WHAT'S ON at THE LION AND UNICORN
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thick_skin
23 - 27 April
Why is it that men never talk to each other? Properly. Deeply. Why is most of it fluff? Beer, football and their latest bet.
thick_skin is the story of two such men, with the same problem –one a Northern Irish amateur standup and the other a budding video-game streamer– as both try to keep their heads above water while pursuing their dreams. Halfway between the freedom of adolescence and the commitments of adulthood, they’re seemingly close but unable to articulate the complexities and depth of their feelings. Despite having so much to say to their audiences, they have so little to say to each other.
Featuring projections, live video, stand-up and movement, the production shatters the fourth wall as the pair take audiences on two parallel narratives, whipsawing through the past and present of two flatmates who just can’t find the right words for each other. Ultimately, the friends face a reckoning when the intolerable pressures of jealousy and performativity become overwhelming, and they are forced to rewire not just their friendship, but their understandings of themselves.
Flashbang [2024]
28 April
noun: flashbang
- a grenade that produces a bright flash and a loud noise so as to stun or disorient people without causing serious injury; a stun grenade.
Ryan and his gang were going to be mates forever.
Living their lives in the same cycle as everyone else in a little town 20 miles from anywhere important.
Living for the next night out. Living for the weekend.
Getting into and out of trouble. Work. Pub. Sleep. Repeat.
Ryan and his gang have seen it all, done it all, lived it all. The nights they wished they could remember and the mornings after they’d rather forget.
Ryan and his gang were going to be mates forever.
Labour's Lost Love
30 April - 4 May
Upon taking their first trip in a decade, a human finds themselves in an ancient forest inhabited by talking animals and plants. As they encounter different forest beings, they cannot help but notice that the creatures all churn along happily with no need for pension or holidays. On top of that, there is one creature who seems to know everything about them, even things they themselves don’t remember…
In the forest, labour is survival and survival is joy. Labour’s Lost Love is a new devised show exploring how forgotten childhood dreams shape who we grow into. By bringing the adults we become and the child we once were into the same magical space, the show recontextualises our old dreams as new sources of joy and inspiration for the adults we all become.
Spending time in the forest invites humans, fictional and otherwise, to reexamine their relationship with work, play, and survival through a queer, migrant lens.
TOP PICK
REANICORP
7 - 11 May
In a time of disconnect, reconnect. In a time of loss, regain. In a time of death, rebirth. What if you didn’t have to say goodbye to your loved ones just yet? Introducing Reanicorp, a company that confronts you with your grief face to face, literally.
After a series of blunders, Reanicorp faces ruin. Head of the Reanicorp programme, Michael Wallace, presents two case studies to the board in order to plead for the programme’s continuation. A wife is reunited with her deceased husband and two estranged sisters meet again under the most bittersweet of circumstances. But is the world ready for Micheal’s AI-generated ‘Arti-people’? And does he really have the public’s best interests at heart?
Using artificial intelligence as a narrative tool, Reanicorp is a reflection of the current debate surrounding AI and asks if we could prolong human life with an AI version of a loved one - would it be worth it? Exploring themes of life, death, grief, human relationships and the power of corporate economic power, Reanicorp takes a darkly humorous yet subtly thought-provoking approach to exploring unspoken grief and why we struggle to accept it.
Out The Shell [2024]
12 May
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Out The Shell at the Lion and Unicorn is the fourth edition of Pistachio Theatre’s scratch night showcasing brilliant new writing. This evening will give writers and performers the chance to perform their new material and gain audience feedback, helping to further develop their pieces. With a range of acts and themes, this evening will create a safe and supportive space to try out new work. The event follows three previous sell-out runs and aims to support fellow creatives in their work and build a network of collaborators.
PISCTACHIO THEATRE COMPANY ARE ASSOCIATE ARTISTS OF THE LION & UNICORN THEATRE
Three By Ten
14 - 25 May
An evening of three one-act plays by Tennessee Williams.
The Lady of Larkspur Lotion: In the slums of the New Orleans French Quarter, two lost souls fight to retain some semblance of dignity.
This Property is Condemned: Willy is thirteen, orphaned and wild. She spends her days walking the railway tracks where she meets Tom, fifteen. The play spans their brief yet haunting encounter.
Portrait of a Madonna: With echoes of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' Miss Lucretia Collins, an elderly lady stuck in her teenage fantasies, is indulged by a protective, kind-hearted porter prior to her being sectioned and taken from her home.
Tennessee Williams is one of the most brilliant playwrights of the 20th century. His work embraces the human condition, lovingly showing the vulnerability, strength and spirit of his characters in often desperate situations. His plays are raw and open-hearted and his insight into human nature is second to none. He can compress the basic meaning of life - its pathos or its tragedy, its bravery or the quality of its love - into one small scene or a few moments of dialogue. These three one-act plays are jewels in the canon of his work
Sessions
29 May - 1 June
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre
When George Boucher, a troublesome youth, narrowly misses serving time in prison for a violent offence, he is placed with a new, unconventional youth officer called David. As George and David progress in their work together, David manages to slowly peel back George's defences and walls without him realising; allowing him the space and freedom to grow and heal.
Sessions is a play about the confines of toxic masculinity and trauma, which aims to grapple with how trauma lives in the body – and how, when it goes unaddressed, it manifests into our behaviours and habits.
When Atlas Met Tantalus
4 - 8 June
1897. A parlour in Victorian London. Two men trapped together, facing a secret that will change their lives forever.
James and Edwin are worlds apart. But when they find themselves unexpectedly entwined by a twist of fate, they must face their similarities and the secrets they keep – from each other, and from themselves.
The clock of history is ticking.
Can we hold everything we love on our shoulders?
When Atlas Met Tantalus is a taut, poignant new work highlighting issues of queer identity, community, public outing and the way that history shapes our present, within a witty and engaging one-hour drama.
Silent Houses
11 - 15 June
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre
South London, 2023.
Young couple Cecily and Ralph are frantically navigating the cost-of-living crisis, chasing cheaper accommodations while dreaming of starting a family. Whilst Cecily is torn between the immediate reality of their financial situation and her tarnished fantasy of becoming a ballet dancer, Ralph struggles to find any legal routes to earn money. When Cecily becomes unexpectedly pregnant, the couple are forced to confront their own pasts and contend with the turbulent landscape of Britain in constant crisis. Beneath it all lies a life-altering revelation.
‘Silent Houses’ delves into the psychological impact poverty can have on family life and our understanding of the self. The play explores how the established power structures that govern working-class areas enforce a culture of silence which can be felt by both individuals and entire communities. It asks urgent questions of a society which prioritises some voices over others and directs our attention to the fantasies, the fury and the fervour of lives which remain perpetually unheard.
When Death Comes Knocking
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Hannah and Dillon grow further apart in the wake of their mother's death. Weeks after the tragedy, things reach a fever pitch when a strange young woman claiming to be "Death" rocks up at their doorstep begging the siblings to teach her how to live. Will Hannah and Dillon mend their relationship? Who is this strange woman? How does Death perceive us?
Chilli Con Carne
29 - 30 June
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Death and taxes - the only two certainties in life. That and complex, painful human relationships. At sixteen, Ash and Sonia fall in love. But their young queer relationship hits an awkward brick wall: their respective parents have fallen for each other too. When Sonia’s father dies, she runs off to London, only to come back to Newcastle ten years later. No longer sisters or lovers, these strangers rediscover their complex love amidst grief, regret, and Ash’s ‘wonderfully normal’ life with her fiancé: Tom. Wires cross, and threads get pulled - leaving Ash with a heartbreaking decision to make, over a bowl of her mother’s infamous Chilli Con Carne…
Written for Messy Kind by Sarah Vickers in 2024, this bold three-hander mixes the Pinter pin-drop-pause with a certain contemporary flare. Delving into some uncomfortable questions about sister-hood, jealousy and grief, Chilli Con Carne is a refreshing exploration into two women’s repressed feelings of love.
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We are very proud to announce that LONDON PUB THEATRES MAGAZINE is now an OFFIE AWARD WINNING publication
A ONEOFF Special Award has been awarded to London Pub Theatres Magazine and Editor Heather Jeffery for providing a vital forum for highlighting the excellent work that happens in rooms in pubs, with sensitive editing, and an acute sense of the importance of tiny fringe venues to the health and development of British Theatre