Creative Director Rachel Tackley, Executive Director Tony Lankester and the whole team at the West London venue are pleased to announce details of the creative programme at Riverside Studios from March to May 2024, which includes four studio theatre productions, new monthly spoken word and comedy improv events, and a free public art exhibition.
From 13 – 24 March, Murmuration Studios and Resonate Film & Theatre present drama and winner of the Steward Parker Award, The Good Father by Christian O’Reilly, directed by Mark Fitzgerald, transferring direct from a sell-out season in Dublin.
Starring Tony Doyle and Sarah Noll, the show follows an unlikely relationship between two lonely strangers on a journey of love, loss, and redemption—aided by a script which ‘…hovers between tragedy and comedy’ (VARIETY).
The world premiere of Seal Boy from Evol Productions will run 2 – 7 April is directed by Sean Turner (Play That goes Wrong, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Gatehouse Theatre) and renders Ken Weizman’s mythic and fantastical story of the relationship between a mother and her unconventional child.
Continuing the theme of unconventional love in April, Aaron Thakar’s Artificially Yours, directed by Hannah McLeod, opens for an exclusive two-week run starring Leslie Ash (Men Behaving Badly, Quadrophenia) and Tyger Drew-Honey (Outnumbered, Cuckoo).
Exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence in people’s personal lives, the play runs from 9 – 25 April and follows three couples who allow an AI relationship therapy device into their homes and then experience the ‘hilarious and disturbing consequences’.
Closing the spring theatre season, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh present This is Memorial Device , based on the book by David Keenan, from 23 April – 11 May.
Adapted and directed by Graham Eatough and starring Paul Higgins (The Thick of It, Line of Duty), the show arrives at Riverside Studios following a sold-out, Fringe-First winning run at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
With music by Stephen McRobbie (The Pastels) and Gavin Thomson, the show follows the fictional history of 1980s Airdrie’s mysterious, post-punk legends—described as “A psychoactive hymn to the power of saying yes to experience.” (The Herald).
New Regular Performance Events
Also launching this spring–and the latest additions to a growing programme of community arts and performance events including the popular ‘Live Next To the Apollo’ comedy series–the venue will host two monthly platforms:
Riverside Rhyme, an ‘open-mic’ for spoken word hosted by London-based poet Kid Anansi, will run on the last Wednesday of the month with regular guest artists.
On one Thursday each month, High Dive Improv presents unscripted sketches, characters and from seasoned improvisers hosted by improv performer Rhys collier (Boom Chicago, The Free Association, Hoopla Improv).
Art at Riverside Studios
To coincide with its spring theatre season, Riverside Studios has also opened a new exhibition of artistic work, free to the public.
The displays—comprised of textile art that highlights social issues and especially those affecting women—will feature works from Holly Searle, ‘The Subversive Stitcher’, whose series of ‘Subverted Vintage Tea Towels’ were originated as a response to her own experience with breast cancer.
Commenting on the vintage tea towel concept, Searle said:
“Each one of them deals with an issue that is prevalent in society. I have subverted the initial meaning of the tea towel with an overlaid statement to create a different perspective.”
As with its previous exhibition, ‘Regeneration at Riverside’–which marked the venue’s long association with the BBC’s Dr Who—the Studios will be displaying Searle’s works for public viewing across its collection of front-of-house spaces, including the spacious atrium and open-plan foyer adjoining the Box Office and the Riverside Bar & Restaurant. The exhibition is free to view and wheelchair accessible.
Rachel Tackley, Artistic Director of Riverside Studios, says “Following the wildly popular Ulster American over Christmas and the New Year, Riverside continues to attract compelling productions and talented casts from around the world. These shows celebrate cultural icons, tackle contemporary issues, and examine relationships in all their forms.
Riverside Studios has a history of embracing different art forms, but I am not sure we have ever celebrated tea towels! Holly’s subversion of the humble kitchen essential makes for an original, challenging and thought-provoking installation which is a joy to behold.”
