WHAT'S ON at THE HOPE THEATRE
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NEW SEASON OF WORK
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
13th - 24th October
£16/£18
7pm
‘That’s the thing, working here. You’re always in the middle, never quite settled. You’re always between places.’
The 9am train to Penzance is facing an unexpected delay.And for the passengers in carriage E, this is not the day for a holdup.
There’s a journalist chasing down a story. An actor preparing for a callback. A mechanic and a dentist with traffic-jammed schedules. And a young girl who’s just got to get home.
While they wait for an update, the group attempt to fill the hours with personal stories and crossword puzzles. But with every passing moment, their conversations seem to be stirring up increasingly disturbing memories for the on-board ticket inspector.
With something squirming in a carry-on, and an ocean view where the countryside should be, the idea that something isn’t quite right is becoming harder to ignore. The tide is coming in, and tension is rising. But you know the British – they’ll do anything to avoid a fuss.
The second play from writer/director Elise Simond and the team from THE MATCHBOX COMPANY, 'SPEAK OF THE DEVIL' is a one-act play that captures the strange paradox between wanting to mind your own business, and looking for a human connection.
RATBAG AND FRIENDS
25 October
RATBAG and FRIENDS is a charity fundraiser comedy night with a mixed bill of incredible comedians and clowns all coming together to raise money for Solace Women's Aid.
Line up includes: Alex Franklin, Ella The Great, Rosalie Minnitt, Kathy Maniura, Sapphire McIntosh and RATBAGis paragraph text. Click it or hit the Manage Text button to change the font, color, size, format, and more. To set up site-wide paragraph and title styles, go to Site Theme.
THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL
27 - 31 October
True crime meets gothic horror in this chilling story.
Olivia has more than a few reasons to disbelieve 'tales of the supernatural'. If she hears a story of a ghostly haunting, she will dig deeper until she finds a rational explanation.
So when she is given a tip-off to investigate the historic murder of Amelia Harbinger, by the Devil's Punchbowl in Norfolk, she thinks the truth will be easy to uncover. Are the grisly circumstances of Amelia's death the result of a freak animal attack? There's no way it could be the legendary demon dog Black Shuck... could it?
As Olivia peels back the layers on the case, she finds herself getting drawn in deeper than she should. When she tracks down and interviews Amelia's orphaned sons, she discovers that their family house was filled with secrets. Old ghosts are resurfacing, and before Olivia knows it, she finds that she cannot escape from this story.
The creature that killed Amelia is still out there... and ready to strike again.
MOVEMENT THERAPY
1st - 2nd Nov
£16/£18
7pm
“So. Why’re you doing tap?”
“The sex appeal.”
Movement Therapy is the debut stage play from Cold Plunge Productions. Written by Margot Pue, it is a new 60-minute comedy that explores how movement, specifically tap dance, can help people process grief and find community.
Fiona finds herself freshly and unexpectedly single, living in a flat she can’t afford without her ex, Jack, who got full custody of their shared friend group. All she has to do is move on, which is proving challenging since no one in her family wants to uninvite Jack from her brother’s wedding.
Her only solace is her weekly tap dance class - a hobby Jack never liked but now becomes a lifeline. It’s there she meets Ben, a drummer with two left feet and his own baggage to tap his way through.
Directed by Nell Lang and technical design by Isy Platt, Movement Therapy traverses the unsteady landscape of grief with humour, hope, and the absurdity of tap dance.
Praise for previous work:
COVENANT, Edinburgh Fringe, 2024:
“the actors are supremely talented, but together they are a synergistic force of nature”- *****, London Theatre Doc
COMING TO CONCLUSIONS
3 - 7 November
"Sometimes I think I could be fucked into enlightenment."
A cocky and clever uni student is dead set on finding herself through fucking other people and living up to her expectations of modern queerness. But one surprising hookup might bring her modern love montage to an end.
From the comfort of her bedroom, we are with her through sex, situationships and spliff fuelled philosophical discussions. As people come in and out of her life and her bed, will they help her come to conclusions about her identity and her future?
'coming to conclusions. is a coming-of-age play exploring how we find and lose ourselves in other people through the self-inflicted sexual chaos of a queer university student.
After a successful run during The Hope Theatre's 'Write Club' festival, 'coming to conclusions' is returning to the venue for an extended run.
“Some people want to be in relationships, you know?”
“I don’t get it.”
I'M FINE, IT'S JUST THE WINE
9th - 11th November
£16/£18
7pm
He just wants her safe. She just wants her life. Is there a place in the world for both?
Woman and Man are the epitome of the modern couple in love. He likes Eurovision, she likes Shania Twain. He hosts a pub quiz, she takes the piss. On her twenty-third birthday their small London flat hosts vegan pancakes and her dying need to get ready for a big night out. But he doesn’t want her to go. Not after what happened last night. Because what happened last night can never happen again.
‘I’m Fine, It’s Just the Wine’ is a fast paced two-hander driven by feminist themes and witty comedy. It is a fresh showcase on how toxic masculinity can affect the non toxic man and explores what happens when a woman refuses to be labelled a victim.
After a very successful, sold out run at last year’s Camden Fringe, ‘I’m Fine, It’s Just The Wine’ returns to the stage this Autumn.
'I’m Fine, It’s Just the Wine is at the forefront of exceptional fringe theatre’ -
Harry Theatre Life - ★★★★.5
‘A brave, timely and essential piece of theatre’ - Sista Magazine
I PREDICT A RIOT
15th - 16th November
£16/£18
7pm
‘Two girls are going to die in 1996 because you kill that man tomorrow. Time isn’t dominoes, falling one after the other. TIME IS A CHESS BOARD.’
Cutthroat queer revenge is served over three decades in this camp, time-bending dramedy.
2036. Claude is gunning down her local MP.
1996. Brooke and Charlotte are exploding a car.
2016. Arthur and Sidney are leaking nudes.
Claude has been planning this for years, a final act of justice in a failing world. But what if time wasn’t linear?
What if Claude’s actions in 2036 rippled back through time and caused two women to seek violent retribution in the late ‘90s?
And what if two gay teenagers in 2016 threaten to destroy them all?
As revenge plots run simultaneously across three timelines, Claude must race to either save the past or fight for a better future. But vengeance is addictive. As bones break and predators run scared, she is forced to ask: is it morally right to choose peace in a world run by evil men?
"Gritty, Honest & Fast Paced" - The Epigram, on Leo Russell’s last play Thirsty
"Visceral, extravagant queer chaos" - Bristol 24/7, on Leo Russell’s previous play STRAPPED.
I CAN SEE THE SUN
12th - 21st November
£10/£16/£18
7pm
A surreal, darkly humorous drama inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy.
After taking a wrong turn at Goole on the road back from IKEA, a mother and daughter become lost in the 'Dark Wood' on the North York Moors, when they're confronted with a stranger in the dead of night. Is he a hunter out to steal hearts, or a moorland hiker who's seen the light? Will they row across the river into deeper despair, or find the path to the car before sunrise?
Developed with support from ArcolaLAB, I Can See The Sun is a visually compelling new play from emerging inter-disciplinary theatre company Light The Night, that tenderly explores ancestral trauma, hope and recovery.
Audience and critic reviews:
"...real visual beauty... a richness of ideas, a daring vision... excellent directorial and visual dimensions." — Everything Theatre
"Jessica Brauner deserves special mention for her creation of a truly evocative wood with some stunning effects..." — The Reviews Hub
"...searingly honest... poetic and powerful… It had a note of enchantment." — Katya Benjamin, Movement Tutor, RADA
The National Theatre's New Work Department have described Tania Khan's writing as "mysterious, unnerving, lyrically gothic, theatrical and engaging drama.”
