Actor and impressionist Steve Nallon will star in Dead Sheep, Jonathan Maitland’s debut play about the speech that brought down Margaret Thatcher, as part of the Park Theatre’s 2015 spring season.
The production is joined by two world premieres – Avaes Mohammad’s double bill Hurling Rubble and Michael Kingsbury’s comedy Contact.Com – and the European premiere of Kill Me Know. All three productions will play in the Finsbury Park venue’s largest auditorium, Park200.
Contact.Com is the first of the trio to take to the stage, playing from 13 January to 14 February. A new comedy exploring the pitfalls of Internet dating and the sexual and economic needs of two different couples, Ian Brown’s production follows Mathew and Naomi as they meet Ryan and Kelly for one night of unlimited pleasure.
Brad Fraser’s Kill Me Now will follow from 19 February to 29 March. Directed by Braham Murray, the play tells the tale of once-successful writer Jake Sturdy who cares for his disabled and hormonal teenage son. He is also having an affair with his former student, Robyn. But when Jake is struck by an unexpected disaster, he is forced to confront some difficult questions about who’s really looking after who.
From 1 April to 9 May, Ian Talbot will direct Nallon in Dead Sheep. The production tells the true story of how Thatcher was brought down by her one time friend and political soul mate Geoffrey Howe, and charts Howe’s determination to destroy Thatcher in his dramatic resignation speech. Tallon, who is well-known for his portrayal of Thatcher on ITV’s Spitting Image, will take on the role of the late British Prime Minister in the show, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the historic events.
Completing the Park200 season is Mohammad’s double bill Hurling Rubble At The Moon and Hurling Rubble At The Sun, which runs from 13 May to 6 June. Together the plays explore the untold story behind contemporary British extremism. Directed by the Park’s Artistic Director Jez Bond, the first of the two pieces tells of an unsaid border dividing white working-class Britain from an increasingly confident home-grown Muslim community.
Hurling Rubble At The Sun, which is directed by Rod Dixon, charts the story of Chief and his mates, who live in a small northern British Asian community, as all they ever knew crumbles into rubble along with the twin towers in 9/11. As new ways of being manifest over the following decade, love and friendship cling like weeds over the face of new radicalism.
In the Park Theatre’s smaller auditorium, Park90, season highlights include a rare revival of Bryony Lavery’s Tony Award nominated drama Frozen. Playing from 18 March to 11 April, the play tells the story of a mother who desperately tries to cling to hope 20 years after her 10-year-old daughter goes missing.
Frozen is joined by the UK premiere of John Cariani’s Almost, Maine (16 December to 17 January), about a mythical town whose residents fall in and out of love in the strangest ways at exactly the same time, and Alex McSweeney’s self-directed production of Out Of The Cage (20 January to 14 February), which is inspired by the munition women of London’s Silvertown during the First World War.
Also in the season are Torben Betts’ funny, touching and ultimately devastating play Muswell Hill (17 February to 14 March), The Glass Protégé (14 April to 9 May), Dylan Costello’s powerful drama about the money, image and power obsessed ‘Hollywood machine’, and Guillem Clua’s award-winning political thriller Skin In Flames (13 May to 6 June).