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'There are children in Holbeck without crayons. Living in a city with an opera company. An opera company paid for with money from all of us. Until everyone has crayons no one gets opera. That’s what I believe.'A deeply moving memoir of how a group of artists fed their local community during the Covid pandemic.When crisis hits, and audiences stay home, what’s the most useful thing a theatre company can do? The answer was to become a food bank and one-stop-help-shop for those in need. In fifteen months, Slung Low would go on to deliver over 15,000 food parcels.

Four inspirational tales of Essex resilience intertwine to make an unmissable world premiere by the region’s most exciting playwrights.The Essex Princess by Anne OdekeIt’s 1908 and Joanna’s planning to provoke the attention of Southend and the whole of the nation, by becoming the first black woman to compete in a beauty pageant.Fiza by Guleraana MirFiza’s moved home with her parents. Under dire circumstances… At nearly 40. Will she pick herself up in time for the dreaded school reunion?Never Never Land by Kenny EmsonTag’s out with the lads in 1998 – it’s his last night as a proper Essex boy. But there are last nights, and there are last nights.Everybody Gets Born by Sadie HaslerDaisy’s having a baby.Yep, right now.Actually having a baby.The drugs kick in, the room goes fuzzy, and Daisy finds herself back in 1978… in her mum’s glam band.

24 Feb 22: What a Difference a Day Makes is a powerful verbatim play by Mark Wheeller, created with Lichfield Cathedral School, about the day Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine changed lives across Europe.Built from real testimony, the play gives voice to young Ukrainians, British host families and a school community in Lichfield as they respond to the impact of 24 February 2022 and its aftermath. Through stories of fear, separation, upheaval, welcome, misunderstanding and unexpected kindness, 24 Feb 22 shows how global events reach into ordinary homes, classrooms and friendships.Compassionate, immediate and theatrically direct, this moving contemporary play explores war, displacement, resilience and the human consequences of history as it happens.An accessible and timely playscript for schools, GCSE and A Level Drama students, youth theatres, mixed-age theatre groups and companies looking for urgent contemporary drama rooted in real testimony.CAST: 10 with doubling (up to 24 actors)DURATION: 50 minutes

In January 2026, American playwright and director Richard Nelson returned to Kyiv for a third winter of making theatre at the Theater on Podil.As Russian attacks left the city facing blackouts, freezing temperatures, air raids, and uncertainty, Nelson rehearsed More Beauty Than Sorrow, his new play about Lesya Ukrainka and the Kosach family, written specially for Ukrainian actors.Theatre Keeps Us Warm is a diary of rehearsal rooms, shelters, icy streets, shared meals, exhaustion, courage, and artistic trust. Intimate, humane, and powerful, it captures theatre as an act of warmth, witness, and resistance in a city at war.“If there is theatre, it means that life goes on. And as long as there is theatre, people’s hearts will be warm.”—from foreword by Larissa Volokhonsky

Johnjoe and Jim clash over the wearing of a poppy. The best friends address what the symbol represents to their respective heritage and attempt to navigate their way through this historic subject matter in relation to their friendship and the British Empire’s devastating, lasting impact in Ireland.Fast, funny and physically inventive, Poppies is a sharp two-hander about what happens when a small symbol carries a heavy weight. Blending knockabout comedy, surreal sketches and a friendship pushed to breaking point, Jim Spencer Broadbent and Johnjoe Irwin’s play depicts a modern day tragedy of stubbornness, repressed anger and identity in a time where this lack of footing launches so many young men into dangerous ideals.A raucous, heartfelt and brilliantly uncomfortable comedy about memory, masculinity, national identity and the arguments we keep having — with others, with history and with ourselves.Presented by GAIT Productions.CAST: 2DURATION: 75 minutes

A liar. A traitor. A thief.Tonight, Judas Iscariot tells his side of the story.Mere days after the death of Jesus Christ, the most infamous man in Judea makes his first public appearance on Simona Tonight: an ailing late-night talk show desperate for one last ratings miracle.But this is no ordinary interview. As Judas attempts to clear his name, the cameras keep rolling, the audience keeps judging and Simona fights to hold together a broadcast that is collapsing in real time. Before long, one exclusive confession becomes a surreal, channel-changing odyssey through fame, betrayal, public shame and the dying days of broadcast television.Wickedly funny, irreverent and sharply satirical, Judas Exclusive reimagines the world’s most notorious betrayal through the lens of celebrity culture, media spectacle and the public’s endless appetite for scandal.A bold new comedy for the stage, Judas Exclusive is ideal for readers of contemporary drama, Fringe theatre audiences, performers, drama students and theatre companies looking for fast, provocative, high-energy new writing.CAST: 3 actorsDURATION: 60 minutes

Monkeyface is a fierce, funny and intimate solo show about identity, isolation and the search for belonging.Set largely inside a university bedroom, Raphael Phillips’ debut play follows one young Black queer student through the messy, euphoric and bruising world of Freshers Week, halls, club culture, toxic friendships, desire, racism, mental health and self-acceptance.At first, university promises reinvention: new friends, new nights out, new versions of the self. But as the room becomes a refuge, then a trap, Monkeyface begins to confront the loneliness of trying to belong in spaces that were never built with them in mind. Predominantly white queer clubs, student parties, Black cultural spaces and strained friendships all offer moments of recognition, but no easy answers.Combining sharp comedy, direct address, memory and raw emotional honesty, Monkeyface is a powerful contemporary play about what it means to be Black, queer, young, anxious, visible and invisible all at once.This edition includes a Q&A with playwright Raphael Phillips and director Mojola Akinyemi, plus questions for study, discussion and performance.CAST: 1 actorDURATION: 70 minutes

On the eve of her 35th birthday, Bayley is forced to confront a myth that has haunted trans women for generations: the idea that they may not live beyond 35.Created with acclaimed playwright and performer Jo Clifford, Thirty-Six is a fierce, funny and tender solo show about mortality, survival, transition, grief and chosen family. Moving between confession, celebration, remembrance and resistance, the play asks what it means to live in a world that too often denies trans people the simple, radical possibility of growing older.Deeply personal and boldly political, Thirty-Six is a moving work of contemporary queer theatre about learning from the dead, fighting for the living, and imagining a future in which trans lives are not only mourned, but cherished, honoured and allowed to flourish.CAST: 1 actorDURATION: 60 minutes

hame. teeth. CLUB. is a visceral, darkly funny solo play about consent, friendship and the aftermath of sexual assault.Morgan Shields lives for Saturday nights at Dalkeith Miners Club. Fuelled by Dragon Soop, bravado and recklessness, she is thrilled to be going nowhere fast: work, pres, club, repeat. But when a night out ends in sexual assault, Morgan is forced to confront the chaos she has been laughing off: her lack of direction, her fractured friendships and the brutal loneliness of being believed but still left standing alone.Written in a vivid Scottish voice, Kari Hall’s hame. teeth. CLUB. places a working-class young woman at the centre of her own story: messy, contradictory, furious, funny and defiant. A powerful contemporary play for readers, performers, drama students and theatre-makers, it asks urgent questions about consent, accountability, community responsibility and what support really looks like when the party is over.CAST: 1-7 actors DURATION: 70 minutes

What makes a culture real: its history, its language, or the stories people choose to tell about themselves?In Through the Shortbread Tin, writer and performer Martin O’Connor explores Scottish identity through the extraordinary story of James Macpherson, the 18th-Century writer whose supposed translations of the ancient bard Ossian became an international literary sensation—and one of history’s most famous literary controversies.Moving between Macpherson’s Scotland and O’Connor’s own experiences of growing up in Glasgow, the play brings together family memory, national mythology, grief, masculinity and the loss of language. Written in a vivid blend of Glaswegian Scots, English and Gaelic, it asks who gets to write history, whose stories are preserved and what happens when people become separated from the language and culture of their families.Funny, lyrical and sharply provocative, Through the Shortbread Tin examines the myths Scotland has created about itself, the histories it has neglected and the complicated search for belonging.First produced by the National Theatre of Scotland, this critically acclaimed solo show offers rich material for performers, theatre companies and students of contemporary drama, Scottish literature, history, identity and language.“Witty and provocative.”★★★★ The Guardian“A tartan wrapped gift of a show.”★★★★ The Herald“Historically rich as it is humorous.”★★★★ All Edinburgh TheatreCAST: 1 actorDURATION: 75 minutes

Sadie, Flo, Claire and Taylor are best pals, approaching 30 and wondering when everyone else became proper adults.Their old schoolfriends seem to be buying houses, getting married, having babies, raising money for charity and generally getting on with life. Meanwhile, the four of them are still trying to work out what they want, who they are and whether they are falling behind.So, on a whim, they abandon a housewarming party and head for the Scottish hills.What begins as a chaotic weekend of bad packing, questionable decisions and relentless banter becomes something far more revealing. As the walk pushes them out of their comfort zones, long-buried worries begin to surface and the friendships they have always relied on are put under pressure.Funny, frank and moving, PALS: Perfectly Average Lassies of Scotland explores female friendship, millennial adulthood, social media, caring responsibilities and Scottish identity.A contemporary four-woman play about the pressure to be exceptional — and the possibility that being perfectly average might be enough.CAST: 4 actorsDURATION: 75 minutes

“No one looking at you would spot a thing out of place. You’re complacent. You and the worm coexist. Even though it’s eating you from the inside, you’ve got no idea.”A domestic abuse survivor examines the jagged pieces of her past to understand why she’s being questioned by police.She is in a mental facility and can’t understand why she’s there. She thinks she did something terrible… and she needs to remember it, before her actions have dangerous consequences.A darkly compelling tale about coercive control, domestic abuse and how the mind finds a way to escape.Emily Jupp writes for television and stage. Her first play ‘Doing Well’, about the mental health crisis affecting young people and its links to social media, took a satirical swipe at the cult of influencers. It was a finalist for the Liverpool Hope Prize in 2019. ‘Wormholes’ was longlisted for The Bruntwood Prize in 2022. CASTING: 1 actorDURATION: 70 minutesA portion of the profts from each copy of ‘Wormholes’ sold will be donated to Refuge, a UK charity providing specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence.

Pillock has ADHD. His brain works faster than his bowel when he's had a Babybel. And he's lactose intolerant. He’s trying to keep his head above water, but he's drowning in loneliness, hook-up culture and medical role plays. He feels stagnant and it's going to take more than a yoga class to help. But, when he meets Eugene everything changes. His shot at the sort of love people run through airports for. But will he be Mr Right, Mr Right Now or even Mr Wrong? Pillock wants to trust his gut, but his can't even handle a Muller Corner.

A heartbreaking, hilarious and very human look at the experience of the nurses on the frontline of our health service.Based on over 70 interviews with nurses of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities, Tending immerses you in their day-to-day lives. It asks an essential question: when the system’s under pressure and lives are on the line, who takes time to care for the carers?El Blackwood is an actor, writer and producer. El trained as a playwright on the prestigious John Burgess Playwriting Course (2021-2022) and as an actor with Identity School of Acting (2021-2023) and the Orange Tree Theatre Young Company (2022-2023). El is also the co-founder of Offshoots Theatre, which platforms and connects emerging creatives while raising money for the Trussell Trust. In 2023, she founded El Blackwood Productions and wrote the award-winning play, Tending. Tending achieved critical and commercial success at Edinburgh Fringe 2023, and was invited back for a month-long run at Underbelly in 2024. El was selected as one of eight playwrights to be a Brixton House ‘housemate’, winning a funded week-long run in October 2024.CAST: 3 actor (1M, 2F/NB)DURATION: 60 minutes

Over 20 years, A Play, A Pie and A Pint has famously commissioned and produced more than 600 plays, providing countless opportunities for writers, actors and directors to develop their craft and try out new ideas. Productions are simple, rehearsal times short and the subject matter diverse. Audiences at Glasgow’s Òran Mór get a new play at lunchtime every week lasting no more than an hour, accompanied by a pie and a pint.To celebrate the beloved theatrical institution’s 20th anniversary, this second collection includes critically acclaimed plays and favourites as voted by the public and members of the theatre company.Includes the plays:Rose (Lorna Martin)Fleeto (Paddy Cunneen)One Day in Spring (various)Tír na nÓg (Dave Anderson)Storytelling (Oliver Emanuel)The Great Replacement (Uma Nada-Rajah)Write-Off (Aodhan Gallagher)Rachel’s Cousins (Ann Marie Di Mambro)‘a bedrock of the Scottish theatre industry’The Guardian

“Welcome to Nowhere.I’m going to share with you how I got hereAnd what ‘here’ actually means to me”.In this intricate and playful solo show, inspired by his involvement in the Egyptian revolution of 2011, and his experience of the counter-revolution that followed, actor and activist Khalid Abdalla (United 93, The Kite Runner, The Crown) takes us on a surprising journey into his own history, set against a cartography of seismic world events.From the histories of colonialism and decolonisation; friendship and loss; protests and uprising against regimes across the world; to the violence in Gaza following the events of October 7th 2023, Khalid brings together the personal and the political in an act of anti-biography that asks how we got here and how we find agency amidst the mazes of history.Commissioned and produced by Fuel. Supported by Arts Council England and CVC.

HIM and HER. They go way back. Pals since babies and totally inseparable. Until they weren’t. Loosely reconnecting at high school, they’re now 17 and barely recognise each other. What can guys and girls really have in common anyway? How could they possibly understand each other now? After everything that’s happened? He’s seen some things. And she’s about to. Now, they’ll need each other more than ever. HER is a play about the damaging effects of gender inequality, the truth about consent and asks, how can you be the change you want to see in the world, when you feel like the world is fighting against you? HER by Jennifer Adam is part of a series called the Future is Unwritten, issue-based plays that raise awareness, provoke discussion and stimulate debate.**Trigger warning - this play deals with themes of sexual harrassment and assault. For access information please contact the venue directly** "An amazing show with such a talented group of young actors. The subject matter is such an important one to address’""This show captured a very real experience, very well portrayed. Thank you!"

A riveting drama inspired by the true story of Frankie Lucas, a young black boxer navigating the vibrant yet challenging world of 1970s London.Frankie Lucas wins the National ABA middleweight title twice but, when his path to representing England at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games is blocked, Frankie turns to his roots, competing for the island of St. Vincent. Confronting the intricate politics of boxing, the weight of his ambitions and the pressing needs of his family, Frankie’s spirit is tested to the limit leading him to a triumph that redefines both his career and his legacy.Going for Gold explores the profound questions of what we fight for and what we hold onto, inviting audiences to reflect on the meaning of home, the bonds of family, the enduring spirit of perseverance and what we leave behind.Winner Best Play at Black British Theatre Awards 2023

A parallel text version of Catherine Bisset's play Placeholder - in English and French.Set in motion by academic research by the Colonial-Era Caribbean Theatre and Opera Network, a cross-institutional endeavour chaired at St Andrews, Placeholder by Catherine Bisset addresses the stories that are missing from the archives and the holes in the narrative that are themselves acts of suppression.Synopsis:It is 1790 in Saint-Domingue, a year and a day before the start of the Haitian Revolution. Minette, a ‘free woman of colour’, waits in a sweltering theatre. She remembers her mother, a courageous and intelligent enslaved woman, and considers her own previous career as an Opera singer. An emotional exchange between mother and daughter reveals the insidious power of divide and rule, the pointlessness of freedom without equality and the importance of resistance. Will Minette find the courage to go back to the Opera or will she remain a ‘Placeholder’? This version of Placeholder provides the original English version with matching pages in Haitian French, translated by Elisa Finielz. Longlisted for the 2024 Kavya Prize.

Prepare for the spotlight with Joanne Watkinson's expertly crafted scenes designed specifically for young actors. Whether you're auditioning for film, TV or theatre, this collection offers a diverse range of compelling scenes to showcase your talent and captivate casting directors.Inside, you'll find a curated selection of scenes to challenge and inspire. Each scene is carefully crafted to highlight your unique abilities, making it easier than ever to create standout self-tapes and nail your auditions.Empower your audition journey and leave a lasting impression with scenes tailored for your success.

“It’s not really surprising that our generation would be struggling. It’s a sane response to an insane world.”When the school’s lockdown alarm sounds everyone assumes it’s a drill. But soon a group of year 9 students find themselves stuck in a geography classroom with only Deputy Head Prefect Jamie to keep them under control. It becomes clear that the school is in lockdown because of an ‘incident with a pupil.’ While the group speculates as to the identity of the student and the nature of the ‘incident’ it slowly emerges that, although no one’s talking about it, the students are all grappling with mental health issues of their own.Nina Lemon’s insightful play sensitively explores the challenges faced by a group of school kids as they cope witha high-stakes school system in a world that’s piling on the pressure.Masking is an original play created with and for youth arts charity Peer Productions."Moving and unflinching- Masking not only reflects the realities of today’s classrooms but celebrates the voices of those within them." - Katy Secombe (actor, director, drama coach)CASTING: 7 actors of equal weight (3 identifying as female, 2 as male and 2 of any gender - playing 13-17 years)RUNNING TIME: 60-75 minutes

1859. A field in Kanaipur, Bengal.Life-loving Sadhu Charan, an indigo farmer, is newly married to Kshetromani, a woman with visions of thefuture. At first, all is idyllic. But when the new British planter Rose arrives, full of strange desires, thecreeping malignancy of the indigo system begins to strangle their happiness.During the British Raj, to meet the world’s insatiable desire for blue, vast swathes of the Bengali countryside were given over to the cultivation of the indigo plant. The atrocities committed by British planters triggered an extraordinary revolution that changed Bengal forever.Indigo Giant is a gripping, haunting drama by award-winning playwright Ben Musgrave, inspired by Dinabandhu Mitra’s trail-blazing Indigo Mirror, a play that shook colonial India. With songs in English and Bangla by Leesa Gazi. CASTING: 10 actors (5 male, 4 female, 1 any gender) plus chorus

Two strangers meet in a pub toilet in a small city that no one cares about. Liam, struggling with addiction and money troubles, has never left the claustrophobic place that birthed him. He’s lost everything―if he ever had it. Alex, cloaked in a Hugo Boss suit and the pride of a job in Canary Wharf, comes down to visit this quaint location with one objective: to propose to his girlfriend. It seems like he has everything. However, as time ticks and substances are consumed, a dark connection between the two begins to unearth itself.This play is an ode to the forgotten.First developed at the Maltings Theatre in Hertfordshire, Sniff was then selected as an ‘outstanding’ script by Theatre503 and performed there. It then went on to a longer run at the Jack Studio in 2023 and the Park Theatre in 2024. ‘Fascinating, exciting, gripping and chilling’ ★★★★ Broadway Baby‘Sniff moves from Peep Show to Inside No.9 in just over an hour.’ ★★★★ London Pub Theatres‘The brilliance of Sniff is in the intricate way the two characters’ conversation seemingly circles around innocuous topics while it is in fact spiralling to a gripping and shocking finale.’ ★★★★ Always Time for TheatreCASTING: 2-7 actorsDURATION: 70 minutes

Glaswegian-born, Derry-based performance poet Frank Rafferty has shared his spoken word and poetry on stages around the world. His debut collection, Rafferty’s Rules, includes his comic musings coupled with political calls to action captured with his unique style of energy and lyricism.This volume includes crowd-favourites My Granny Made Me An Anarchist and This Iz Thi Voys.Rafferty's Rules/raf:uh:tees ruːls/slang c. 1910The phrase, a play on the Irish surname Rafferty, is a way to say you aren't playing by any rules at all.Cover illustration by Rachael Johnson.ContentsAbsentNotes From The AsylumPast LivesI StoppedMickey’s MonkeyYour HealthElephantAraphelTemplemoreMen Who Can’t Stop MarchingSnakeMmajinMy Granny Made Me An AnarchistJazzService 64Being A TreeDo Not Belong To OthersThis Iz Thi VoysNae Pasaran Ya BassA Random Selection from 100 things thatkeep me awake at nightWhen I DieRemainderLastwurds

It only takes one voice to resist.Caught by the Nazis distributing forbidden leaflets, Sophie Scholl is facing execution. Only one route remains: confession and betrayal of everything she stood for… but will she take it? What would you be willing to die for?Nominated for a 2023 CATS award for best production for children and young people Duncan Kidd's Storm Lantern is a timely examination of the final hours of Sophie Scholl at a moment in history when the forces of fascism are on the rise once more.

Brooke has it all: the job, the flat, the girlfriend... but what happens when things go tits up just before your 30th birthday? Hopeless romantic Brooke is the algorithm writer for a dating app - she literally codes attraction - so when she finds herself unexpectedly single, she decides to give the science of love (online dating) a chance.  A bisexual Bridget Jones for the online generation, this tragicomic one-woman show, and its lovably hapless heroine, is for anyone who’s ever felt like they were too much and not enough at the same time. Written by Sadie Clark (12 Theatre Stars for 2020, The Guardian) and winner of the TV Foundation’s Netflix Stage to Screen New Voice Award. Algorithms was made into an award-winning Audible Original series starring Sadie Clark, Alison Steadman, Seyan Sarvan, Len Gwyn, Desiree Burch, Ciara Baxendale, Joe Thomas and an ensemble cast. ‘Astonishingly assured and practically broadcast ready’ The Guardian (12 Stars for 2020) ★★★★★ ‘This year’s Fleabag’ Deadline News ★★★★ ‘Moving, profound and hilarious’ The Wee Review ★★★★ ‘An impeccably polished piece of writing’ The Upcoming ★★★★ ‘Sadie Clark has the audience roaring with laughter’ The Spy in the Stalls  CAST:MonologueDURATION:60 minutes

When was the last time you remembered your heart’s beating?In his debut collection of lyrics and poetry, Seki Lynch presents pieces on love and connection for anyone who’s ever felt like dancing in the face of their fears.Finding hope in the depths of disconnection, Under the Sun Our Hearts Are Beating is a gathering of consciousness, seeking to dissolve some of the invisible barriers between us. Influenced and inspired by literature, art, science, nature, hip-hop & jazz (specifically), music (generally) and his own experience, these 24 new works sift for meaning and belonging in the chaos of existence.They’re offered as a reminder that when everything gets on top, despite all you’ve been through, your heart is still beating.

Tay BridgeOn the night of Sunday December 28, 1879, the unthinkable happened. Battered by a ferocious storm, the Tay Bridge collapsed. Tay Bridge tells the poignant and unexpected stories of the suddenly interrupted passengers making the journey that night. Who were they? Where were they going? A powerful ensemble piece, Tay Bridge gives a whole new perspective on this famous bridge disaster.The SignalmanWinter 1919. Thomas Barclay is transported back in time by his memories of the night when he was the Signalman who sent the Edinburgh/Burntisland train onto the Tay Rail Bridge forty years before. Who is responsible when accidents occur? Why do we need somebody to blame...even if it's ourselves?

Award-winning artist, writer and broadcaster Scottee grew up around mould, mice and second-hand clothes. After a chance meeting with some posh kids, his mum teaching him to talk proper and him successfully persuading his parents to take him off free school meals Scottee knew he didn’t want to be common.In Class, Scottee uncovers what it is to be embarrassed about where you’re from, how you can pretend to be richer than you are and explores why we all get a thrill from watching how the other half live.This is a book for the middle class, those who didn’t grow up in poverty.‘This work is essential. For you and the world.’ Sofie Hagen‘Class is hard to watch, it’s gruelling, it sticks to you, you can feel it after it is gone. But, so is growing up poor and the experience of poverty. Scottee has made something that doesn’t let you off the hook, and nor should it.’ Travis Alabanza