Written by award-winning journalist Judi Bevan, Too Many Books is a thought-provoking, debut play that explores the complexities of international adoption and the journey of parents seeking to create a family. Heading to Highgate’s Upstairs at The Gatehouse, this intimate production sheds light on issues of identity, cultural displacement and the emotional sacrifices parents make.
Set in the 1990s, Too Many Books follows Julia and Daniel as they navigate bureaucratic obstacles, cultural differences and pressures on their relationship whilst adopting a child from China. As they face stringent legislation surrounding adoption at that time, the couple is subject to prejudiced views about prospective adoptive parents. Informed by lived experiences, the play spans two years, from their initial assessment through to the local council tribunal and ending with their trip to China to take home their adoptive child.
Writer Judi Bevan comments, I am thrilled to be bringing my first full-length play to Upstairs at the Gatehouse. The issue it covers is intensely personal to me and will be for many other adopters, would-be adopters and those people touched by adoption.
The core theme of Too Many Books centres around the desire to build a family, in which the two protagonists feel they face a wall of prejudice against this choice. Set in the 1990s, during the period of China’s one-child policy, when many Europeans and Americans were turning to overseas adoption, the play asks audiences to consider how far the adoption system addresses the needs of children when so many remain in institutional care.
Actor, writer and director Christopher Hunter (RSC; Pablo Saura’s Love Lost, Toby Reisz’s Nothing To Lose, Sherlock, BBC) will direct the production for Upstairs at The Gatehouse in 2025. His previous work has included producing and starring in Patrick Süskind’s The Double Bass and writing an adaption of Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis into a one-man play, received in London, Verona and Edinburgh to great critical acclaim.
Too Many Books will run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse Thursday 26th February – 16th March 2025
