TICKETS ON SALE NOW HERE
Phil Bartlett, the Artistic
Director of The Hope Theatre, today announces details of the theatre’s
summer 2022 season, including five main productions running from June to
September, the continuation of the theatre’s Sunday and Monday two-night
programme, and a selection of shows encompassing new writing, drama, comedy and
performance art as part of the CAMDEN FRINGE during August.
The season kicks off with the world-premiere of HEN, a surreal comedy about two flatmates who must keep a chicken
alive for a year in order to inherit a vast fortune. Hen is written by
Josh Husselbee and has been shortlisted for the New Diorama & Underbelly
Untapped Award 2022.
Also premiering at the Hope this summer, HAND OF GOD is raucous garage-music gig-theatre about men’s mental health and
the worst five-a-side football team in Birmingham. The debut production from
TECTUM Theatre, Hand of God was originally programmed for this year’s
cancelled Vault Festival.
OH! SUBURBIA! is a one-man avant-garde theatrical revue from award-winning
performer, musician and raconteur Bob Karper. Packed full of songs, stories and
film, this unique interrogation of suburban life features an audio cast of UK
seniors and is equal parts tongue-in-cheek and profound.
2022 marks 35 years since Princess Diana opened the first HIV/AIDS
unit in the United Kingdom, and Bren Gosling’s play MOMENT OF GRACE tells the story of her visit to the unit and how it affected some
of the people she met that day. The production, which is supported by the
National HIV Story Trust, will see the return of matinee performances to the
Hope Theatre, and the run overlaps with this year’s London Pride celebrations
in July.
Closing the summer season is ANGEL, Torch Theatre’s
internationally-acclaimed production of Henry Naylor’s play about a Kurdish
woman who defended her town against Isis fighters, allegedly killing hundreds,
and subsequently became an internet sensation.
The theatre also continues its popular Sunday-Monday programme of two-night
runs, including ROAD TO NOWHERE, a dazzling comedy about a queer film-making collective on a
misjudged road-trip, which comes to the Hope following sold-out performances at
the Bread and Roses. Also in the Sunday-Monday programme are LETTERS TO MY DEAD MOTHER
and PERIOD DRAMAS.
Phil Bartlett said: ‘I’m
delighted by the range and ambition of the productions in our summer season,
which is a testament to the boldness and brilliance of the many theatre-makers
involved. The Hope remains the little theatre with big ideas, and I can’t wait
to experience these productions with audiences over the coming months.’
Tickets are now on-sale via the Hope Theatre website.
HEN
Written by Josh Husselbee, directed by Sarah Fox
World premiere
Shortlisted for the New Diorama & Underbelly Untapped Award
2022
7 – 15 June @ 7:45pm
Press Night: 9 June @ 7:45pm
Two
privileged, East London-dwelling flatmates have to keep a chicken alive for a
year in order to inherit a large fortune. Hen is a percussive, surreal
examination of intergenerational trauma, addiction and the madness of grief.
Crucially, it is also a comedy about an invisible chicken. As the challenges of
living with a barn animal become more and more unbearable, Alister and Andrew
have to ask themselves what they are willing to forgo of their sanity for the sake
of money.
OH! SUBURBIA!
Directed by Gary Winters from Lone Twin and performed and written
by Bob Karper (Herald Angel, Live Theatre New Writing and Anti-Fest Best of the
Best Award winner)
17 – 25 June @ 7:45pm
Press Night: 17 June @ 7:45pm
Oh! Suburbia! is a One-Man Avant-Garde Theatrical
Revue from multi-award-winning performer/raconteur/musician Bob Karper. Bob’s
sheltered, hum-drum suburb in the American Midwest transforms into a rollicking
number-packed show full of surprising, funny, intriguing stories, songs and
film. Part tongue-in-cheek, part profound, and all true, with an audio cast of
UK seniors considering the lofty questions of life: Where are the suburbs of
our consciousness? The suburbs of ourselves? and Is there any greater injustice
than getting blamed for something your sisters did?
MOMENT OF GRACE
Written by Bren Gosling, directed by Su Gilroy
Coincides with London Pride 2022 on 2 July
28 June – 16 July
Tues – Sat @ 7:45pm, Sat 9 & Sat 16 @ 4pm
Press Night: 30 June @ 7:45pm
Based on personal testimonies, Moment Of Grace by
Bren Gosling (Arcola, Pleasance, New Wimbledon Studio, Bloomsbury Studio, RADA
Studio and King’s Head Theatre) tells the story of the famous visit by Diana
Princess of Wales to Britain’s first AIDS Unit and its impact on three people:
Andrew, a patient, Jude, a nurse, and Donnie, a fireman estranged from his son.
AIDS was taboo. Even being seen to work on this ward could cost you everything.
Worldwide interest, news crews and a televised interview followed. To change
public misconceptions, would you have risked it? This one act play showcased to
acclaim at Bloomsbury Festival 2018 and in 2020 won the NO: INTERMISSION
International One Act Play Competition. A filmed version was streamed from The
Actors Centre, and this was awarded an ONCOM Commendation by The Offies.
HAND OF GOD
Written by Sam Butters, Lyrics and Direction by
Charlie Derrar and Joseph Siddle, Music by Charlie O’Connor. The debut play
from TECTUM Theatre
World premiere – originally programmed for Vault
Festival 2022
19 – 30 July @ 7:45pm
Press Night: 21 July @ 7:45pm
TECTUM Theatre & Brutal Snake Productions are
proud to present the raucous, electric world-premiere of Hand of God, a piece
of gig-theatre about the worst five-aside football team in Birmingham. With
music inspired by old-school garage, Hand of God follows the passionate
footballing wonder-kid Kieron who, devoted on winning, winds up captaining the
local drug dealers’ five-a-side team.
ANGEL
The Torch Theatre production. Directed by Peter Doran, designed by
Sean Crowley, performed by Yasemin Ă–zdemir.
30 August – 17 September @ 7:45pm
Press Night: 1 September @ 7:45pm
Angel is the legendary story
of Rehana; In 2014 Kurdish families were fleeing Kobane to avoid the inevitable
ISIS onslaught; Rehana stayed to
fight and defend her town; as a sniper, she allegedly killed more than 100 ISIS
fighters. When her story
came out, she became an internet sensation and a symbol of resistance against
Islamic State and dubbed the ‘Angel of Kobane’. Now, this legendary story comes
to the stage in Henry Naylor's award-winning play Angel. Angel, a one-woman show, is the
third story in Henry Naylor’s Arabian Nightmares trilogy and was first staged
to great acclaim at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016. Since then it has been
seen around the world to great critical acclaim, winning awards at many
international festivals. The Torch Theatre bring you their own production,
directed by Peter Doran, designed by Sean Crowley and featuring Yasemin Özdemir as the eponymous Angel. This is a hard-hitting
exploration of Angel’s story, during a time when the themes are very much still relevant and present in modern society.
LETTERS TO MY DEAD MOTHER
12 & 13 June @ 7:45pm
“People don’t feel
comfortable talking about death. People don’t know what to say. But that’s the
only time it feels real.” After losing her mum to cancer in March 2019, Ana
started writing her letters as a coping mechanism. The subject of these letters
would vary from random things that happened on her day, things that were going
through her head, to deep raw feelings she was experiencing after her mum’s departure. Reading back these letters, she realized they told
a story. Letters To My Dead Mother is a one-woman, auto-fictional show about
grief – its stages and the radically contrasting ways it manifests itself.
ROAD TO NOWHERE
19 & 20 June @ 7:45pm
‘Do you want to fuck me or be me?' 'Is there a difference?' As London
goes into lockdown 1, a queer filmmaking collective are on the verge of being
evicted from their London home. The only thing to do is clearly going on a
misjudged road trip to Paris to find the one successful movie-star they once
knew to convince him to help them, willing or not. Road To Nowhere is a
dazzling new comedy that questions what it means to create art without hope of
success. Told with a diverse group of characters and short films, Road To Nowhere presents the difficult time of artists struggling
through the pandemic with wicked humour and multimedia flair. Road To
Nowhere is Little Creatures Theatre’s first production, and comes to the
Hope Theatre after a sold-out run at the Bread & Roses Theatre in February
2022.
PERIOD DRAMAS
3 & 4 July @ 7:45pm
Have you ever wondered how people in the past dealt
with their periods? If Queen Victoria coasted* through her cramps? And what if
period dramas really were about... periods? Comedy, cabaret and tap collide in
this hilarious one-woman show, teaching the history you never learnt at school.
Armed with glitter, blood, some history books and an arsenal of embarrassing
stories, Heather is on a mission to push through the menstrual taboo and change
the way we think about bleeding. Audiences are invited to embrace themselves
fully, let loose and have a BLOODY good time! *Obviously she didn't. It was
1837.
The Hope Theatre is also
hosting a series of shows encompassing new writing,
drama, comedy and performance art as part of the CAMDEN FRINGE during August, including THE LAST WORD from 1 – 7 August, THE
IMPORTANCE OF BEING MARTHA from
8 – 12 August, WHAT
MAKES A BODY TERRIFYING? from
15 – 18 August, THESE
CRATERS OF OURS from
19 – 21 August, CRONE from 19 – 21 August and BLUE BALLOONS
PINK from 22 – 27 August. More
Camden Fringe programming will be announced soon.
Opening in 2013, The Hope Theatre was originally a
sister theatre of Islington’s King’s Head Theatre, renovated from a function
room above the famous Hope & Anchor pub and music venue into a black box
studio theatre. The Hope Theatre has transferred two productions to
the West End (Ushers to the Charing Cross Theatre and the Snoo Wilson's Lovesong
Of The Electric Bear to The Arts) and has been home to many world
premieres. It also housed the professional world premiere of Joe Orton’s Fred
And Madge.
Although The Hope Theatre has received no regular public subsidy since its 2013
opening, it was the first Off West End venue to open with a house agreement
with Equity. This ensures a legal wage for all actors, stage managers and box
office staff working at the theatre.
Phil
Bartlett was appointed Artistic Director in September 2021, and his first
in-house production will be announced later this year.
Artistic Director: Phil Bartlett
Associate Director: Toby Hampton
Technical Manager: Laurel Marks
Patron: Paul Clayton
To find out more about the Hope Theatre,
visit www.thehopetheatre.com.
The Hope Theatre
207 Upper Street, London, N1 1RL
Twitter: @thehopetheatre
Facebook: /thehopetheatre
Instagram: /thehopetheatre