Philip Ridley’s magnificent, award-winning Dark Vanilla Jungle heads to Theatre N16 in March 2017, produced by Brighton Fringe Award nominated Second Sons. In this dark, 21st century fairy tale, a lone actress tells the audience her story.
Andrea keeps getting asked if she’s ashamed. Ashamed of what she did to the soldier. Of what she did to the baby. But Andrea’s not ashamed at all. And she wants to tell you why… A beautiful, breath-taking drama about a young girl’s quest for the perfect family & home revealing a biting commentary on abuses of power in a patriarchal society.
Actress Emily Thornton hails from Bradford, but moved down south to train at Italia Conti, and was recently a finalist of Monologue Slam UK. Her theatre credits include Ruth in Sex with a Stranger at The Pleasance Theatre and The Sanctuary at The Bread and Roses Theatre.
Samson Hawkins is a theatre maker from Northamptonshire who trained as an actor at both East 15 & Italia Conti. After graduating, he formed Second Sons Theatre Company to make “theatre for people who don’t like theatre.” Second Son’s first production, Swan Bake – the story of a drug-addicted ballerina – premiered at Sutton Theatres and was transferred to The Otherplace as part of the Brighton Fringe, where it was nominated for a Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence.
Samson directed Stephan Golaszewski’s Sex with a Stranger at the Pleasance Theatre in 2017. His other writing work includes Olympic Fencing, which was shortlisted for Soho Theatres Young Writer Award, and Death is Wasted on The Old, which was produced for The Scribble Festival. He is a member of Soho Writers Lab and The Royal Court Writers Group.
The Blue Elephant announces a new season of collaborations with exciting emerging artists, bringing urgent, thought-provoking and intriguing work to the black-box fringe venue in Camberwell.
The Blue Elephant continues to support work at all stages of development and the season includes scratch nights and work-in-progress showings as well as Haste Theatre’s Oyster Boy and Resuscitate’s Rounds. Both these shows have had successful past productions but are now premiering ‘revamped’ and further developed versions at the Blue Elephant in March.
Other highlights include When the Dove Returns, by recent East 15 graduates Backpack Theatre, and Female Intuition, two nights of new writing written and directed by women.
The season closes with a new production of Twelfth Night by Original Impact Theatre, reimagining the play for new audiences.
Co-Artistic Director, Niamh de Valera, says:
“We’re delighted to share this season with you and are looking forward to audiences’ reactions. We feel very lucky that we’re able to continue our work supporting emerging artists and programming really special, engaging shows, as the future is always so uncertain. We do have to raise a lot of money to stay open for the next year but we’re starting on a high note with a season we’re very excited about so we’re hopeful it will set the tone for the year!”
As well as its professional artistic programme, the Blue Elephant has a vibrant and far-reaching participation department, which delivers workshops in local primary and secondary schools and runs two youth theatres in the local area, reaching up to two thousand people each year.
Original Impact returns to the Blue Elephant to present a scratch night, showcasing new plays, written and directed by women.
Knock Knock by Megan Jenkins explores how we define our identity, gender politics and…ghost stories…
Voting numbers have been falling so the new Government has lowered the voting age to 16 and made it compulsory for students to learn politics. A week may be a long time in politics but in Project Britainby Alexandria Anfield, it’s also a long time in school.
There are certain things you shouldn’t say when it comes to the awkward subject of death… In Big Girls Don’t Cryby Laura Burrell, you meet the women who say them all.
Hold Still, This Won’t Hurt is a new short play about retribution, loyalty and turning tables, written by Hannah Roe, whose previous work has been performed at the Park Theatre, London and HighTide Festival 2016.
Follow the tale of Alice and Italian ice cream seller Jim, who fall in love strolling along the beach in a 1950’s whirlwind romance. However, all is not as sweet as it seems when their lives are turned upside down by the arrival of their son Sam…a very unusual boy!
Based on the title story of The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton, this bittersweet tale reminds us of the fragility of life and introduces us to a host of larger-than-life characters who are sure to entertain and delight. Oyster Boy is a multi-award-winning, international production mixing physical storytelling, clown, live singing, dance and puppetry.
Haste is an international, multi-disciplinary theatre ensemble based in London. The company seek to create visually impressive theatre, which provokes question, thought, laughter and enjoyment in a diverse audience through simple means. The company has produced and toured work in the U.K, U.S.A and Italy.
Thursday 2 – Friday 3 March 8pm
£9 (£8 conc. & £7 Southwark residents)
Resuscitate Theatre
presents
Rounds
Follow six junior doctors as they balance the pressures of the ward and their personal lives.
Kal is seriously considering sedating the next patient who asks to be treated by a proper English doctor. Dom just wants to get into the shower while there’s still hot water. Felicity is living for the weekend. Lucy got her last choice ward and feels like she’s drowning. Tom’s getting good at tuning everything out and would quite like to keep it that way. Grace is just looking for someone to feed her cat while she’s on call.
They all work in the hospital down the road from you.
Resuscitate present a collection of the sometimes funny, sometimes tragic true stories from the inside of the surgical mask.
Rounds features stunning physical work from Lecoq ensemble interwoven with projection and visual theatre.
How much humanity will we sacrifice when our lives are at stake?
The survivors of a flood have been stuck on a ship for thirty days. As the damage done to their world becomes clear, they have to find a way to rebuild their lives…
This new, ambitious devised piece by Backpack Theatre combines touching observations and outrageous humour in a dynamic, physical piece that is sure to make the audience laugh, gasp and reflect.
Following their debut in 2016, with Bibs, Boats, Borders & B*stards about the refugee crisis, described as a “great first show”, “tear-jerking” and a “call for individuals to take greater responsibility”, Backpack Theatre stages a new call-to-arms piece about the long-term effects of our carelessness.
Tuesday 28 March – Saturday 1 April 8pm
Post-show Discussion: Thursday 30 March
£9.50 (£8 conc. & £7 Southwark residents)
A Truefitt Collective
presents
There is Nothing More Public Than Privacy
Two dance pieces collaboratively investigate the secret lives and intimate spaces of public loneliness. Both works have explored a gendered approach towards ‘capturing intimacy’ within virtual and live spaces. Through a process of visually documenting women in their private and ‘safe’ spaces, the work tackles questions about public loneliness.
Bubbling with energy and youthfulness, this actor-muso production of Twelfth Night is a playful take on the cross-dressing comedy.
Original Impact return to the Blue Elephant with one of Shakespeare’s most popular and enduring plays following the sell-out success of A Working Title last year.
Wednesday 26 April – Saturday 6 May 8pm
(Wednesdays to Saturdays only)
(also 4pm on Wednesday 26 April & Wednesday 3 May)
