Park Theatre has announced their new July – December 2018 season. Featuring a mix of new and existing writing, the season includes six World Premieres, one UK Premiere, three celebrated revivals and a brace of homegrown productions, two of which have been developed through Park Theatre’s Script Accelerator programme.
The world premiere of black comedy End Of The Pier by Danny Robins opens the new season in PARK200, as Les Dennis stars alongside Blake Harrison, Nitin Ganatra and Tala Gouveia as a former comedy presenter and national treasure thrust back into the limelight, at the centre of a media frenzy.
A revival of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice follows, with the beloved story of a timid but brilliant singer led by real life mother and daughter Sally George and Rafaella Hutchinson. Karen Archer stars as a brilliant neurologist studying dementia who develops the condition herself, in the world premiere of psychological thriller The Other Place. Joanna Murray-Smith’s unflinching portrait of what happens when a secure marriage suddenly stalls comes next, in a revival of Honour.
Park Theatre also provides the Shakespeare Schools Foundation a platform on the main stage, with a series of unique abridged Shakespeare productions by local schools in Shakespeare Schools Festival. A revival of J.M. Barrie’s original 1904 play of Peter Pan closes the PARK200 season, as the family favourite from Neverland takes flight on stage.
Alkaline by Stephanie Martin commences the new PARK90 season, in a home-grown production from Park Theatre’s Script Accelerator programme about a woman who converts to Islam for her soon to be husband, and the effects this has on her relationship with her best friend. The world premiere of Spiral tells the story of two troubled women, exploring issues surrounding teen runaways, abuse and bullying.
Distance follows, with the only male-directed play in PARK90’s season shining a light on male depression and suicide (the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK) with the story of Stephen: a man trying to make sense of his world. During Black History Month, Bullet Hole takes a stark look at female genital mutilation through the eyes of three Londoners, as their different cultures and backgrounds come together.
A Pupil follows the story of Simona, a disgraced former violinist preparing to end her life, who is persuaded to tutor an aspiring musician, throwing her plans into disarray. Ending the season is Dialektikon, which follows the story of Miranda as she delves into the underworlds.
Artistic Director Jez Bond says: “I’m excited to be presenting a season which includes two in-house shows in Park200, and two shows that we’ve supported through our Script Accelerator programme in Park90 – where we’ll be exploring the sometimes challenging, but wonderfully told, stories about our mental health and wellbeing. It’s heartening to be able to present so many plays which at their heart are simply wonderful, engaging stories which deal with many themes – race, mental health, dementia, FGM – that are so pertinent in today’s society. We’ve further increased our range of access performances, we’ve added Monday evening shows and we’ve created more dynamic ticket pricing, with three bands, and lower priced tickets across certain performances to balance a small increase at the top end.”
In response to customer demand, Park Theatre have also introduced Monday performances across a majority of shows in the new season and introduced a new Park200 pricing structure that includes a wider range of pricing with a new band C rate and a single access concession.
