The three brilliant new plays we’re bringing to Shoreditch are by some of the top writers in British Theatre- Duncan Macmillan, Nick Payne, and Penelope Skinner and we couldn’t be more pleased that their plays are going to be seen by new audiences this Autumn in our ROUNDABOUT Auditorium- previews start 19^th September and the Season runs until 27^th October 2012.

For those of you who don’t know about these cracking plays, here’s what they’re all about:

LUNGS by Duncan Macmillan

I could fly to New York and back every day for seven years and still not leave a carbon footprint as big as if I have a child. Ten thousand tonnes of CO2. That’s the weight of the Eiffel Tower. I’d be giving birth to the Eiffel Tower.

In a time of global anxiety, terrorism, erratic weather and political unrest, a young couple want a child but are running out of time. If they over think it, they’ll never do it. But if they rush, it could be a disaster.

They want to have a child for the right reasons. Except, what exactly are the right reasons? And what will be the first to destruct – the planet or the relationship?

ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG by Nick Payne

I am actually incredibly scared.  And not how you might think.  I am scared, that once this war is over, and I am sent home, that you won’t be here.  That you will have left.

When Leonard and Violet embark on their first night together, they know it also might be their last. It’s 1942 and in a small hotel room in Bath, the couple prepare for Leonard’s departure to war, and dream of what the future may bring. As the bombs begin to fall, they know their world won’t ever be the same again.

But the world keeps turning and in the year 2002, the couple must decide what was lost and what was gained.

A new play about the impact of the Second World War on two ordinary lives and a love that spans more than sixty years.

THE SOUND OF HEAVY RAIN by Penelope Skinner

Laughing. Talking. Hours in cafes drinking coffee. Chatting about boys. Girls. Romance. Sharing a plate of chips. It was one of those friendships…I don’t know how to explain…like…Love.

Cabaret singer Foxie O’Hara vanished without a tweet two weeks ago from Mrs Whistle’s Lodge.

On that very same night Foxie’s friend Maggie Brown, a temporary secretary, announced her engagement to local businessman Dougal Cheese.

Concerned and desperate Maggie seeks the help of Dabrowski  P.I. to find her missing friend.

But before Dabrowski can blow the whistle on the mystery of Foxie O’Hara he must delve into the history of the girls’ relationship; the deeper he digs, the darker the case becomes, until the real question he needs to answer isn’t ‘where is Foxie’….but ‘who is Foxie’?

 How to book tickets:

At Paines Plough we’re all about the playwright and making sure that as many people as possible get the chance to see their moving, gripping, powerful new plays and that’s why we’re so thrilled to be bringing them to Shoreditch Town Hall.

The tickets are £20 each or if you fancied seeing all three plays on the same day there are a limited number of tickets which are £45 but you have to book those on the phone by calling the National Theatre Box Officeon 020 7452 3000.

For full performance schedule and  tickets you can also book via their website at nationaltheatre.org.uk

We’re presenting 11 productions in 44 places across the country from Edinburgh to The Isle of Wight.

Some stuff you already know about, like Matt Hartley‘s SIXTY FIVE MILES which we co-produced earlier in the year with our friends at Hull Truck, and the two shows we have currently running in London – Mike Bartlett‘s LOVE, LOVE, LOVE at The Royal Court and Kate Tempest’s WASTED at The Roundhouse.

In addition we’ve lined up some real treats for you, wherever you live. WASTED continues its tour to festivals in Brighton and York. There’s a national tour of our Manchester International Festival smash hit soul opera THE 8TH by Paul Heaton & Che Walker culminating with a very special performance at The Latitude Festival. Simon Stephens’ LONDON opens its tour at Salisbury Playhouse in a co-production with both Salisbury and Live Theatre, Newcastle.

For the first time in three years, we’re presenting a season of work across London, all of which has premiered outside the capital. Love, Love, Love is currently running at the Royal Court. Wasted visits the Roundhouse. The 8th opens its tour at The Barbican. And we’re thrilled to be bringing our Roundabout Season to to town in the Autumn. Three new plays by Duncan Macmillan, Nick Payne and Penelope Skinner will be presented in our own purpose built portable in-the-round Roundabout auditorium at Shoreditch Town Hall.

Also we’re bringing back our 2009 hit GOOD WITH PEOPLE by David Harrower for The Edinburgh Festival. A new series of Come to Where I’m From will include playwrights from Brighton, Cheltenham, Chipping Norton and the Isle Of Wight; and we’re delighted to again be working with the students at Rose Bruford College on Sean Buckley’s SMITHEREENS.

Here’s a note from James & George:

“We’re hugely proud to announce our third annual programme of work as Paines Plough’s Artistic Directors.

“Our passion for new plays continues to grow thanks to the extraordinary playwrights that lie at the heart of our company. This year we’re presenting work by a huge range of writers, from Olivier Award winners to the stars of the future.writers who between them have won 2 Oliviers, 3 George Devine Awards, 2 Bruntwood Awards and a host of other accolades, whilst continuing to identify and support the stars of the future.

“We believe everyone should have the chance to see outstanding new plays, no matter where they live, so our commitment to national touring deepens this year with visits to over 40 different UK villages, towns and cities. We’re piloting new touring circuits The Local, Neighbourhood and Campus to make sure our unique brand of new plays reach every corner of the UK.

“After two years working outside the capital, we’ve been overwhelmed by the demand for our work to be seen in London. In response we’ve put together a London Season of productions, all of which have already been seen on tour. In typical Paines Plough style they’re spread right across the city so audiences can experience the work in their local theatre – whether that’s Shoreditch Town Hall, the Barbican, the Royal Court, the Roundhouse or the Albany, amongst others.

“As ever, we’re working in partnership across the programme, and are delighted to be working with old friends as well as new – including the National Theatre, Manchester International Festival, the Roundhouse, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Theatres, Latitude Festival, National Student Drama Festival, Salisbury Playhouse and Live Theatre Newcastle.

“With these partners, we’re presenting astounding new plays by world class playwrights in places nationwide for people everywhere. We’re priveleged and excited to do so, and look forward to welcoming people to a Paines Plough show in their local theatre.”

So there you have it: Programme 2012. We hope you’re as excited by it as we are.

“Mike Bartlett’s Love, Love, Love is one of the most ambitious, and most accomplished, domestic dramas in a long while and in James Grieve’s fine production boasts two performances by Victoria Hamilton and Ben Miles that will surely feature at the year’s end in all the awards lists”
Michael Coveney, Whatsonstage.com ★★★★★

“The audience was roaring its approval…an exciting evening, dart-sharp, horribly true.”
Quentin Letts, Daily Mail ★★★★★

“I loved it. Not least the laughing groans of recognition from the stalls, old and young…the best Court comedy since Clybourne Park…very funny at the start, bitterly so in the middle, and jerkingly moving at the end”
Libby Purves, The Times ★★★★ (paywall)

“Mike Bartlett’s scorching comedy…ambitious and hugely amusing…sensationally well played in James Grieve’s acerbically funny production. Victoria Hamilton and Ben Miles age four decades in under three hours and are at their best in their 1990s showdown: a drink-fuelled exchange that has the audience holding its breath.” Sarah Hemming, Financial Times ★★★★

“Rivetingly watcheable…a peach of a performance from Victoria Hamilton…Bartlett exhilaratingly combines the domestic and the epic.”
Michael Billington, The Guardian ★★★★

“Wow, this one packs a punch…a thrilling high voltage co-production with Paines Plough, this is a play that has you laughing uproariously at one moment and wincing painfully the next…scenes of extraordinary intensity and emotional truth shot through with dark humour…James Grieve’s powerful, evocative and elegantly designed production…haunting, heart-wrenching performances from Claire Foy and George Rainsford…one leaves the theatre in no doubt that the Court has another timely, hard-hitting success on its hands.”
Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph ★★★★

“Love, Love, Love sparkles…both funny and furious…Victoria Hamilton is the outstanding star.”
Susannah Clapp, Observer

“Very very funny and very very enjoyable…a first in contemporary theatre…thoroughly recommended.”
BBC Radio 4 (Listen again on iPlayer)

“Bartlett is a big talent…James Grieve’s stylish, sexy production…Victoria Hamilton is its star: she takes Sandra from hippy-chick 19-year-old to monstrous milf, to radiant retiree with extravagant conviction and an amazing voice full of vice, that oozes fag-smoke, wine and unrepentant pleasure.”
Caroline McGinn, Time Out ★★★★

“Piercingly funny…illuminated by some beautifully nuanced performances…the superb Hamilton and Miles.”
Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard ★★★★

“Highly entertaining…Bartlett’s lacerating dialogue balances satiric intent with painful truth about a long-married couple who feel trapped…Miles and Hamilton simply don’t miss a trick as they tear strips off one another. Their zinging precision means bitter laughs fly.”
David Benedict, Variety

“With wide-eyed rage and bayonet wit Mike Bartlett’s greatest play roughs up the Baby Boomers in three glorious acts…The cast is uniformly brilliant.”
Stewart Pringle, Exeunt Magazine ★★★★★

Love, Love, Love is now extending until Saturday 9th June 2012. To book tickets you can visit the Royal Court website or ring the box office on 020 7565 5000.

7am. The day starts with a rather invigorating shock that my bedside alarm is actually going off. It feels like 20 minutes since I set it. Stage management are always the first to arrive, last to leave, so the early start is very usual, and yet so is the shock. Whether at home, or in a Travelodge – the day always begins with tea – Caffeine Hit Number 1.

8am. After a shower and quick breakfast, its onward to the venue. Having our fantastic producer, Hanna, with me on tour, is a huge support and I can rely on her for the morning van run, feeling as bleary eyed as me! I can rely on her too for joining me in Caffeine Hit Number 2.

10am. Arrive at venue. Engine off, and it’s a speedy van-unload, helped by any venue techs I have working with me that day. (Hopefully 2. On good days: 3; bad days: 1;  and days we don’t want to talk about: 0)

10.15-10.30am. Recce the venue, talk to the tech manager about how we are going to set the show up, and what the plan for the day shall be.

The challenge, and an interesting part of a small-scale tour such as WASTED, is taking the show to a huge variety of spaces, from 600-seater venues with a traditional proscenium arch, to a shop front, literally, with 4 lights on a stand and a domestic electrical set up which won’t manage all our equipment. Every venue can create a different challenge – sometimes, trying to work out how the set will fit in, I have the Crypton Factor theme tune in my head. Seriously.

It means the show and company have to be adaptable and I have to be able to think on my feet and problem-solve each day, to get the show up and looking at its absolute best.

Coffee anyone? Caffeine Hit Number 3.

10.45am.Then it’s straight on to the dance floor. No, I’m not throwing shapes - that comes later. It’s the first part of the set to be laid. Followed by: the rest of the set, rigging the projector, getting the av working, and running in our own sound desk and equipment, and our extra set-lights. All being well, and problem free, I have time to stop and have a bite to eat for lunch.

1pm. Plonk myself down with Hanna who is hard at work at her laptop in the venue cafe, or dressing room if no such thing exists! After munching and distracting her from her work its back into the theatre to start on the lighting – with coffee number 3, Caffeine Hit Number 4 in hand.

2pm. Each venue pre-rigs our lighting plan, so when I get to the venue all I need to do is focus the lights, then do checks. A focus can take anything from an hour (if you’re lucky), to 2 and half hours. And this is where the chocolate comes in… and possibly, dare I say, Coffee 4 Caffeine Hit Number 5.

4pm. If everything is on schedule, I’ll have a couple of hours to finish little jobs off – running sound checks, lighting checks, setting props, ironing costume, tidying up, re-painting parts of the set, making props, etc. … the list is long.

6pm. The cast arrive: often a welcome sight. Time to run a cue to cue on stage – giving me a chance to check all the lighting states are working as they should be and everything is lit well enough. The cast walk each scene – stopping when I need them to. As venues and the lights used can be so different, this often involves a lot of tweaking and updating states, adding in light where needed.

6.15pm. I run a microphone check with the cast – and afterwards, we run the first part of the show purely for sound purposes, so I can make sure the levels are all correct – its also a good opportunity for the actors to run lines, get focussed, clear any, hmmm, hang-overs.

6.50pm. If I’m lucky, I may have a snack and sit down before we get to the half – but more often than not there are little bits to be done. By this time I’m off the coffee and moved onto the harder stuff: coke (diet) – if things are bad, it may even be a red bull – Caffeine Hit Numbers 6, 7 and 8.

7.10pm. The cast and I vacate the stage area and auditorium around 15 mins before the show for the house to open.

7.20pm. Dressing room. Essential group hug.

7.20pm 45secs.  Yes that was a 45 second hug. And now it’s time to leave the actors at the 5 with the fond farewell, “See you on the other side” and get into position in my control area.

7.30pm. I love this show and never get bored of watching the performance, and cueing it is always fun – I operate the sound and av and the microphones live during the show and I cue the lighting to the lx op.

8.30pm. Once the show has finished, its to the bar… but only for one and a quick 15 min sit down! The last small job of the day is still to come… the get out. Luckily, our get outs are all hands on deck, so the team can be 7 or 8 strong with all the company getting involved – we are now a well oiled machine and our record get out time is 50 minutes including the van pack – the giant game of Jenga!

10pm. Van packed, drinks done, final checks to make sure nothing from WASTED is left behind, and its back in the fun bus and off to the pub… or dance floor… or hotel… or next town… or sometimes, if we’re lucky, home.

**All times are subject to change and are made at CSM’s discretion.

Hannah doing some serious Spring cleaning at PP HQ

They welcomed me in giving me an insight into how a theatre company works on a day to day basis. I spent the first few days sifting though papers and reorganising them (there is a filing cabinet drawer with all the files the same colour now),  stumbling across theatre history in the form of sympathy letters from when Sarah Kane died – something I never thought I would see. I ventured out to see two graduate showcases, which was a fascinating experience, as I got to see things from the industry’s perspective, maybe seeing stars of the future, and drinking a cheeky glass of wine. Now I am working on research and compiling databases, learning to speedily use Excel and continue building on my knowledge of theatre.

Everyone here has been really friendly and helpful, making sure I have an ample supply of tea, cakes and houmous! This has been burnt off, clambering up the four floors to the office each day. But I am sure it is getting easier as the weeks go by!

I genuinely cannot believe how quickly time has flown by working here and I would stay longer if I could. I still have a few days left and I am sure the upcoming Press Night of Love, Love, Love will be a highlight of my time here!

We discovered that the place is also, possibly, haunted. A ghost passed through our rehearsal room during Act Two on Friday. It rattled the huge stable doors at one end almost off its hinges and then made a sneaky escape through the main door out into the stairway with a move and a shake. It certainly caused a collective shiver. Come to think of it, the front door has been acting quite ghostly during this whole process. Unable to fully close (due to the fact that it self-locks), the door dithers and creaks every 15 minutes causing all three of us behind the desk to turn expectantly towards it, convinced someone is surreptitiously trying to enter. We do this every 15 minutes, without fail. We never learn. I tell you, it’s comedy gold: we’re like three synchronised meerkats.

The goblet saga continues.. the chalice has somehow made its way onstage and thus has become a minor character in the final act (complete with those dastardly wasabi peas). Watch out for it.

“Cheese Thursday” was the major event this week – a regular Royal Court tradition I hadn’t experienced before. And I really do mean ‘experienced’. We were informed by Stage Management and we got excited. It was discussed days in advance. I stressed the need to delegate (the horror of everyone turning up armed only with chutney, loomed in my mind). When the grand day finally arrived, our party of eleven was dismally diminished to only three hard-core cheesists. Their loss of course. Borough Market offered and we gladly accepted and a fantastical feast followed. Apples, grapes, chutney, spek, smelly brie, smoked cheddar, gorgeous stilton, oat cakes and french loaf. Olives were a slight deviation but welcomed by all involved. Needless to say, I went on quite a cheese roller-coaster that afternoon: a glorious cheese high was followed by a cheese low(er) which finally settled into a cheese lull for the rest of the day.

And finally, the Guardian crossword has taken the company by storm. Small victories and huge frustrations are played out over tea breaks. Mr Miles continuously spoils the fun by knowing every answer so we are forced to ban him from taking part and only defer to his vast intellect in emergencies.

We finished the week with two full runs of the play for small audiences of production team members. To see it all together like that for the first time was astounding. If one can watch it in a rehearsal room, with all the sounds of London Bridge zooming through the windows at high speed, and still feel that it is delightful, devastating, captivating and breath-catching, then we’re in for something pretty special indeed.

And to end, an attempt at a (somewhat) cryptic crossword clue:

“Seen three times in red: what a sight for old Peter Jones” (4)

When James and I began our tenure as Artistic Directors of Paines Plough, we did so on a promise to our board, our playwrights, our funders and our audiences that we would find a way of putting on more plays, for longer runs, touring them to more places across the UK, and returning more regularly to the same places than ever before in the company’s illustrious now 38-year history.

So in preparing our first two programmes of work (Programme 2010 and Programme 2011), we focussed our collective energy and resources on producing as many plays as we could, in collaboration with as many partners as possible, touring those productions as widely and for as long as we were able.

Spurred on by the incredible warmth towards the company from across the theatre industry, we were able to produce 9 plays in 2010 and 10 in 2011, touring to more than 30 places each year.

Because we were so firmly fixed on revitalising our touring circuits, partly by chance and partly by design, one of the many places we didn’t end up visiting was London.

Towards the end of last year, we got a bit of stick for ignoring the capital, with some bloggers going as far as calling our touring policy “snobby”. We were a bit surprised by this – after all, there was already a healthy stream of new plays being produced weekly right across the city (unlike many of the places we were touring to, where provision was low to non-existent). Plus, our touring productions were often visiting theatres within easy reach of central London (Watford, Oxford, Cambridge) where we felt confident that those living in zones 1-6 could catch our work.

Looking at these cries from a positive perspective, they seemed to suggest that there was a growing demand for our work across the capital. Fuelled by the huge success of Dennis Kelly’s ORPHANS and Steve Thompson’s ROARING TRADE (both directed by our predecessor Roxana Silbert), people living in and around London were keen to see the work that the rest of the country was getting access to first.

Encouraged by this interest, we have been working hard to make sure that as much of the work we’re producing this year visits the capital as possible. As we put the finishing touches to Programme 2012 (soon to be announced in full), we are pleased to say that four of our upcoming productions can been seen in London. Mike Bartlett’s LOVE, LOVE, LOVE opens next week at the Royal Court Theatre, Sean Buckley’s SMITHEREENS plays the Soho Theatre in June and THE 8TH by Paul Heaton and Che Walker is on the Barbican main stage for one night only in July.

The third production slated for a London transfer is Kate Tempest’s WASTED. Compared with #LoveCubed and #The8th however, #KateTempestWASTED is visiting the city in a slightly different way.

For a while now we’ve been fascinated by the idea of London-wide touring. A circuit of venues we’ve coined NEIGHBOURHOOD, the idea is that rather than transferring to a single city-centre theatre for three weeks, you tour around London doing shorter runs at a wider geographical dispersion of theatre spaces, allowing your audience to see your show in their local ‘neighbourhood’ theatre.

It’s nothing new of course, and not something we thought of first. For many years companies have taken the same piece of work to various homes across London, with the most prominent recent examples being Fuel and Will Adamsdale’s JACKSON’S WAY which played 25 different Greater London theatres and the upcoming MAD ABOUT THE BOY which by the end of its current life will have played The Bush, the Young Vic and the Unicorn. There’s an interesting Guardian Stage blog from Lyn Gardner that touches on it, here. If anything, this idea is a bandwagon we want to jump on and light a fire underneath.

Because nearly everyone (at least everyone we know) lives in Zones 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. Yet the most popular theatres tend to be in zones 1 and 2. There’s obviously a logic to this, but in the same way you can fall in love with your local pub (and expect beer, food, entertainment and atmosphere to rival – nay, better – any West End drinking hole), why not your local theatre?

As this was a touring circuit completely new to us, we needed a funding partner to help research and pilot the project. Fortunately the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Royal Victoria Hall Foundation shared our passion for investigating new ways of presenting work in London and – along with some of our other new touring circuits – are invaluably supporting our research on the NEIGHBOURHOOD concept.

So when our Assistant Producer Hanna was booking the tour for WASTED, we decided to try this idea out. We consulted programmers of theatres considered to be located in ‘outer London’, to check this concept wouldn’t cause them problems competing for audiences with other venues. Some said it would, but the majority felt confident that if people didn’t have to travel then why would they. Ultimately we managed to book WASTED in to five ‘NEIGHBOURHOOD’ theatres, to test the concept:

So far it’s working well. We sold out the 200-seater Albany and had a good stab at filling the 600-capacity Watford Palace Theatre. If it works, NEIGHBOURHOOD is something we want to grow in the coming years, sharing our knowledge and contacts with our Associate Companies, and other start-up touring outfits.

As ever, we’ll keep this blog updated with our progress. In the meantime we look forward to seeing North East dwellers at Redbridge Drama Centre next week.

This is already my fourth week as the not-so-new-anymore intern at Paines Plough. This is nearly a month and also almost a third of my time with this incredible company which makes me sad already knowing there are just two more left. It felt like I was going through someone else’s things in the first week, trying to find a rhythm and a natural order in the second week, by the third week I found myself very settled in a routine and now in the fourth week I cannot imagine having not been with the Paines Plough family before.

Given the fact that being German I am used to an utterly different theatre system, every day at work has something new for me to discover and learn.

Touring theatre does not exist in Germany to this extent as I suppose this habit got lost in two wars. The fact is that companies toured Shakespeare’s plays to the continent already when the writer himself was still alive. Touring theatre was known at this time but theatre developed differently on the continent than on the island: today it is hardly alive in German speaking countries anymore. But here in the UK touring companies are an institutionalized part of the theatre landscape and I find myself only beginning to understand how the system here works. I have been given a great opportunity.

When I was at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer (I feel like a philistine to admit that it was my first one. Ever.) and later in London, where I have lived now for six months I always stumbled over Paines Plough’s name and their work. I feel very privileged and honoured being in this lucky position and find myself challenged, part of the team and finally working in the British Theatre industry.

Also I not only enjoy climbing up the four floors to the office everyday but also crossing Waterloo Bridge by bike and its incredible view to London’s skyline and landmarks realising every day what a sparkling city I live in now and what a promising future I have working with Paines Plough.

(c) Stephanie Königer

Week Four of the WASTED Five Tour. The Shop Front Theatre in Coventry, the Hat Factory in Luton, Phoenix Arts Centre in Hampshire and the Firestation in Windsor.

Then week Five and we were storming The Albany in Deptford, Arts Centre Washington and the Astor Theatre in Deal.

Whichever theatre we were at, you could count on some pre-show regularities: Harriet hard at work setting everything up, the cast chilling out and running lines, Hanna hard at it between meetings and working on her laptop, and the occasional bromance.

However, as the tour continues, it seems catching forty winks these past two weeks has also become a familiar pre-show preparation..

Halfway through the tour, it seems poignant to moot on various ‘Number One’ best moments: the ‘Number One’ best sandwich ever. Bread, ham. No mucking about. Thanks Tescos. Thanks Hanna; 2. The ‘Number One’ embarrassing moment: heading up to a group of kids straight after a show while still sat in their seats, and engaging them in conversation, before realising this was not the group of kids we’d been asked to chat to. Thanks Hanna; 3. Number One inspiring moment: chatting to the right group of kids and hearing their really incisive and enthusiastic thoughts on the show; 4. ‘Number One’ post- show tipple: Jagerbomb; 5. ‘Number One’ place to stay on the road: Travelodge; 6. Cary having a ‘number one’ in the bushes.

No, this isn’t a Stef O’Driscoll Best Moments, but when we got to Deptford, Kwake Bass was back to perform live with us, which he did from up on the balcony and it sounded amazing. And as we were also performing the show in the Thrust (3 sides) because we had packed out the place! we needed to tech and rehearse the show during the day; and fortunately Stef, Champion A.D, was able to step in. Bernd was also on hand to help with attending to the new space, and along with Harriet and Stef discussing and solving much, it made for a great show. I caught a snap of the empty seats before they quickly filled. The night was massive. Huge standing ovation. Incredible buzz. We came off stage and just wanted to go straight back out. Instead, we headed to the pub where this play is set and where we rehearsed the first day, and enjoyed some down-time.

Before we sign off for this blog, Harriet has also begun bringing her camera out on tour, and has been taking some beautiful pics. Next week, Harriet shall be posting a blog of her own with some of her photos. Until then, here are a few moments she’s captured in the dressing room during the half.

PS: some thoughts to leave you with till next week: getting size envy when faced with Windsor’s very own Fun Bus. The fact that it did not stop raining the entire time we were in Newcastle. Kate Tempest’s new book is incredible and everyone should buy it. Hanna smiles for the camera, come rain or shine. I should really take more photos whilst on tour for this blog or we may have to resort to drawing our escapades.

I post this as we come to the end of a week’s break. But now we head to Canterbury, and James’ hometown of Folkestone. Look forward to seeing you there!

As we often report on this blog, here at PPHQ we see a lot of theatre, right across the UK. We’re only a small team of five, but we try our best to see as much as possible – especially stuff we receive lovely hand-written invitations to. Because the playwright is at the heart of all our work, we prioritise seeing new plays. But we are always desperate to see the work of actors, designers, directors and producers who we are excited by.

Since the beginning of January we’ve been averaging 3.7 shows a week and have seen some fantastic theatre, including:

Some West End fare -
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Eugene O’Neill at The Apollo
THE LADYKILLERS by Graham Linehan at the Gielgud Theatre
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at the Noel Coward Theatre
HUIS CLOS by Jean Paul Satre at Trafalgar Studios
HAYFEVER by Noel Coward at the Noel Coward
GHOST The Musical at the Picadilly
MATILDA by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin at the Cambridge
SINGIN IN THE RAIN at the Palace
WOMAN IN BLACK at the Fortune
SHREK at Drury Lane.

An adaptation -
DON JUAN COMES BACK FROM THE WAR by Ödön von Horváth in a new version by Duncan Macmillan at the Finborough Theatre.

A bit of dance and physical theatre -
THE TALENT by Ballet Boyz at Richmond Theatre
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS? By DV8 at the National Theatre

Some Shakespeare -
RICHARD II at the Donmar Warhouse
A MIDSUMMERNIGHTS DREAM by Filter at the Lyric Hammersmith
COMEDY OF ERRORS at the National Theatre
A WINTER’S TALE by Propeller on tour at Sheffield Lyceum.

Some out-of-London shows -
CLEANSED/CRAVE/4.48 PSYCHOSIS by Sarah Kane at Munich Kammerspiele (in Germany)
THE WAY OF THE WORLD by William Congreve at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield
THE MICHAEL FRAYN SEASON (Benefactors, Copenhagen, and Democracy) at Sheffield Theatres
WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL MY LIFE by Alyecky Blythe at the New Vic in Stoke.

A few revivals -
THE LADY FROM THE SEA by Henrik Ibsen at The Rose Kingston
ONE FLEW OVER THE COCKOOS NEST by Ken Kesey at LOST Theatre
BINGO by Edward Bond at The Young Vic
THREEPENNY OPERA by Bertolt Brecht at Wilton’s Music Hall (LAMDA show)
THE CHANGELING by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley at the Young Vic
AFTER MISS JULIE by Patrick Marber at the Young Vic
NOSIES OFF by Michael Frayn at the Old Vic
HOUSE OF BERNADA ALBA by Federico Garcia Lorca at Almeida
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER by Oliver Goldsmith at the National Theatre
THE RECRUTING OFFICER by George Farquar at the Donmar Warehouse.

A bit of devised work -
YOUR LAST BREATH by Curious Directive at the Pleasance Islington
WE HOPE YOU’RE ARE HAPPY (WHY WOULD WE LIE?) by Made in China at BAC
THE DEVIL AND MR PUNCH by Improbable at the Barbican
MASTER AND MARGARITA by Michail Bulgakov at the Barbican.

And of course lots of new plays -
IN BASILDON by David Eldrige at the Royal Court
MOGADISHU by Vivienne Franzmann at the Lyric Hammersmith
HAUNTED CHILD by Joe Penhall at the Royal Court
LOVESONG by Abi Morgan at the Lyric Hammersmith
CONSTELLATIONS by Nick Payne at the Royal Court
nabokov’s MONEY at the Old Vic Tunnels
The nabokov Arts Club at BAC
The Angle Plays at The Bush
AND NO MORE SHALL WE PART by Tom Holloway at Hampstead Theatre
OUR NEW GIRL by Nancy Harris at The Bush
SEX WITH A STRANGER by Stefan Goloszewski at Trafalgar Studios
LAY DOWN YOUR CROSS by Nick Payne at Hampstead Theatre
GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Luke Norris at the Royal Court
SHIVERED by Philip Ridley at Southwark Playhouse
JERUSALEM by Jez Butterworth at The Apollo
MATHEMATICS OF THE HEART by Kefi Chadwick at Theatre 503
THE OH FUCK MOMENT by Hannah Jane Walker and Chris Thorpe at the Soho Theatre
SHALLOW SLUMBER by Chris Lee at the Soho Theatre
REASONS TO BE PRETTY by Neil La Bute at the Almeida
THE BEE By Hideki Noda and Colin Teevan at Soho Theatre.

What have you been seeing and what can’t we afford to miss in the coming months?