WHAT'S ON at WHITE BEAR THEATRE
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MBA Productions Presents
17th - 28th March 2026
Two women. A deserted hotel lounge at the dead of night.
A seemingly random reunion.
The Dawn of Reckoning is a powerful new play about friendship, betrayal and the possibility of a second chance. It asks the question: Just how do we move on from tragedy when the hardest person to forgive is ourselves?
PREVIOUS WORK
To Have and To Hold (Writer)
***** ‘A theatrical masterpiece’ Fairy Powered Productions
***** ‘The rickety old backbone of society’s expectations is laid bare in this beautiful story’ London Pub Theatres
**** ‘Gripping’ London Theatre1
**** ‘A raw, honest and touching play. Mark Bastin's script is bright, witty and thought-provoking ... a 'must see' when it returns’ Playhouse Pickings
TOP PICK
Written & performed by Robert Bailey
Directed by Billy Siegenfeld
Sound Design by Philip Saguil
31st March - 4th April 2026
An acclaimed performance from America makes its international debut at the White Bear Theatre.
“IN SOME DARK VALLEY: The Testimony of Reverend Brand,” has been called “memorable theatre… certainly of our time, and every other time as well” (Deborah Klugman, StageRaw Los Angeles) and “delightfully dark… a powerful and highly entertaining show” (Dan Ruth, LA Hidden Gems).
One moonlit night, Reverend Brand, a fiery post Civil War circuit preacher, emerges from the shadowy mountains of Appalachia to weave a tale of religious fervor set against a landscape scarred by war, poverty, and disease – a story born from a collective history that shines a light on rare moments of tender and resilient redemption.
Robert Bailey’s solo performance grapples with the inevitable clash between an unyielding vision of moral rectitude and the tragic personal destruction it leaves in its wake. Bailey embodies multiple characters and sings captivating traditional songs handed down through generations of Southerners.
The 65-minute solo show, written and performed by Robert Bailey and directed by Billy Siegenfeld, pulls the audience into an experience that is both haunting and illuminating in its relevance to today.
“One simply must be consciously living in this moment in history to see the parallels of extremism and its effect on a people…What a simple yet profound thing to see when the world is in chaos, and what we really need most is to gather the tribe and sit around the old black box telling stories.” Luis Alfaro, award winning playwright and Macarthur Genius Fellow https://www.insomedarkvalley.org/
7th - 11th April 2026
Alan Bennett is widely acknowledged as a great writer of women.
In two of his most cherished and spellbinding masterworks, Her Big Chance and Soldiering On, Bennett expertly traces the secrets and wrinkles of Lesley and Muriel, skilfully exposing their dreams, delusions, and all-too-exploitable vulnerabilities.
Directed by Emily Oulton, this pair of insightful, bittersweet, and comic performances of enduring relevance will make you laugh, break your heart, and, without fail, live long in your memory.
14th - 18th April 2026
Waking up in a treatment room with a single camera and no memory of how she got there, Subject X is freaking out.
It's only when calm, enigmatic Supervisor Y enters and reassures her: she is participating in a 2 week medical trial by established pharmaceutical biotech company ClearMind, which will add significant cash into her dwindling student bank account.
Here's the paperwork. Memory loss is a known side effect. But as tests are taken, doses are increased and Supervisor Y's questions become more and more personal, Subject X’s temporary reassurance dwindles. Will she figure out the real reason she’s here, or is this growing unease just a side effect?
For fans of EX MACHINA, MANIAC and BLACK MIRROR, this is a taut psychological thriller for the digital age.
Jeanne D'arc, say something
Written and performed by Olivia Olsen
26th April 2026
An angel inspired her to lead an army, crown a king. What happened?
A fierce story. Jeanne navigates a world that needs, and silences her. Some engineer her destruction, some are bought out, the king she crowned lets her die. Her courageousness, does not disappear. She keeps on though every institution around insists she’s wrong.
In this searing, remarkable and very personal story of Jeanne D’Arc a raw and liberating question occurs – arising from an unintended mistake in a chance encounter.
Say Something! offers a battle-cry raging in all of us, and what heals, all of us.
Produced and Directed by Claire Evans
Two actors. Two writers. Two acts of violence.
These worlds collide only in this theatre space
21st April - 2nd May 2026
MISCONDUCT by Dom Riley
Three mates off on one last big away day match. Then that’s it.
He said: I tell things how they are, right? … So, this is Everything. My side.
… the heat of the moment, the desire to smash something, anything, anyone up good and proper …. It’s beautiful, but not in the sort of way that you want to do it yourself, more the way that you want to see what it’s like, right there in real life. It’s difficult to explain.
Dom Riley’s cautionary tale - a runaway train ride to a life-changing moment.
LADYKILLER by Madeline Gould
A chambermaid. A murder.
She said: Lust. Gain. Power. Thrill. Be strong and dark on you own time, in secret.
Madeline Gould’s play grabs you by the throat and plunges a knife into the darkest recesses of a human psyche.
A Paper Breadcrumbs Production Presents
A Play by Gail Louw
5th - 16th May 2026
Why is it so much easier to be a grandmother than a mother?
An elderly lady walks into a room full of her family: daughter, son, grandchildren. They evoke wistful memories and songs of love and playfulness, yet they take no notice of her as she moves among them. Memories overlap, sparkling and fading, merging into one: past overlapping with present. Memories of being strafed by Luftwaffe, storm-tossed boats, births, deaths, love, family. You don’t remember if it’s been fun, you just know it’s 11.15 and it’s been a life full of ashes and diamonds.
The family story behind the play:
Sara Tauba Klagsbrun, was born in Tarnow in Poland on 16 December 1920. Sara moved with her family to Antwerp when she was about 5 years old because of the antisemitism they were experiencing in Poland. She was told when she started at the local school that she would have to change her name to a less Jewish sounding one and from then on, she chose to be called Antoinette. She was known by most of her family and friends as Tosia.
In May 1940 aged 19, Sara fled from the Nazi invasion, escaping the Holocaust via a torturous route, much of it on foot. She ended up in the UK where she remained for the rest of her life. She lived in London and died in the flat she had been in for 70 years.
A one-woman play written by Gail Louw.
Directed by Anthony Shrubsall.
Performed by Elizabeth Counsell.
TOP PICK
Hornsey-Pennell Productions Presents:
A UK premier by 2023 Nobel Prize-winning author Jon Fosse
A deeply human portrait of belief, doubt and the longing to be seen.
19th May - 6th June 2026
A UK Premiere by 2023 Nobel Prize–winning author Jon Fosse.
A family house by the sea.
A young pregnant woman sits on a sofa.
Her partner enters.
Her sister returns.
Then her mother.
Then the father.
What should be a simple family gathering becomes something quietly unsettling. Questions circle. Silence lingers. The unborn child waits at the centre of the room. The question of its name is never answered. The question of its origin arises.
When her partner speaks of reincarnation, the mood shifts. When her former lover is mentioned, it shifts again.
The Name is a haunting and tender exploration of family, of communication withheld, and of the authority of silence. Written during the period in which Jon Fosse received the Norwegian Ibsen Award, the play established him as one of Europe’s most distinctive dramatic voices.
Now brought to London for the first time by Hornsey–Pennell Productions and directed by Simon Usher, who’s work spans The National Theatre, The Royal Court and the West End, this production offers a rare opportunity to encounter Fosse’s major work in an intimate setting.
“One of the most innovative playwrights of his generation… a master of concision and depth.”
— Guardian
“Spare, luminous and quietly devastating… Fosse’s language is its own pulse.”
— New York Times on Someone Is Going to Come
“A major European voice… his work strips language back to its core, where something genuine can still be felt.”
— The Stage
“Nothing is superfluous, nothing gratuitous — his theatre is the theatre of attention, measured and profound.”
— Telegraph
