Following a number of successful London previews and a multiple five-star, award-winning run at Edinburgh Fringe 2019, Pick of Pulse Festival, Theatre Weekly’s Best Fringe Debut and Stella Wilkie Award winners Paper Mug Theatre have announced a London transfer of A Partnership.
Rory Thomas-Howes’ A Partnership, directed by Josh Tucker and starring two LGBTQ+ performers, is a real-time two-hander examining internalised homophobia. Making its first London appearance post-Edinburgh Fringe, this tragi-comic play follows Ally (Ben Hadfield) and Zach (Rory Thomas-Howes) in real-time – the hour before Ally’s 30th birthday – finally confronting the issues and lies in their nine-year relationship. Zach’s internalised homophobia highlights the strain modern gay men are under to conform to society’s ideal relationship, and the pitfalls of trying to be ‘normal.’
Examining the mundane, morose and magnificent aspects of love between two men in a non-stop conversation with no scene breaks or time-jumps, A Partnership is a tribute to the importance of honesty in any relationship.
Originally written and performed at Debut Festival 2019, A Partnership has been shortlisted for the Sit-Up Award 2019, longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize 2019, featured on The List’s Top 10 LGBTQ+ Shows for Edinburgh Fringe and is produced by the award-winning Paper Mug Theatre.
Paper Mug Theatre was formed in 2019 by three graduates of East 15’s BA Acting and Contemporary Theatre. Rory Thomas-Howes won the Jack Petchey Award and the Lilian Baylis Award while at East 15, and was selected to represent the school on the Globe stage at the Sam Wanamaker Festival. Sebastian Gardner won the John Gielgud Award, and is currently assistant director on Meat Lab’s Pits. Josh Tucker has recently completed a UK tour of Drip: The Musical, a one-man show by Tom Wells and Matthew Robbins.
A Partnership is at Theatre503 1st – 5th October 2019.
