Paines Plough today announce that Miriam Battye’s Strategic Love Play, a co-production with Soho Theatre and Belgrade Theatre in association with Landmark Theatres, will tour the UK this Autumn from 6 September – 21 October following a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of the Roundabout @ Summerhall season.
Directed by co-Artistic Director Katie Posner, Miriam Battye’s Strategic Love Play takes place on an awkward first date, speaking uncomfortable truths about modern dating and romance with acid wit. Letty Thomas and Archie Backhouse star in the production, which has a press night on 7 August at Roundabout @ Summerhall, and 7 September at Soho Theatre.
So they’ve both swiped right. Now they’re meeting for the first time. Facing each other. As if that’s a normal thing to do. But she’s being uncomfortable, and he’s a total bore. The vibe is horrific and the banter is even worse. But something is keeping them in their seats. Something is making them stay. Welcome to your hot date.
Writer Miriam Battye said: “A first date is a fascinating place for a play. There’s simultaneously massive stakes and no stakes at all, depending on how you will it. It’s brutal and it’s trivial in equal measure. There’s a lot of theory and analysis and assistance swirling around the project of coupledom. But at the end of the day, it starts, or it ends, with two people sitting across from each other with no guidance. We’re all alone out here. We always have to do that bit. I wanted to write about that bit.
Co-Artistic Director at Paines Plough Katie Posner said: “Miriam writes with a razorblade, with so much wit and brutality. We have been huge fans of her work since the Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2020, where she made the finalist list, and we’re so pleased to have this opportunity now to take her new play Strategic Love Play and share it around the country. The play is a sharp, funny takedown of modern dating culture and what it means to be single in 2023. I can’t wait to get started with this fantastic team, and I can’t wait for you to see it. Grab a couple of pints and bring a date. It’s going to be a wild ride.”
Strategic Love Play will preview at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, before a full run at Roundabout @ Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before touring the UK including London, Newcastle, Peterborough, Colchester and Canterbury.
The production will feature Set and Costume Design by Rhys Jarman, Lighting Design by Rajiv Pattani, Sound Design by Beth Duke, Intimacy Direction by Robbie Taylor Hunt, Movement Direction by Gabrielle Nimo, Dramaturgy by Gillian Greer and the Casting Director is Jacob Sparrow. The Production Manager will be Josephine Tremelling and the Company Stage Manager will be Simon Perkins.
