New Plays In Rep 2019

By Isabella Culver
Directed by Peter Leslie Wild

Shirley Mason is a young woman of uncertain identity – buffeted by the expectations of family and church in the American town of her childhood. Later, as an art student in New York she feels her personality disintegrating, and a psychiatrist takes a keen interest. Dr Cornelia B Wilbur may have stumbled upon a landmark case to make her reputation.

As the two women’s lives become entwined, lines blur between psychiatry and art, case studies and tall stories, real hurt and false memory.

Inspired by the real-life case of a woman diagnosed as having 16 personalities. This premiere production is an American tale spanning decades up to the 1970s, with questions for us all about where our true selves reside.

By Matt Grinter
Directed by Chloe Masterton

“One girl, against the happiness of the whole village. Can you not see it has to be done?”

Midsummer. The village must choose a new Daughter to sail with the fishing boats and bless the waters, keeping the threat of the orcas that roam the sea at bay for another year.

Fan hopes with all her heart to be the one chosen, but her older sister Maggie is adamant she must never, never, go with the boats. Because something happened to Maggie out there. Because no one will admit it. Because sometimes the most beautiful places harbour the darkest secrets.

Orca is an incisive, unflinching insight into what makes a community tolerate the unthinkable.

First performed at Southwark Playhouse. Winner of the Papatango Prize for New Writing. By arrangement with Nick Hern Books.

A musical for all ages by Brook Tate

“Watch out for No. 9” they whisper. On a street where everybody knows their neighbour, one man stands apart – Mr Maglump. Behind his door lies a rather marvellous secret which could turn the town upside down, and quite possibly the right way up. Just one brave child has the courage to find out what it was, or who it was, that put the glum in Maglump.

TICKETS: from £8

By Ross Willis

Struggling with a severe stammer, a schoolboy finds help in a teacher who champions him; but he also has the attention of his comic book creation Captain Chatter, and taunting supervillain William Shakespeare. A dynamic and tender new play that explores the failings of language and grief.

A play in the dark by Nell Leyshon

Performed in the dark, this evocative new play centres on a woman who is confined to a darkened room. Her young children seem far away but her partner is by her side; however his ability to negotiate the darkness is a strange kind of reassurance.

This thrilling and immersive performance takes place with the audience seated.

Important information for your visit
Unfortunately our lift is currently out of action which provides level access to Coopers' Loft. Please note there are a total of 66 steps to reach this level. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any concerns about accessibility, please contact our Box Office via 0117 987 7877.

By Skot Wilson

The tussle for the planet is evoked in this set of surprising short plays looking at the indelible mark human beings have made on animal life – an age named The Anthropocene. Kangaroo boxing, sea wall erosion, earth grubs hiding a murder, and whales thrown off course by a sea full of digital noise, all combine to ask “Whose Kingdom is this?”