Park Theatre today announce their new January – June 2019 season. Featuring seven world and four UK/European premieres, thirteen productions include an array of new plays from celebrated writers, new work developed through Park Theatre’s Script Accelerator programme and scripts based on true stories and personal accounts.
Artistic Director Jez Bond says: “With a season that includes British, American, French, Danish and Vietnamese playwrights, I’m excited to announce an eclectic season of predominantly new writing that promises something for everyone.”
The world premiere of historical drama Rosenbaum’s Rescue by A. Bodin Saphir opens the new Park200 season, as the true mystery of how over 7,000 Danish Jews managed to evade the Nazi peril in WWII is explored through the stories of two childhood friends.
Following a critically acclaimed run at the Public Theater in New York, Martin Sherman’s Gently Down The Stream celebrates and mourns the men and women who led the way for marital equality, directed by Sean Mathias (No Man’s Land). Leading actor and comedian Miles Jupp stars in The Life I Lead, filling in the blanks behind the well-known face of Walt Disney’s favourite English gent, David Tomlinson.
Parisian playwright Alexis Michalik’s Intra Muros follows, as ageing thespian Richard prepares to direct his first theatre class inside a maximum-security prison, assisted by his ex-wife and an inexperienced social worker. Jonathan Maitland returns to Park Theatre with The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson, in a timely comedy drama navigating the mind of one of the most divisive politicians of our time. Napoli, Brooklyn closes the Park200 season, in a family drama set in 1960 New York, as three Italian American sisters become torn between their heritage and their changing neighbourhood.
The Dame by Katie Duncan commences the new Park90 season, as former Blue Peter presenter and actor Peter Duncan stars as a seasoned Pantomime Dame who returns to his Northern roots. Based on true events, Tom Wright’s comedy My Dad’s Gap Year follows, as a father in mid-life freefall takes his repressed, gay, teenage son on a wild adventure to Thailand. A male comedian struggling with depression is fighting his own war in jet-black comedy We’re Staying Right Here.
Poignant love story Cry Havoc explores the relationship between the Western world and the Islamic Middle East through two men asking if love can bridge the divide. Modern historical satire Hell Yes I’m Tough Enough comes next, following a fictionalised pre-Brexit election circuit with a look at the pantomime of British politics. Exploding stereotypes associated with the elderly, Beneath The Blue Rinse is a high octane comedy about a feisty 75-year-old who takes a con artist hostage. Concluding the Park90 season, Tuyen Do’s family saga Summer Rolls follows the dual journey of a second-generation Vietnamese woman pursuing prosperity, anchored by her war-torn family’s heritage.
