Paines Plough announces 2018 season
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James Grieve and George Perrin, artistic directors of Paines Plough, have announced the company's 2018 programme.
Three world premieres will be presented in the mobile theatre space, Roundabout, in partnership with Theatr Clwyd.
Simon Longman, whose play Gundog is currently running at the Royal Court, will present Island Town, a tale about three friends desperate to break away from their current lives. Longman's play White Sky transferred from the Royal Welsh College to the Gate Theatre last year.
BAFTA nominee Vinay Patel (writer of Murdered By My Father) will present Sticks and Stones, a satirical comedy about miscommunication in an uncertain world. Patel's latest play An Adventure will premiere at the Bush Theatre in September 2018, where it will be directed by Bush artistic director, Madani Younis.
The third show is Georgia Christou's How To Spot An Alien, about two pre-teens convinced that their aunt is an alien. Christou's first professional full-length play, Yous Two, is currently playing at Hampstead Theatre, and was described as "a measured and well-oiled writing debut". Full dates for these three shows, which will be performed in rep, will be announced in due course.
Aside from the Roundabout productions, the venue will also present Anna Jordan's new play Pop Music, co-commissioned with the Birmingham Rep and directed by Paines Plough's Grieve. A nostalgic theatre party 'for anyone who's ever been a d**k on the dancefloor', the show features some of the chart-toppers of the last 20 years. Jordan won the 2013 Bruntwood Prize for her play Yen.
London laureate Zia Ahmed will present his debut play I Wanna Be Yours, which follows the relationship of a pair from both Yorkshire and London. The show will tour the UK in April 2018, visiting Norton, Malton and Gilling East.
The company will partner with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Gate Theatre to present to world premiere of Isley Lynn’s Albatross, directed by Anna Himali Howard who was Paines Plough trainee director in 2016. Lynn's recent show, Skin a Cat, was the winner of the Vault Pick Of The Year Award in 2016 and was nominated for three Off West End Awards.
The company is currently presenting three shows, Black Mountain, Out of Love and How to be a Kid, at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. Elinor Cook's Out of Love was recently announced as a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Come To Where I'm From, a new app experience overseen by Paines Plough, will allow audiences to listen to plays written by the likes of Alice Birch, Mike Bartlett, James Graham, Roy Williams, April de Angelis and Lizzie Nunnery talking about their home towns.
