WHAT'S ON at THE HOPE THEATRE
Concise and Easy to use
NEW SEASON OF WORK
CATACLYSMIC
3rd - 4th July
£10/£16/£18
7PM
Andy is watching the TV, and trying not to think about how everything around them is falling apart. A telephone rings, an old video clip from a long-forgotten concert begins to play, and something – somewhere – just won’t let them out of the theatre.
A one-person physical theatre piece, CATACLYSMIC taps into the heart of our obsession with nostalgia, and explores that feeling of the world ending when things just don’t go to plan. Inspired by clowning and immersive art, it delves into experiences of grief, and interrogates the act of inaction in the face of cataclysm.
A collaboration between Emily Hawkins, Vera Majoor, Ben Peterson, and Ollie Wimbush, the four artists come together to create absurdist, vivid, multidisciplinary performances. Previous collaborations within the group include London Pub Theatre award winning and Offie nominated production Anthropocene, and Lambeth Fringe’s Glitch Award winning Bog Body.
CATACLYSMIC saw its first work-in-progress sharing at the No Such Theatre January 2026 scratch-night, where it was described by critic Josh Berninger as ‘fun, varied, and with the standard of high-end theatre’.
GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO DIG BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS
14th - 18th July
£10/£16/£18
7PM
“I want to be with you. Forever, I guess, or… forever’s a long time, but…”
On a Friday night, EMMA, her boyfriend SAM, and his best friend ARCHIE come together in a well-known ritual around the kitchen table: pizza, beers, and heated debate. Emma and Archie are at loggerheads, and Sam once again finds himself stuck in the middle.
As new topics are broached, and revelations come to light, Emma makes a decision for what she believes is the greater good. But when things don’t go the way she planned, her newfound resolve starts to waver. A chance reunion months later creates further chaos, and uncovers buried secrets from the past. GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO DIG BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS is a sharp, fast-paced comedy which poses questions surrounding queer identity, monogamy, and the pressure we put on ourselves (and each other) to explore in the modern day.
Reviews of past work
Cara Dromgoole, directing for Deadheads by Maddie Lynes (★★★★ The Guardian)
Poppy Maxwell, Libby Thornton and Jemima Langdon for Cambridge Footlights International Tour Show, The Search Continues (★★★★ Broadway Baby) (★★★★ Broadway World)
EDINBURGH FRINGE PREVIEWS
Cruising
When a dancer and a climate activist meet over margaritas on a Mediterranean cruise, their sizzling attraction seems like the perfect holiday fling. Until the pair realise they share more than just chemistry: both are in a relationship with the same person.
As potential romance explodes into fierce rivalry, the duo launch a competitive campaign of eco-sabotage against the mega-polluting ship. With the heat rising, can their connection and desire for a better world survive these dangerous waters?
This queer romcom by Katrina Bennett is a subversive exploration of protest and passion.
19th - 22nd July
8.30pm
Jane Eyre Convention
Good gracious! This isn't in the book!"
Double Fringe First winners Theatre Caddis bring their new play Jane Eyre Convention By Eleanor Zeal.
A farcical and comic production where slightly crazed and diverse Jane Eyre aficionados gather to re-enact their favourite novel by Charlotte Bronte, at the world's first ever Jane Eyre Convention in a community hall in West Norwood. Squabbles over the best lines and interpretations ensue. Real emotions and revelations are experienced as the attendees navigate Jane's rags to riches story.
Optional audience participation.
Expect bonnets, unrealistic violence, some raunch and genuine emotions.
24th - 25th July
7pm
Sissy Boy
Sissy Boy is the story of a young teen on his way to uni and his online relationship with his femdom goddess.
Through humiliation kink in his teenage bedroom in Bristol, to confused feelings with the lads down at the local, Sissy Boy challenges our taboos while exploring its own, and begs the question of our own desires in a changing world.
This one-hour and one-man show is a coming of age queer comedy that aims to push us past our own insecurities to explore the unspoken taboos in our society.
Written and performed by playwright and Cried Wolf Productions co founder, Jake Bickford, Sissy Boy debuts at the Edinburgh Fringe this year with a special one off preview performance at the home of their first ever show, The Hope Theatre.
Join us for a very intimate evening.
30th July
7pm
Brick
James is stuck. Literally.
Adrenalised and alone with an unconscious cellmate in a police holding cell after throwing a brick during a queer rights protest, he unpacks the experiences that brought him here: pulled into protest culture through a crush on an artist‑activist, personal grief and political fury collide.
With dark humour and raw confession, this urgent, powerful new play examines how systemic neglect pushes vulnerable people toward dangerous obsessions and extreme acts.
“Surprising, incendiary and unsettling, written with a propulsive energy” - Shortlisted for Homotopia’s Queer Writers Award 2025
“Wryly and playfully funny, and desperately sad… effortlessly engaging, with an exhilarating pace” - Liverpool Everyman New Works
“A striking piece of new writing that captures the urgency of identity and protest, powerfully reflecting the spirit of our times and young people’s need to be heard. Beautifully performed—(Xavier) is definitely one to watch” - Eli Randle, Unity Theatre
Left For Dead are a Northwest/Midlands based company making intimate, queer and political theatre that focuses on systemic injustice and change. They aim to make audiences think about the morality of the societal institutions and power structures that surround them. BRICK is supported in development by BoonDog Theatre and The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
20th - 21st July
7pm
Pews At Ten
On the front pew of St David's Cathedral sit three (seemingly) sweet, harmless old ladies. Pillars of their community, friends to many, and the town gossip for all. Perfectly content to spend however long they have left with their noses firmly planted in the business of every relationship, affair, and shop floor configuration in the local area. However, soon after meeting them, their regular routine is disrupted in two ways - firstly, new arrival to the city, David, whose English accent they find near impossible to parse. Then, the bigger news - a certain sex bomb, international pop star and national treasure, is coming to visit their cathedral. And there’s only two and a half days to prepare!
The three main characters are three queer clowns in ‘mature lady drag’, peeking through a thin fourth wall and playing their characters with complete honestly….most of the time. With airtight dialogue carrying whip smart wit, tender monologues, and spattering of the welsh language, Pews at Ten is a love letter to older generations wrapped in a joyous, slapstick whirlwind.
As mentioned in Everything Theatre’s recent review -
‘Pews at Ten is a ridiculously entertaining show, both in concept and execution - don’t be surprised when you see this groups name in lights at the end of the year’.26th July
3pm & 7pm
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CONVERSATION
Nneka is a resident doctor finishing a late shift—another unrelenting and dangerously understaffed work day. Typical. 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, and about a patient she doesn't know, all under intense time pressure.
Set entirely within this single encounter, the play exposes the emotional dissonance, absurdity, and dark humour of end-of-life decision-making in a healthcare system stretched to breaking point.
As healthcare services continue to operate under relentless strain, life-altering conversations are increasingly delivered in rushed, imperfect circumstances by exhausted clinicians. This play invites the audience to sit inside one such moment as a fly on the wall, witnessing the collision of grief, bureaucracy, compassion, and detachment—and asking what it really means to remain humane within an inhumane system.
22nd July
7pm
WHEN YOU ARE A TICK
What happens when three young Brits mistake a stolen philosophy book for a literal step-by-step manual?
Fair Love Collective presents WHEN YOU ARE A TICK, a surreal dark comedy play following a chaotic gang's fast-paced descent into a conceptual cult. Trying to physically reshape their Umwelt (their perceived reality), their absurd crimes become increasingly violent - like threatening to blind a wedding photographer to alter his worldview.
Desperate for answers, the gang hunts down the elusive Philosopher - only to find him physically moving furniture to woo the Relationship anarchist chick, with whom everyone is in love in their own ways.
Driven by a live, folk-electronic score, this play with songs seamlessly mirrors its fictional chaos against real-life verbatim testimonies of radical worldview shifts, delivered by puppets. Blending sharp dialogue, contemporary dance, and striking video-art projections, the show culminates in a live audience jury vote.
Will you punish them or set them free? Come for the chaos, stay for the philosophy.
28th - 29th July
7pm
Michael John Ciszewski: MOTHER, SUPERIOR
Does God take calls from gay guys!?
NYC comedian and award-thirsty Fringe favourite Michael John Ciszewski is on the line, desperate to make his mother proud of him. Join him in the ultimate act of diva worship: an attempt to canonize his mother as an immortal saint in one hour – of comedy. Will THAT do? Does the Pope sh*t in the woods!!
Part comedy special, part storytelling séance, part unholy game show, MOTHER, SUPERIOR sees Michael John plead his case before God, the Vatican, and a congregation of audience members—one sacrilegious story and profane pop culture reference at a time.
MOTHER, SUPERIOR is a celebration of the messy ways we build our own legacies and a reclamation of religious ritual that asks the ultimate question: would our parents rather we book a Netflix special, or simply return their calls?
Ciszewski has been heralded as “a whip smart comic [who] holds the room like putty” (BingeFringe) and who “celebrates love the way Julia Child celebrated French cooking” (Monumental Entertainment). He has earned accolades including a Queer Performer’s Award Nomination at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe, and raves from critics and audiences, gay and otherwise.
31st July
7pm
NORTH SAPPH-FEST A bold new festival celebrating queer women & non-binary voices 3 - 28 August
Full programming to be announced soon. Please see some highlights below.
Mouse
By Alice Sparrow
August 3rd - 6th, 7pm
Gemma is under a curse: she’s a mouse 364 days a year. To become human again, she must shag someone who once truly loved her. But did her only ex ever really love her?
Sapphic, silly and surreal, ‘Mouse’ is about who gets to decide what counts as love.
This is Alice Sparrow’s second play. Her first won the National Theatre’s New Views prize and was later commissioned by Audible.
Dad
By James Robertson
August 24th - 25th, 8.30pm
All Ellis wants is to keep their 4-year-old daughter Becky safe and happy, while bringing her up as their most authentic self. That’s not an easy task when you’re non-binary. But as Ellis strives to create the future queer utopia to raise their daughter in, the tides begin to turn against them.
A queer parable for our times, “Dad” explores the grey areas of genderqueer parenting and rails against the increased government sanctioned transphobia we see today.
Shallow Resting Place
By Lauren Carter
August 10th - 12th, 7pm
Set against the Oxfordshire prairies, Charlie and Sophia reunite after three years. This tender and poetic play is a brutal exploration of the addictive nature of nostalgia, and the consequences of romanticising the people we love, not to mention hares.
Previously, Lauren was the Resident Director of the Oxford Playhouse, during which she co-founded Queer Fest.
The Wake
By Emma Langan
August 26th - 28th, 8.30pm
The Wake follows El and their family in the aftermath of their mother’s passing. It's set in a single day at her wake and we see the comical, messy, and nuanced unravelling of the family's dynamic as they navigate their profound loss, with all of the Catholic kitsch that comes with it.
The Wake hits on real experiences of grief, and the loss of what could’ve been.
Other productions in the Festival include: -
They Were Roommates
By Song Marshall
August 4th - 6th, 8.30pm
Cherston
By Emily Farley
18th - 20th, 8.30pm
That’s Just The Way It’s (un)Done
By Rowan For Now
21st - 22nd August, 7pm
The Haunting of Verity Evans
By Freya Jackson
25th - 26th August, 7pm
Masc Off
By Julia Rogers
21st - 22nd August, 8.30pm
For more information on NORTH SAPPH-FEST please visit thehopetheatre.com/northsapphfest
