The cast has been announced for the spring tour of Henry Madd’s autobiographical show Land of Lost Content, which commences with a week’s run at London’s Arcola Theatre.
A provocative, nostalgic insight into friendship and adolescence, Land of Lost Content is an empowering coming-of-age story about the trials of growing up in a small country town, and its ongoing effects on two estranged mates.
Joining Madd, who returns to star in his autobiographical work, will be Marc Benga as Jake. Benga received critical acclaim for his role as the titular character in Macbeth (Orange Tree Theatre, 2019) and has most recently appeared as Dauphin in Henry V (Storyhouse, 2019) and Roger Shears/understudy for Mr Thompson in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime (National Theatre, 2022).
Henry and Jake were two bored friends who grew up in Ludlow, a quiet country town where friendships were forged in failed adventures, bad habits, and damp raves, as they stumbled through adolescence looking for something to do. Then Henry moved away. Now he’s back, and there’s no enjoying a welcome home pint without facing up to the memories – and the people – he left behind. Welcome to a town where worlds are turned upside down in an instant, yet nothing seems to change.
Drawing on themes of mental health and substance abuse in rural areas, Land of Lost Content sheds light on the unique challenges small town life poses to relationships, through a funny yet moving blend of theatre and spoken word. Immersing audiences from all backgrounds in its microcosm, issues of youth mental health and addiction in rural areas are addressed through Henry and Jake’s complicated rekindling, as they navigate small town hardships – including unreliable buses – while life refuses to go to plan.
Henry Madd comments, Land of Lost Content is a frustrated love letter to my hometown. It’s about the messiness of old friendships that should probably end but won’t because they’re the only ones who know what it was really like to grow up where you did. This show champions rural voices, it demands that people pay attention to the darker side of life in a small town whilst celebrating the beauty of it. Too often rural characters are neglected from mainstream media – the characters in this show are real and relatable, they are based off the people I knew growing up and still know now.
One of the most gratifying things about this show has been the response of how many people have related to it no matter where they are from. There is a tendency for rural theatre to only play to rural audiences. Whilst it is important to bring this material to the audiences that may relate to it the most, I am committed to sharing these stories with a wider audience.
Land of Lost Content is designed by Donald Marshall (best known as RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 5 winner Ginger Johnson), with Sound Design by Munotida Chinyanga and Lighting Design by Matthew Swithinbank. Lauren Lambert-Moore (Far Out, Vault Festival/Clapham Omnibus) is joining the production as Co-Director for the UK Tour.
The show will begin its tour in London before visiting Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury, Norwich, Guildford, Oxford, Bristol, Leeds, Hereford, Birmingham, Bradford, York, and Falmouth.
