The Space has announced the shows that will be coming to the venue from July to October 2022. Another exciting blend of fresh new talent and emerging theatre-makers serving up an array of theatrical styles, topics and voices. The Space is continuing to offer live-streamed and on demand digital versions of our programme for those unable to make it to the Space in person.
In-house company, Space Productions, returns with David’s Play, a backstage comedy created with and starring local resident, David Grindley, who has cerebral palsy. Artistic Director Adam Hemming says, “David has been a fixture at the Space for a long time, he’s been involved in so many aspects of what we do and this is the 2nd time we’ve collaborated with him on a new show. This time round, we’re getting the chance to showcase David’s wicked sense of humour and our Literary Manager, Mike Carter, is doing a fantastic job writing the script based on our R and D earlier this year.”
The Launchpad Award is a prize given by the Space to a graduating company from East 15’s Contemporary Theatre course each year. The 3rd winners are Thistle & Rose who will receive a package of support and a run of their bold, crisply comedic show Post Sex Spagbol. Two other shows, presented at the DEBUT festival are also programmed in this season – Dead Dog theatre’s film noir farce, Ruben and SwanBite’s modern fairy tale, Prisms. Less recent East 15 graduates, Sisu’s new show, Our Field in Twilight is inspired by writer/director Vilma Kitula’s grandmother.
Grandparents also provide the inspiration for Katla Theatre’s Mary and Mietek, which draws parallels between genuine love letters from 1945 and a present-day Brexit-challenged relationship. An early version of the show won the London Pub Theatres Standing Ovation award in 2021. Romantic stories continue in Inyoung Lee’s Surviving Strangers, which portrays the challenges of an intercultural relationship during a quarantine, and in Fury Entertainment’s Des Fleurs intricate LGBTQIA+ play about Alzheimer’s, bereavement and identity.
Comedic drama abounds in Zuggernaut’s collaboration with writer/performer Elin Doyle, Guinea Pigs, a coming-of-age tale which highlights the plight of Britain’s forgotten nuclear test veterans, whilst newer technology is featured in Abeille Theatre’s exploration of identity ownership, Cookie Jar.
Thiasos Theatre Company return to the Space with another gem from Ancient Greece, following their 5-star run of Ploutos in 2020. Euripides’ Cyclops, the only surviving satyr play, receives their trademark song, dance and earthy humour treatment. Puro Caos also use the Greeks for inspiration as their Muses attempt to begin careers in the arts industry, a surreal and absurd fight against the patriarchal powers that be.
Literary greats take to the stage in Prudencia Productions’ The Brontës, the European premiere of this New York originated heartfelt musical. Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, provides the stimulus for Different Theatre’s The Last by award-winning writer Sam Chittenden. This one-woman adaptation depicts a world wracked by a past pandemic and an imagined future one.
Another one-woman show, Snowflake, sees alternative storyteller and clown, Hanna Winter, deal with fractured family dynamics in a quirky and hilarious way. Overtone Theatre’s Siblings is an original translation of the work of Cuban playwright José Triana. It darkly explores family, performance and murder in a tale set in an old abandoned theatre. Writer/composer Nat Norland deploys lyrical storytelling, fragile image-making and meticulous sound in Dreamsick, a nocturne of memories, dreams and visions.
Following interviews with Julia Sowerbutts, John Berry, Maya Goldstein and Charis Ainslie, our podcast, Space Chats, will return for a second season, as we delve into the backgrounds, inspirations and creative processes of the wide variety of theatre-makers involved in this season.
