Havisham 11 - 15 March

written and performed by Heather Alexander

directed by Dominique Gerrard

presented by Emul8 Theatre

‘If you knew my story, your heart would break too. A cobwebbed tale of heartbreak’

This is the story that Dickens left out….

1825. A young woman, newly liberated from the deep-rooted effects of an abusive childhood, arrives in London. She is full of hope and ready to embrace a fresh start. However, she soon finds herself as ‘the leading lady in drama she can’t comprehend.’ The gaslighting is subtle, the manipulation slick. Can Miss Havisham discern her fate? Or is she destined to relive the devastation of her trauma?

Havisham offers a fresh perspective of Charles Dickens’ greatest work of Gothic characterisation – Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. Miss Havisham is the embodiment of stuck trauma and malignant rage. But how did she arrive at this place and what are the tragic secrets of her calamitous past…?

Emul8 Theatre Company challenges boundaries, seeking to engage the audience in a dialogue around themes of justice, female empowerment, and freedom of expression. They develop fresh ideas and perspectives, offering new writing around current issues, concerns and controversies. They also dramatise and adapt existing iconic texts, making them accessible and relevant to a contemporary audience. Emul8 seeks to interrogate prejudices and stereotypical representations through thought-provoking and innovative text and staging.

Press for this production

‘Gorgeously written and packed with haunting imagery’ The Stage ★★★★

Nora: A Doll’s House

by Stef Smith

directed by Jan Rae

presented by The Dulwich Players

2 - 5 April

Nora is the perfect wife and mother. She is dutiful, beautiful and everything is always in its right place. But when a secret from her past comes back to haunt her, her life rapidly unravels. Over the course of three days, Nora must fight to protect herself and her family or risk losing everything.

Ibsen’s portrayal of womanhood caused outrage when it was first performed in 1879. This new production reimagines and reframes the drama in three different time periods. The fight for women’s suffrage, the swinging sixties and modern day intertwine in this poetic play that asks how far have we really come in the past 100 years?

This Amateur production of Nora: A Doll’s House is presented by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.

Sisters

by David Storey

directed by Elizabeth Elstub

presented by UNCOMMON THEATRE

8 - 26 April

Out there is the magic I glimpsed as a child. You made me a dreamer and here I am accusing you.

When Adrianne arrives unexpectedly at her sister Carol’s marital home, she realises nothing is quite what it seems or what she expected. She is forced to question who these people are, and what goes on upstairs?

Carol has questions too. What has happened to Adrianne’s successful career in London, and why has she decided to visit after eighteen years? The sisters’ search for the truth has shocking consequences for both.

Sisters is set in a large council estate in the industrial North of England. It is a remarkable, unsettling play about unrealised ambition, love, morals and madness. It was first presented at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in 1978.

David Storey (1933 – 2017) was an award-winning working-class Writer and Artist. Known as the Chekhov of the North, his work at the Royal Court includes In Celebration, Home, The Contractor and The Farm. As a novelist his work includes This Sporting Life, made into a film starring Richard Harris (1963), Pasmore, G Faber Memorial Prize (1973) and Saville, Booker Prize (1976).

Sisters is the launch production for UNCOMMON THEATRE, a theatre company created to support working-class actors, writers and creatives. This production is also a continuation of North meets South, an exploration of Northern Working-Class writers, past, present and in the future.

Game Play

by R.K. Chui

directed by Aoife Scott

produced by Kitchen Revolt Productions

29 April - 3 May

You wanna watch me suffer? Got all day.
Then I’ll take my sweet time.

With the first date spice’o’meter off the charts, Dom’s trying to write the rules on love. But when Izzy flips the script, Dom tightens his grip in a game of pop music and power.

This young couple can’t stop rolling the dice. What have you got left to lose when you gamble with your heart? Strap in as we find out who can handle the most heat. ‘Cus who knew heaven was also full of burning, eh?

Kitchen Revolt Productions

Kitchen Revolt create bold, playful and innovative productions that ignite meaningful conversations. We aim to uplift underrepresented artists by colouring out the margins, scribbling through the lines and building a playground for working-class joy to become an act of resistance.