Want the Moon Theatre has announced a new production of An Intervention by Mike Bartlett, which will run at Riverside Studios from 11 January to 14 February 2027.
Twelve years after its premiere in Watford, Bartlett’s acclaimed two-hander returns in a revival directed by JMK Award winner Adam Karim. The production revisits the playwright’s exploration of friendship, political responsibility and personal accountability, themes that continue to resonate in today’s world.
An Intervention follows two close friends whose relationship is tested when they find themselves taking opposing positions on Western intervention in the Arab world in 2003. This new staging seeks to re-examine the play through the perspectives of Global Majority characters, bringing fresh insight to Bartlett’s original text.
Karim, whose previous directing credits include Guards at the Taj, said:
“This revival couldn’t be more timely as once again Western interventions in the ‘Middle East’ throw the world into jeopardy.
Reviving Mike’s play not only reveals its grimly prophetic nature, but is remarkable because it tackles these huge events through a very human experience. It anticipates both cancel culture and the culture wars we find ourselves amidst.
I don’t believe it has been staged in the UK by Global Majority artists before, and approaching this text with fresh eyes has revealed deep new layers in a relationship that is as knotty, heart wrenching & at times funny as the world events surrounding it.
I hope audiences leave moved, but hopeful – this is a piece that responds to the incessant broadcast of the brutalisation of brown bodies over the last 20 years, but it’s also about solidarity and the redemption unexpected kindness provides that helps us get through it all.”
Casting for the production is yet to be announced.
The creative team includes writer Mike Bartlett, director Adam Karim, lighting designer Holly Ellis, movement director Kane Husbands, producers Dan Sareen and Ellen Harris for Want the Moon Theatre, production manager Thomas J Quine, and company stage manager Theodor Spiridon.
An Intervention will play performances Monday to Saturday at 7pm, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm and Sunday performances at 2pm. Press night is scheduled for 18 January 2027.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
