Paines Plough and Theatre Royal Plymouth have announced a new play Sorry, You’re Not A Winner by Samuel Bailey. A coming of age tale navigating class, friendship and new surroundings, Sorry, You’re Not A Winner will debut at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 24 February for a limited 2 week run before touring around the UK, including Bristol and Newcastle with further dates to be announced.
Tickets for the Plymouth run are now available to members and will go on general sale from 29 October. Full information here can be found here.
Writer Samuel Bailey said: “For me, Sorry, You’re Not A Winner is a play about home and the conflict we might have about leaving. Especially if where you’re going looks nothing like where you’re from. It comes from a pretty personal place but I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling.”
Joint Paines Plough Artistic Directors Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner said: “We have been working with Sam on this play throughout the pandemic and we are so delighted to finally be able to bring it to audiences in Plymouth and on tour across the UK. Sam’s play is a sharp and powerful story about the complexity of friendship, loss and aspiration. Through Liam and Fletch’s eyes we discover what home means to us, how it influences us and who we leave behind when we seek to find ‘something better’ It is a brilliant piece of work about social mobility that will speak to so many of us and we are proud to be collaborating once again with Theatre Royal Plymouth.”
Liam and Fletch grew up together. Born on the same street. Best mates since primary. Inseparable. The only difference was while Fletch was getting suspended from school, Liam was studying. And now he’s going to Oxford. But with Liam gone, who’s going to keep Fletch out of trouble?
Sorry, You’re Not A Winner is a play about aspiration, social mobility and getting caught between classes. It asks; if ‘making it’ means leaving everything you know and everyone you love behind – what’s the point?
Samuel Bailey is a writer born in London and raised in the West Midlands. His play SHOOK won the Papatango Prize in 2019. After a sold-out run at the Southwark Playhouse, Papatango created a digital version of the play in collaboration with James Bobin. The film was a NY Times Critic’s Pick and won Samuel the Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Show Sky Arts Awards. Previously, Samuel has been part of Old Vic 12, the Orange Tree Writer’s Collective and a recipient of an MGCFutures bursary.
