Hampstead Downstairs will receive two new plays by acclaimed writers Rona Munro and Steve Waters this autumn.
Munro’s Donny’s Brain and Waters’ Ignorance will play at the Hampstead theatre’s downstairs space along with Blue Sky, a new production from Pentabus Theatre, the company behind last year’s critically acclaimed production For Once.
Kicking off the season from 22 September, Donny’s Brain tells the story of car accident victim Donny, who wakes up in hospital with a strange woman weeping at his bedside while the love of his life is nowhere to be seen. Directed by Anna Ledwich, the funny and poignant tale plays until 20 October.
From 24 October to 10 November, Pentabus Theatre will present Clare Bayley’s Blue Sky, a fast-paced thriller about justice and journalism, which investigates the suspicious goings-on in the English countryside during the dead of night.
Completing the season is Ignorance, which, set in 1949 Colorado, tells the story of a group of regular American students who struggle to accept a foreigner into their midst, leading to terrible consequences. 60 years later, a university professor’s work analysing those consequences takes on a frightening personal dimension when Layla Ahmed walks into his office.
Directed by Nathan Curry, whose credits include 66 Books, Little Platoons and The Contingency Plan at the Bush, Ignorance will play for a month from 15 November.
The new autumn season at Hampstead Downstairs, a space created for new writers to showcase their work, continues Artistic Director Edward Hall’s ambition for new plays to be shown free from the pressures of commercial interests and theatre critics, but in front of paying audiences who are able to offer their feedback.