Two new plays about teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, plus new versions of Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle and classic fairytale Cinderella, feature in the Unicorn theatre’s autumn season.
The line-up kicks off with Rigged (13 to 17 October), a new play for teenagers about the battle between choices and expectations in small town Britain. Theatre Centre, whose previous productions at the Unicorn include Romeo In The City and Knock Against My Heart, presents this story about a teenager and his girlfriend, each from a dysfunctional family and each with different priorities, trying to make their way in life.
Michael Wicherek’s Time For The Good Looking Boy (17 to 21 November) also centres on a teen looking towards his future. This witty one-man show about the harsh realities of growing up is narrated by a young man who has just finished his A Levels and is about to head to university, where everything is going to change.
Shared Experience’s Nancy Meckler directs the next production in the season, Alistair Beaton’s new version of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle (25 to 29 November) which uses a musical score and a community choir to accompany this story of civil war and sacrifice.
The final new production this autumn is a screwball new version of the classic fairytale Cinderella, which runs over the Christmas period from 5 December to 24 January directed by the Unicorn theatre’s Artistic Director Tony Graham. Children’s playwright Phil Porter, whose piece The Flying Machine was staged at the Unicorn last year, reimagines Cinders as a very modern girl who is at the end of her tether after bailing out the family business, a floating retirement home for elderly magicians. When the royal palace announces a ball, Cinderella dreams of attending, but with only the retirement home’s ancient residents for company, who is going to work the magic she needs to get her there?
Cinderella, which is suitable for theatregoers aged six and over, continues the Unicorn theatre’s tradition of presenting new versions of classics over the festive period. Last year’s very modern take on The Sleeping Beauty was preceded in 2007 by Duck!, a version of The Ugly Duckling.
The season also includes a programme of shows for younger children. Lyngo theatre presents Egg And Spoon, Circus Minimus and What A Wonderful World, Polka theatre visits the Unicorn with its playful take on The Princess And The Pea and the Little Angel Puppet theatre brings the 55 puppets of Handa’s Hen to the London Bridge venue.
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