Theatre company curious directive returns with its first national tour in six years, presenting the new play Black Sheep, an intimate and Chekhovian portrait of land, legacy, and rural life.
Opening in Norwich from 14–18 October, Black Sheep will tour Salford, Bury St Edmunds, London, and Ipswich, with a London press night at Shoreditch Town Hall on 24 October.
Set between 2025 and 2050 on a windswept coastal farm in Norfolk, Black Sheep follows the Carter family as they face the end of their three-generation tenancy, environmental upheaval, and the grind of farm life.
Devised in collaboration with Norfolk farmers and originating from the National Theatre Generate Programme, Black Sheep explores food provenance, climate emergency, and the coded language of rural life, while delving into universal themes of love, grief, inheritance, and belonging.
Founder and Artistic Director Jack Lowe directs the production, with design by Linbury Prize winner Zoë Hurwitz, sound design by Irish Times Award-winner Helen Atkinson, lighting by Alex Fernandes, video by Ellie Thompson, and composition by Theo Whitworth.
The cast includes long-time collaborators Amanda Hadingue (Drive Your Plough, Complicité) and Sophie Steer (Mnemonic, Complicité), with further casting to be announced.
Jack Lowe says:
“Having grown up in rural Norfolk, next to a tenant farmer, Black Sheep does feel like my most personal work to date. We explored the idea during a Science Club (our public R&D process) and it’s clear that farming is also important to audience members across the UK. The acting company has two working farmers which has also brought a special provenance to the work. All three of us were in Whitehall on the recent marches around the family farming tax. Farmers are often misunderstood, and Black Sheep gives an authentic voice to themes of food security, the climate emergency and the embedded, coded language of rural life.”
The running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes including an interval.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
