WHAT'S ON at THE BREAD AND ROSES
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Tayọ Aluko & Friends Presents
Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown
by Tayọ Aluko, directed by Mojisọla Kareem
12 - 30 May
It's January 1999.
George Coleridge-Taylor, retired Sierra Leonean diplomat, finds himself trapped in Fourah Bay College when the civil war that has been ravaging the country reaches Freetown. In hiding, he reflects on his and his country’s stories, wondering if he dares defend the woman captured by the fearsome rebels.
His imagination takes him to more peaceful climes, where he sings the beautiful songs of his famous uncle, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Reviews:
“The sweetness and beauty of the songs provides a poignant contrast to the often bleak events they punctuate.” Morning Star
“One of the reasons I love Fringe Theatre is challenging performances like these.”
Theatre, Films and Art
“Aluko takes on the characters of the abusers to chilling effect.”
Running time: 75 mins
Wild Orchid Company Presents
In Shakespeare We Trust
by Alex Floyd
17 - 18 May
A classic alternative comedy night!
If you ever wondering what is the common point between pandemic, social medias, feminism, god, America, Hamlet, Richard III, Lady Macbeth and Shakespeare, this show is for you! A one-non-binary show with metaphysical sense of humour, a good amount of physical comedy and meta-theatricality. Inspired by great comedians like Andy Kaufman, Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais, and if you ever being nostalgic to the 70's, come and see our new terrific comedian : Alex Floyd!
A real immersion and innovative way to see Shakespeare's universe and to explore the craziness of modern society in a very unexpected way...
Starring Alex Floyd
Producer and Manager: Alan Murphy
Running time: 70mins
Wellpark Wanderer
24 May
by Oliver Robertson
A lyrical journey through Glasgow's East End that digs into the concrete and the soul of a city exploring change, loss, and belonging. With humour and heart, Wellpark Wanderer is a love letter to community, asking who shapes our cities—and at what cost? A performance from poet Oliver Robertson, proud son of Wellpark, this is both elegy and protest.
Please note: the show will include support sets from guest spoken word performers.
Be Wry Productions Presents
Thou Shalt Sit The F*** Down
2 - 6 June
by Ben Everett Riley, directed by Oneikeh Campbell
Will is not just a professional, he is the professional. Booked every weekend. Rarely phased by anything his clients throw his way. Special requests? Piece of cake. And he stays primed and raring to go by religiously following his 10 Commandments.
But when his boss makes him train up a gorgeous twinky newbie, the rulebook gets thrown out the window, and Will finds his firm routine isn’t as rock solid as he thought...
Following sold out shows at the Lambeth Fringe, “Thou Shalt Sit The F*** Down” is a filthy, queer, laugh-out-loud solo comedy, crash landing in Clapham, featuring Australian Daddies, pretentious kids, and bubbles (because everyone loves bubbles). Be prepared for the awkward, the outrageous and the outright unbelievable world of kid’s entertainment that you never knew existed in our very city.
Sake Katana
by Alvin Liu
7 June
Sake Katana.
The fastest sword in Japan.
Clashing Western lands.
-A haiku
A samurai flees Japan for the West, desperate to start again after a tragic past. He seeks friendship, love and a quiet life beneath the cherry blossoms. But will shadows from his past come calling?
This absurd and tender show is driven by audience interaction and the raw vulnerability of a clown. Expect cultural mayhem and plenty of ha-ha moments in a mischievous comedy about honour, romance, and very Western problems.
Sake Katana explores what happens when samurai seriousness meets fish-out-of-water chaos. A dash of classic character comedy makes this perfect for fans of clown theatre, East-meets-West stories, and Asian culture in a modern London setting.
‘Potent in its imagery, authenticity, perverse logic and volatility’ - British Comedy Guide
★★★★★
Theatre Caddis Presents
Jane Eyre Convention
9 - 13 June
by Eleanor Zeal, directed by Danielle Arkwright
Jane Eyre aficionados meet in a community hall in West Norwood to reenact their favourite novel. They fight unashamedly over the best lines examining their own neuroses and histories as they go, eventually reaching the end. Opportunities for audience to join in and feel real, potentially therapeutic emotions.
Alessandro Chessa Presents
Track Number 451 – A Rock Opera.
by Alessandro Chessa
14 - 15 June
Loosely inspired by Ray Bradbury.
In a future ruled by silence, music is the gravest of crimes.
The Silencemen raid homes to destroy every trace of sound — vinyl records, instruments, memory itself.
Roy Manfred is one of their finest agents, loyal and unquestioning — until a single encounter begins to fracture the silence within him. As forbidden melodies resurface and a hidden underground community emerges, Roy is forced to confront a world where sound is rebellion and listening is an act of courage.
Presented as an intimate concert staging, Track Number 451 is a contemporary rock opera about control, awakening, and the power of music to ignite change.
Music, Lyrics & Book by Alessandro Chessa.
Cast & Creatives:
To Be Announced!
Makoto the Cat Productions Presents
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CONVERSATION
Written and Directed by Mo Maka Shakespeare
25 - 28 June
Nneka is a young resident doctor finishing the late shift. Just as she is about to leave, she is suddenly asked to lead a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) conversation with the relative of a patient she has never met, about a patient she does not know, and with almost no time to prepare.
Set entirely within this single encounter, Do Not Attempt This Conversation exposes the emotional dissonance, and occasional absurdity of end-of-life decision-making inside a healthcare system stretched to its limits.
This play invites audiences to sit inside one such moment—witnessing the collision of grief, bureaucracy, compassion, and detachment—and asks what it really means to remain humane within an inhumane system.
