of Words receives its world theatrical premiere to conclude the Park200 season, as the stereotype-defying Anime unites Japanese and British creatives through visual storytelling onstage.
Park90’s new season commences with Shackleton and his Stowaway: the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe sell-out show based on the true story of an 18-year-old shipman who secretly boarded the ill-fated ship of Earnest Shackleton. Arising from Park Theatre’s Script Accelerator development programme, Time and Tide is an LGBTQ comic drama set within a Norfolk seaside community struggling with change. The black comedy farce Corpse! receives a revival, as an exceedingly poor actor decides to murder his excessively rich twin. The poignant new drama Never Not Once receives its UK premiere, as an American college student undergoes a search for her father against the wishes of her two mothers. Set in Britain, 1981, The Still Room is a coming of age story following a young hotel waitress whose perceptions of the world are challenged by a new colleague, as she plans to escape her hometown. Burkas and Bacon Butties closes the Park90 season, as co-writer Shamia Chalabi bases this story of a Muslim family caught between tradition and their new life in Wigan on her real-life experiences.
Park200
9 January – 8 February 2020
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Hope Mill Theatre in association with Knockhardy Productions and Park Theatre present
RAGS THE MUSICAL
Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Revised Book by David Thompson
Directed by Bronagh Lagan
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3pm
Press Night: Tue 14 Jan, 7pm
Age guidance: 8+
Access performance: Audio Described – Thu 23 Jan 19.30, Touch Tour 18.00
Direct from a critically-acclaimed run at the Hope Mill Theatre, RAGS The Musical tells the heartwarming and powerful tale of a group of Jewish immigrants as they arrive to start a new life in America.
Fresh from Ellis Island, a young mother and her son search for a new life and a sense of home as the 20th century beckons.
It is a story of both hope and disappointment, of power and greed, of strength and love, combined with memorable music.
With a ravishing score by the songwriters of Wicked and Annie and the book-writer of Fiddler on the Roof, this is a sweeping saga of America’s immigrant past.
Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Ltd
12 February 2020 – 21 March 2020
Park Theatre and Adam Blanshay Productions present the English Language World Premiere of
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES [THE PLAY]
Written by Jean Poiret
Translated by Simon Callow
Production supported by Park Theatre’s Producers’ Circle
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3pm
Press Night: Wed 19 Feb, 7pm
Age guidance: 16+
Access performances: Parents & Babies – Thu 27 Feb (1.00pm, Babes in arms under one year go free), Captioned - Tue 10 Mar (7.30pm), Audio Described - Wed 18 Mar (7.30pm – Touch Tour 18.00)
Enter the glittering world of La Cage aux Folles - the play which spawned four blockbuster films and the Tony Award-winning musical. See the original, riotous and heartfelt farce for the first time in the English language.
Nightclub owner Georges and his dazzling drag artiste partner Albin create the most spectacular shows in St. Tropez. But when Georges’ son Laurent announces his engagement to the daughter of a notoriously right-wing politician determined to bring the curtain down on the town’s vibrant nightlife, the real performance begins.
As Georges and Albin entertain their soon-to-be in-laws and attempt to conceal their true nature for the sake of their son, how long can the façade last?
Simon Callow says: “La Cage aux Folles is a great - and brilliantly funny - play about living the life you want to live. It’s also a bit of an eye-opener about what it was to be out and gay in the early seventies. But there’s nothing remotely preachy about it - it’s zany, outrageous, mad. A rampant farce, and utterly life-affirming.”
25 March – 2 May 2020
Alex Turner Productions and Trish Wadley Productions in association with Park Theatre present the 10th anniversary revival of
CLYBOURNE PARK
Written by Bruce Norris
Directed by Oliver Kaderbhai
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3pm
Press Night: Mon 30 Mar, 7pm
Age guidance: 14+
Access performances: Audio Described – Tue 28 Apr (7.30pm, Touch Tour 18.00)
A timely 10th anniversary production of this razor sharp satire about the politics of race and real estate, winner of both the Tony and Olivier Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for author Bruce Norris.
In 1959, Russ and Bev are moving to the suburbs after the tragic death of their son and have sold their house to the neighbourhood’s first black family.
Decades later, the roles are reversed when a young white couple buys the lot in what is now a predominantly black neighbourhood, signalling a new wave of gentrification. In both instances, a community showdown takes place – are the same issues festering beneath the floorboards fifty years on?
6 May – 6 June 2020
Park Theatre and Talawa Theatre Company present the World Premiere of
A PLACE FOR WE
Written by Archie Maddocks
Directed by Michael Buffong
Supported by Park Theatre’s Producers’ Circle
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3pm
Press Night: Tue 12 May, 7pm
Age guidance: 14+
Access performances: Audio Described Wed 20 May 19.30, Touch Tour 18.00. Captioned Thu 28 May 19.30
“There’s five generations of tradition in these walls”
A funeral parlour. A pub. An urban-zen enoteca and conscious eatery. One building in Brixton tells the story of London’s changing communities over three very different generations.
Trinidadian funeral director Clarence and fifth generation pub owner George don’t want things to change. But everything around them is changing. Do they adapt to survive? Or stay true to their roots and risk it all... family, tradition, business?
In the wake of the Windrush scandal, Archie Maddocks' bittersweet comedy holds a mirror up to the ever-changing face of London’s communities in search of their common beating heart.
A Place for We was shortlisted in 2017 for both the Bruntwood Prize and Alfred Fagon Award, it was first performed as a staged reading at Talawa Firsts 2018 and is directed by Talawa’s Artistic Director Michael Buffong.
15 July – 15 August 2020
Whole Hog Theatre in association with Park Theatre present the World Theatrical Premiere of
THE GARDEN OF WORDS
Official Stage Production
Based on the Anime from Makoto Shinkai/CoMix Wave Films
Adapted by Whole Hog Theatre (Princess Mononoke stage adaptation)
Directed by Alexandra Rutter
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3pm
Press Night: Thu 23 Jul, 7pm
Age guidance: 12+
Access performances: Parents & Babies – Thu 6 Aug (1.00pm, Babes in arms under 1 year go free)
“You’ve been living your whole life alone…”
Rainy season. Tokyo. Akizuki and Yukino are skiving.
When a student and an older woman meet by chance, their mutual feelings of alienation draw them together. But the friendship that could save them might also ruin them…
Based on the stereotype-defying Anime by renowned director Makoto Shinkai (your name.), this modern tale inspired by ancient poetry explores invisible disability, loneliness, and the moral line between platonic and romantic longing.
Created and performed in London and Tokyo, this collaboration with Anime stage production specialists, Nelke Planning, brings together Japanese and British creatives to explore Shinkai’s emotive animation through visual storytelling.
Performed in English with occasional Japanese.
Park90
8 January – 1 February 2020
Stolen Elephant Theatre in association with Park Theatre present
SHACKLETON AND HIS STOWAWAY
Written by Andy Dickinson
Directed by Simone Coxall
Cast includes Richard Ede & Elliott Ross
Press Night: Fri 10 Jan, 7pm
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3.15pm
Age guidance: 12+
Access Performance: Relaxed Thu 30 Jan (13.00)
“When disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”
Shackleton and his Stowaway is based on the real events of the legendary Endurance expedition to Antarctica. It follows the misfortunes of an 18 year old stowaway who sneaks aboard.
Initially, the stowaway is in complete awe of Shackleton. But this fades by the time Shackleton has got them trapped in the polar ice pack – even more so when Endurance actually breaks up and sinks. This leaves them adrift on the ice, hundreds of miles from civilisation.
Edinburgh Fringe sell-out show of 2018.
5 – 29 February 2020
Relish Theatre in association with Park Theatre present the World Premiere of
TIME AND TIDE
Written by James McDermott
Directed by Rob Ellis
Press Night: Fri 7 Feb, 7pm
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3.15pm
Age guidance: 14+
Access Performance: Dementia Friendly Mon 10 Feb (3.15pm)
Batten down the hatches, a storm is coming.
May runs a crumbling caff on the end of Cromer Pier. Her delivery man, Ken, is running out of customers, thanks to Costa. Nemo is desperate to tread the boards in London. His unrequited love, Daz, is burying his head in the sand over his best mate leaving.
Time and Tide is an LGBTQ comic drama from award-winning writer James McDermott, about a Norfolk community struggling with change. Longlisted for The Verity Bargate Award, the Bruntwood and Papatango Playwriting Prizes.
4 – 28 March 2020
Ratfall Productions in association with Park Theatre present
CORPSE!
Written by Gerald Moon
Directed by Clive Brill
Press Night: Thu 5 Mar, 7pm
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3.15pm
Age guidance: 14+
Access Performance: Dementia Friendly Mon 16 Mar (3.15pm)
Evelyn Farrant, actor, is exceedingly poor. Rupert Farrant, his twin, is excessively rich. There seems to be only one solution. Evelyn must kill Rupert and inherit his wealth.
The time: the eve of Edward VIII’s abdication speech. The reluctant accomplice: Major Ambrose Powell. The essential grumpy landlady: Mrs McGee. The likely prospect? Macabre comedy mayhem....
Don’t miss out on a major revival of this brilliant comedy thriller which has had successful runs in the West End, Broadway and has played across the globe.
Corpse! Is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd, a Concord Theatricals Company.
1 – 25 April 2020
Blue Touch Paper Productions in association with Park Theatre present the UK Premiere of
NEVER NOT ONCE
Written by Carey Crim
Directed by Katharine Farmer
Press Night: Fri 3 Apr, 7pm
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3.15pm
Age guidance: 14+
Access Performance: Parents & Babies – Thu 16 Apr (1.00pm, Babes in arms under 1 year go free) Captioned - Wed 22 Apr (7.45pm)
A poignant new drama about the families we choose and the secrets that can pull them apart.
All-American college student Eleanor wants to know who her father is. Her two mums can’t agree. But everything changes when Eleanor’s boyfriend Rob hires a private investigator to find her biological father and the family are forced to confront an unexpected and explosive answer to the question: “Where do I come from?”
Winner of the 2017 Jane Chambers Playwriting Award and finalist for the 2018 Eugene O’Neill Award.
29 April – 23 May 2020
Rogers Douglas Productions in association with Park Theatre present the World Premiere of
THE STILL ROOM
Written by Sally Rogers
Directed by Nigel Douglas
Cast includes Kate James
Press Night: Fri 1 May, 7pm
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3.15pm
Age guidance: 16+
Access Performance: Captioned – Fri 8 May (7.45pm)
Britain, 1981. Charles is about to marry Diana and a game show called ‘It’s a Knockout’ is on TV.
In a small, struggling hotel in Manchester, Janice, a banquet waitress, is waiting for her O level results.
She is bored to death and desperate to leave her hometown. Then a new waitress arrives. She is different to the other waiting staff, her sexual confidence and bold ideas challenge Janice’s own perceptions of the world.
So begins a chain of events that will change everything.
A dark, sexy and very funny new play.
27 May – 20 June 2020
Tara Finney Productions in association with Park Theatre present
BURKAS AND BACON BUTTIES
Written by Shamia Chalabi and Sarah Henley
Press Night: Mon 1 Jun, 7pm
Times: Evenings Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 3.15pm
Age guidance: 12+
Access Performance: BSL Fri 5 Jun (7.45pm), Parents & Babies - Thu 11 Jun (1.00pm, Babes in arms under 1 go free), Captioned - Wed 17 Jun (19.45),
Meet Ashraf – an Egyptian, Muslim, taxi driver – and Shazia, his half Egyptian, half Wigan daughter… who is more interested in last call at the bar than the call to prayer.
Following Ashraf’s trusty taxi, we witness Wigan at its finest – fancy-dress bingo, driving lessons, ex-wives, meddling uncles, hot sauce and plenty of bad karaoke. Full of heart, this VAULT Festival sell-out show, based on Chalabi’s real-life experiences, will make you laugh and cry as it juggles Allah and Aldi, mosques and mojitos and of course – burkas and bacon butties.
