Playwrought Full Programme

Arcola Theatre Production Company. Company Number: 5242988. Charity Number: 1108613

24 Ashwin StLondon E8 3DL0207 503 1645

Political. Personal. Powerful. Playwrights. PlayWROUGHT is a week long new writing festival taking place at Arcola Theatre from the 20th-25th January 2014. Across the week, twelve exciting new plays will premier as a series of rehearsed readings. Drawn from across the Arcola community, these twelve playwrights vary in age and experience, but each have a unique voice that deserves to be heard.

PlayWROUGHT was born out of a frustration at not being able to work with as many new writers as we would like. Without a literary department, we are unable to be as active as we would like, particularly in developing those plays which show real promise and would benefit from time, space, support and a platform to share their work.

The Festival is a culmination of this unique development process and aims to celebrate and support new and emerging talent, regardless of age, by providing these twelve playwrights with the training, space and support in which to develop their ideas.

We are delighted to present twelve new daring, original and important voices.

The programme at a glance…

Monday 7pm BROKEN WATER by Michèle Winstanley

Director: Phil Davis Cast: Sheila Reid, Pippa Hayward, Aimee-Ffion Edwards and Jim Fish

9pm BEVAN’S BABY by Rosie Dastgir Director: Maud Dromgoole Cast: to be announced

Tuesday 7pm ST GEORGE’S DAY by Georgina Burns

Director: Neil Sheppeck Cast: Mark Leeson, Jack Bence, Sarah Winn, Michael Shon, Jessica Symonds

9pm CLARION by Mark Jagasia


Director: Kay Michael Cast: Paul Leonard, Bernice Stegers, Will Barton, Simon Dobson, Daniel West, Danusia Samal.

Wednesday 7pm THE SCHVITZ by Nick Cassenbaum

Director: Matthew Evans Cast: Allan Corduner, Mark Fleischmann, Danny Braverman, Jack Farthing

9pm OUT by Erol Hunt

Director: Erol Hunt Producer: Lara Doree Cast: Justin Segal, Martin Behrman, Ruth Rogers, Rayanna Dibs,

Tom Brittney, David Wayman Thursday 7pm WHAT FLOWS PAST THE BALTIC by Liam Shannon

Director: Neil Bull Cast: Nathan Lang

more to be announced 9pm LAND’S END by Chloe Todd Fordham

Director: Andy Sava Cast: Matt Ingram Julia Watson

Friday 7pm SHERRY AND NARCOTICS by Nina-Marie Gardner

Director: Yael Shavit Cast: Lucy Ellinson

Michael Colgan 9pm CRACKED by Mark Sands

Director: Kate Saxon Cast: Paul Ready, Michelle Terry

Saturday 7pm THE LAST SIGN OF LIFE by Henry Martin

Director: Cathal Cleary Cast: Justine Mitchell

9pm HELLO HELLO by Jenny Williams

Director: Alice Williams Cast: Toby Manley, Natasha Jacobs

More details


BROKEN WATER by Michèle Winstanley Monday 20th January at 7pm Living on the same London street three ordinary women with three different perspectives tell a similar story. Between the ‘rock’ of having children and the ‘hard place’ of not having them, lies a kind of love that can make you lose your bearings. Like water, children are fluid, burdensome, delicious, impossible to hold on to, and difficult to be without.Using three interwoven talking heads, BROKEN WATER is a moving story about life, love and loss. Michèle Winstanley is a former actor, turned playwright. In 1999 her first play, KEEPERS, was selected by Hampstead Theatre for inclusion in their festival of play readings by new writers, called A Small Drop of Ink. This led to a full production there in 2000, and a commission from Soho Theatre for her second play, EDGING GENTLY FORWARDS (via dramaturg and writer Paul Sirett). Michèle also has experience of assistant-directing; she helped Ken McClymont, former Artistic Director of the Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington, on two of his productions there in the late 1990s. Over the past few years Michèle has been re-training as a sign language interpreter. This new work has enabled her to continue writing. BROKEN WATER is Michèle's third play. Director Phil Davis Cast Sheila Reid Pippa Hayward Aimee-Ffion Edwards Jim Fish BEVAN’S BABY by Rosie Dastgir Monday 20th January at 9pm What if Nye Bevan, the architect of the National Health Service, were to come back from the grave and inspect the institution he founded? Would he be horrified, or sanguine? Set in a London hospital, the play offers a surreal, black comic glimpse at the modern day NHS in a theatrical context, pitting its historic aspiration against a selection of contemporary stories. These stories are based on individuals’ testimonies, gleaned or recorded, through interview, documentary research, anecdote or casual conversation. The play offers an antidote to the world of medical soap opera, and the unmediated world of reality TV. Rosie Dastgir was born and brought up in Bedford, England, to a Pakistani father and an English mother, and educated at Oxford and New York universities. In 2005, she moved from east London to Brooklyn, New York for seven years, where she wrote her first novel, A Small Fortune, (Quercus UK, Penguin USA). Her work has been published in the New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph’s Stella Magazine, Prospect.com. Rosie has spoken on panels at several festivals, including the London South Asian Literature Festival, the WriteIdea Festival, and Open Davos, in Switzerland. Her first radio play, Love at Last Sight, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in February. She lives in London Fields.


Director Maud Dromgoole Cast to be announced ST GEORGE’S DAY by Georgina Burns Tuesday 21st January at 7pm Shona lives with her game show-obsessed mother on a rundown North London council estate where food, jobs and motivation are in short supply and life is monotonous, until a patriotic businessman arrives on the estate with pots of cash. He’s looking for patriotic talents to showcase at a St George's Day show and there's big money for the winner. A talented digger, multi-tasker, and screamer are all vying for the prize, but Shona has been told she has talents of her own. Will she embrace them and the life-changing financial rewards they could bring? Georgina is from London and works as a psychotherapist in the NHS. She has had a number of plays performed in London over the last four years. (Theatre503, Riverside Studios, Hampstead, New Diorama Theatre.) She has been shortlisted for the International Student Playscript Competition 2010 and the Papatango prize 2011. Moreover, she was selected for the Jerwood/Arvon mentoring scheme 2011/12, which led to her being mentored by Nell Leyshon for a year. During this year she wrote St George’s Day. Director Neil Sheppeck Cast Mark Leeson, Jack Bence, Sarah Winn, Michael Shon, Jessica Symonds CLARION by Mark Jagasia Tuesday 21st January at 9pm A once famous columnist on a failing right wing newspaper discovers her editor’s anti-immigration campaign has had appalling real world consequences. She decides to take action, but events spin out of her control. Over the course of one terrible day the quotidian farce of life on an incompetent newspaper twists into something nightmarish. Clarion is a dark and timely state of the nation play which is as funny as it is powerfully shocking. Mark is a former journalist who has written for, among others, the Evening Standard, Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror and Daily Express. He left the industry in 2008. He pitched, and was commissioned to write, a Channel 4 drama series Beasts of England in 2009. He has since written two feature screenplays. Clarion is his first stage play.

Director Kay Michael Cast Paul Leonard, Bernice Stegers, Will Barton, Simon Dobson, Daniel West, Danusia Samal THE SCHVITZ by Nick Cassenbaum Wednesday 22nd January at 7pm


Here in the baths we are all the same. There could be taxi’s, mercs, rollers outside but in here we are all the same. Just naked men... Fancy a schmeiss? The Schvitz invites you into the world of an east end steam bath. Inside there are the Jewish men who go there every week. They go to moan, fight, reminisce, joke and most importantly touch. Joel arrives looking for a connection he has lost. He finds something else instead. Nick Cassenbaum has an MA in writing for performance from Goldsmiths and has just finished the young writers programme at the Royal Court. As well as writing, he is also a performer and theatre maker and is one half of the Take Stock Exchange, a company that makes work that aims to encourage community cohesion through participatory work. Nick is gearing up for his one person performance ‘Bubble Schmeisis’ which will be performed at RichMix in October, supported by Old Vic New Voices. He is also currently writing a new commission for Ardingly College to take to Edinburgh this Summer. Director Matthew Evans Cast Allan Corduner Mark Fleischmann Danny Braverman Jack Farthing OUT by Erol Hunt Wednesday 22nd January at 9pm Taking place over the course of a dinner party and in real time, a group of friends come together to celebrate a birthday but disturbing truths and dark secrets push relationships to their limits. You may think you know the difference between right and wrong, but when friendships are at stake nothing is simple. How do you judge the right course of action when your loyalties are divided and your judgement blurred? Erol studied media production at the University of Northumbria, specialising in screenwriting. He worked in the film industry for ten years in production and in this time produced six short films. He moved into writing full time three years ago and is developing a number of projects for film and television. Out is his first play. Director Erol Hunt Producer Lara Doree Cast Justin Segal Martin Behrman Ruth Rogers Rayanna Dibs Tom Brittney David Wayman WHAT FLOWS PAST THE BALTIC by Liam Shannon Thursday 23rd January at 7pm


When career disentangles your roots, where are you left if the fruits of your ambition start to wither? Set in Newcastle Upon Tyne, What Flows Past The Baltic is the story of three generations of one fragmented family over half a century. Embedded in the history of one particular city, the play presents a question for many who have found themselves emancipated yet estranged from the world of their ancestors; is the freedom that was earned for them worth its inheritance? Liam Shannon graduated from drama school in Manchester 1997. He has since worked as an actor, voice over artist and writer, and for the last ten years has been working for Discovery Channel as an on air continuity announcer. Liam holds an MA in Scriptwriting from Middlesex University and his short play F*ckbuddy was presented as a rehearsed reading in 2008, revived in December 2012. Director Neil Bull Cast Nathan Lang more to be announced LAND’S END by Chloe Todd Fordham Thursday 23rd January at 9pm 40-something year old Helen gets in a car with 17 year old Lee. They have never met in person before and they have nothing in common. They drive to the coast, on a mission to carry out something physically and emotionally impossible. But in doing so, they realize they have a lot more in common than they thought. But will this common ground bring them closer to or further from what they set out to achieve? Land’s End is a moving and personal road trip across age and distance. Chloe Todd Fordham has taken part in the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and has an MA in Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths. She works at Graeae Theatre Company and freelance as a dramaturg. Land’s End is her first full-length play. Director Andy Sava Cast Matt Ingram Julia Watson SHERRY & NARCOTICS by Nina-Marie Gardner Friday 24th January at 7pm Still reeling from the death of her father, Mary finds herself alone abroad, losing her grip on her tenuous sobriety—and then she meets Jake, a dreamy poet who reaches out to her on MySpace. What follows is a voyeuristic tale of emotional undoing as two lonely outsiders desperate to escape their fears and find happiness are brought together in a perfect storm of white lies, fantasy, addiction and denial.


Nina-Marie is a graduate of Yale University, she has worked as an actress in theatre, television and film in New York and Los Angeles. Her short stories, essays and reviews have been published in 3AM Magazine, The Fix, The Frisky, Flavorpill and the anthologies Bedford Square and 3AM London, New York, Paris. In May 2011 her debut novel Sherry & Narcotics was published by Future Fiction London. She has recently completed an MA in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of London and is currently working on her PhD. Sherry & Narcotics is her first play, and is based on her novel of the same name. Director Yael Shavit Cast Lucy Ellinson Michael Colgan CRACKED by Mark Sands Friday 24 th January at 9pm Cracked tells two parallel stories of eighteen year old Aimee and her ex-English teacher Jane whose lives are both changed by their encounter with Cocaine. On the plane back from Ibiza best friend Denise collapses and Aimee is left to face the consequences - the police, counselors and Denise’s parents, all demanding answers about suspected drug trafficking. Jane is trying to hold together a relationship with boyfriend, Rob, who has spent twelve months writing his first novel; a strain that sees Jane turning to old habits and Rob's old university rival. Cracked takes a social look at the drug industry. Mark Sands trained at East 15 Acting School and Warwick University. He has had several plays produced in London: Motherland (Jackson's Lane Theatre), Mermaids (Stratford Circus), Trade as part of the Celebs Trilogy (Old Red Lion Theatre), Inside Out as part of the Headstorms Trilogy (Etcetera Theatre), Reminiscence (Cockpit Theatre) and co-wrote Every Now and Then with Sally Grey for the reopening of Islington's Assembly Hall. Mark has had rehearsed public readings of two plays at Soho Theatre and took part in a BBC Writersroom Friday Headspace session for the development of a new TV script. Director Kate Saxon Cast Paul Ready, Michelle Terry THE LAST SIGN OF LIFE by Henry Martin Saturday 25th January at 7pm Ruth and Adrian prepare for the arrival of an enigmatic visitor in their holiday apartment in Spain. But Ruth and Adrian are not your typical holidaymakers. Adrian has stopped taking his medication. Ruth is checking his receipts. And both are ignoring the knocking at the door. The Last Sign of Life is the story of Ruth and Adrian told from end to beginning, showing the first moments they met, up until their shocking and cautionary trip to Spain. The Last Sign of Life asks the question: what are humans capable of when confronted with the good and bad of love.


Henry is an award winning playwright. His work has been shown at Theatre 503, The Roundhouse, Latitude Festival and Fishamble Theatre. He has also been involved in projects at the National Theatre, HighTide, Hampstead Theatre, and Central School of Speech and Drama. Forthcoming projects include an adaptation of The Man Who Would be King for Firstborn Theatre, and All the way to Albuquerque at The White Bear. Henry has been nominated for various awards including the Adopt a Playwright award. Perfect Pitch award, and Red Planet Prize. He is a contributor to House Magazine and has written and produced book-trailers for Phaidon Press Director Cathal Cleary Cast Justine Mitchell more to be announced HELLO HELLO by Jennifer Wiliams Saturday 25th January at 9pm Daniel and Josie meet and fall in love as idealistic 19 year olds at the dawn of a new millennium. Hello Hello explores four different outcomes, each set ten years after their first meeting, as the 29 year olds come to terms with the choices they have made and the lives they are living. This is an affecting and delicate portrayal of growing-up, regret and nostalgia and asks the question: ‘Would I have been happier if I’d chosen something else?’ Jennifer Williams attended the University of Sydney and the Actor’s Centre Australia and was a World Interplay 2009 delegate. Her one-woman show, All is Safe with a Lady Engaged was performed in 2009 in Sydney and at the 2010 National Jane Austen Festival. Her monologues have been performed with MKA (Melbourne), the National Theatre of Scotland, the Theatre Development Centre, Cork and published in an American monologue collection. Her play, Fishtail, won the 2011 Cork Arts Theatre’s new writing award, was shortlisted for the PJ O’Connor/RTE radio awards (Ireland) and the Ian Reed/ABC Radio Fellowship (Australia). Fishtail was also presented at the 2012 Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Alaska. She was co-writer and performer of No Matter Where You Go, There You Are at the 2011 Wexford and Melbourne Fringe Festivals; co-performer and co-creator of Hungry Tea and Secrets of the City at the 2012 and 2013 Cork Midsummer Festival; and spent three months as a reader and literary intern with Fishamble: the New Play Company in Dublin. Director Alice Williams Cast Toby Manley, Natasha Jacobs

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Playwrought Full Programme