The World Premiere of Arthur Miller’s first play, the remarkable NO VILLAIN will open at Islington’s Old Red Lion Theatre this December, as part of an Autumn/Winter season packed with new work by some of the UK’s most exciting writers, directors and companies.
In close association with the Miller Trust, Sean Turner and the Old Red Lion are proud to present NO VILLAIN, the story of a strike in a garment factory that threatens to tear a family apart, on the Centenary year of the birth of one of America’s greatest dramatists. NO VILLAIN opens for Previews on Tuesday December 8th, and promises to be one of the year’s most talked about fringe shows.
The season opens in September with another World Premiere, of Kate Kennedy’s startling black comedy THE WIN BIN, shortlisted for this year’s Papatango new writing prize. THE WIN BIN reunites Kennedy with director Sara Joyce, who brought the multiple Offie-Award nominated BECKETT SHORTS to the Old Red earlier this year.
Following this Peter Hamilton brings his new work PLAYGROUND to the theatre in October. It’s a murder mystery that smashes a series of brutal child murders into the idylls of Enid Blyton in a story of something gone badly wrong beneath the swing set – directed by the brilliant Ken McClymont (Artistic Director of the Old Red Lion for over a decade in the 1980’s/90’s).
November sees the World Premiere of Simon Longman’s devastating SPARKS, a deeply moving drama of two women brought together over one boozy night after what seems to be a lifetime apart. Directed by Clive Judd (Captain Amazing, Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs), SPARKS marks the full-length London debut of an extraordinary new writer.
The season is rounded out in January with the first full-length London run of Eddie Elks’ acclaimed BOTALLACK O’CLOCK – a beautiful, haunting miniature of the last days of artist Roger Hilton CBE – an intense monodrama of alcoholism and genius that earned a FIVE STAR TIME OUT CRITICS CHOICE on its debut in 2011, and has since enjoyed runs Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Fringe.
We are also proud to announce two shorter runs this September/October, with a week-long residency from gothic poet and performance artist Mary Beth Morossa, who will be presenting her two storytelling shows CARNIVAL OF CROWS and GREYWING HOUSE as a double-bill, along with a variety of other events, and this will be followed by the premiere of Eve Leigh’s play RED SKY AT NIGHT, presented for one-week only in a bold, physical production by director Cat Gerrard.
“This season feels massive. In a way, they all do, but we have such a wealth of talent and such an incredible array of new plays this Autumn/Winter that it just feels like this huge beast we’re getting ready to set free. I’m delighted that we’ll be making history with Sean Turner’s production of Arthur Miller’s first play, which is such a fascinating and properly excellent work. And it’s surrounded by so many other world premieres of the most brilliant, challenging theatre. To have teams like Sara Joyce and Kate Kennedy returning, and directors like Clive Judd and Ken McClymont helming these heartbreaking, humane scripts is a total joy. And then in January we have the return of Eddie Elks’ Third Man Theatre with Botallack O’Clock, which is a bit of a dream come true for me. Don’t miss it. Don’t miss any of it. See you here.
For more information www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk
