Platform Plays – serie

‘We can’t change things here, that’s the whole point, no one listens to us or cares, the only way we’re gonna change things is by going somewhere else, starting afresh.’A group of disillusioned young women have disappeared. On a platform out at sea, they have formed The Community – a new type of society and a better way of living. But how can you change the world if you’ve taken yourself out of it?This Changes Everything by Joel Horwood is part of Platform, an initiative from Tonic Theatre in partnership with Nick Hern Books aimed at addressing gender imbalance and inequality in theatre. Platform comprises big-cast plays with predominantly or all-female casts, written specifically for performance by school, college and youth-theatre groups.‘Drama is an important tool for building confidence and empowering young people. Platform will give girls opportunity to access these benefits as much as their male counterparts.’ - Moira Buffini

‘They did not understand, you see, that what is stitched with a needle is not always innocent… Needles are dangerous.’The year is 1569, and in a cold, stone room in a Staffordshire castle, a group of women sew elaborate tapestries. Rich or poor, at home or held against their will, four women’s lives intersect on the point of a needle.Embroidery is their escape, their sanity, and their expression: of love, loss, artistry and power. For these women’s stitches have the power to change not just their own lives, but the course of English history.Inspired by the tapestries created when Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, The Glove Thief by Beth Flintoff is part of Platform, an initiative from Tonic Theatre in partnership with Nick Hern Books. Aimed at addressing gender imbalance in theatre, Platform comprises big-cast plays with predominantly or all-female casts, written specifically for performance by young actors.