REVIEW: The Retreat at the Park Theatre

The Park Theatre programmes its two venues to appeal to a wide audience demographic in the Finsbury Park borough . This year we have seen a diverse mix including Hot Coals' wordless comedy "Finders Keepers", Giles Brandreth's cut down "Hamlet" and the strange goings on of Orford Ness in " Fishskin Trousers". On this occasion "The Retreat" a first stage play by Sam Bain targets the fans of TV comedy shows Peep Show ,Fresh meat and Gimme Gimme Gimme with its sophomoric base comedy. It is directed by Kathy Burke who has a fine comedy touch.

The opening sounds of the toll of bells and bird calls with muted light streaming through the small window effectively places us in a remote location.From my vantage point perched high up in the circle, peering down like a Scottish eagle hovering over a rather large basically furnished Scottish crofters hut, we meet Luke, a successful city trader.He has decided to covert to Buddhism and has travelled north to prepare sending his older brother,Tony, a postcard "Starting Retreat, please pay bills and redirect post". Tony smells a rat and can't understand why he would give up a life where "you were probably getting hooker Nectar points".

Danielle Tarento presents Manfred Karge’s one-woman play MAN TO MAN at Park Theatre

Following a successful, sell-out run at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Danielle Tarento presents Manfred Karge’s one-woman play Man To Man at Park Theatre, directed by Tilly Branson.  Tricia Kelly returns as the widow Ella who takes on the identity of her dead husband, in a rare British production of this enthralling play that premiered at the Traverse in 1987, catapulting Tilda Swinton to fame.  The show opens in Park90 on 6 November, with previews from 4 November and runs until 30 November. 

What lengths would you go to put the next meal on the table?

As the Nazis come to power in Germany, a young widow discovers that her only means of survival is to take on her dead husband’s job and with it his identity. Her struggle to maintain this extraordinary deception for over forty years forms the focus of this hauntingly poetic and utterly gripping one-woman tour-de-force.

Full cast announced for WARDE STREET at the Park Theatre

With the critically acclaimed revival of Richard Bean’s Toast currently running in Park200 and Anna Jordan’s Chicken Shop about to open in Park90, today Park Theatre Artistic Director Jez Bond announces the full cast for Damien Tracey’s sharp political drama Warde Street, set in the aftermath of the July 7^th 2005 London bombings.  Jenny Eastop directs a company that includes Omar Ibrahim, Avita Jay, Shane Noone, Maya Saroya and Corin Stuary. The production will open in Park90 on 6 October, with previews from 30 September, and runs until 26 October.  

Warde Street tells the story of Eddie, an ordinary man, whose life is ripped apart when his wife is killed in the July 7^th 2005, London bombings.  Unable to join the masses as they return to their own version of normal, Eddie abandons London for his boy-hood home, Manchester, to heal and somehow start over.  An unexpected encounter with his oldest friend, Ash, sets off a chain of events that will leave a sister fighting for the truth, a desperate father fighting for his freedom and the murky motivations of a career politician laid bare. 

Lucy Roslyn | Interview

Lucy Roslyn is currently playing the role of Claire in Crystal Springs at the Park Theatre. Since graduating from DSL, Lucy Roslyn's credits include Mr Happiness & The Water Engine (Old Vic Tunnels); the improvised game of chance with the devil Money Vs Happiness (Nu:write Festival Zagreb & Batersea Art Centre); the one woman show Laundry (Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2010 & Waterloo East Theatre) and Blind Eye, the world's first interactive 3D cinema advert, for Woman's Aid. Lucy is also a playwright, and wrote and performed the critically acclaimed The State Vs John Hayes, a psychological thriller based on research into American killers awaiting execution (Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013 & Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath). Her second play The Stooge debuted recently at the Tristan Bates, the first of a series of plays set in the darkly comic Boondog Circus in 1930's America. She plays alto saxophone, often guesting with Jonny & The Baptists, and is also an illustrator.

Can you tell us about the storyline of Crystal Springs?

Crystal Springs leads you back along the path that led to a tragedy. It is a story about cyber bullying and how minor mistakes can escalate out of control.

What are the main themes and messages of this play?

I think there are many ways to bully a person, and this play looks at technology as a tool for bullying. The introduction of social media to young friendships is a really interesting and dangerous topic. I think it is very easy to misread messages, and it is also very easy to send them without realising the impact. I am an adult and I still occasionally get it wrong, get hurt, hurt others. I am an adult though, not a child. Not everyone can shrug it off.

Peter Davison and Thusitha Jayasundera star in THE VERTICAL HOUR at the Park Theatre

With the critically acclaimed musical adaptation of the classic French novel Thérèse Raquin about to begin its run in Park200, having transferred from the Finborough Theatre, today Park Theatre Artistic Director Jez Bond announces a casting update for the first London revival of David Hare’s The Vertical Hour.

Peter Davison, probably best known for playing the fifth incarnation of The Doctor in Doctor Who and Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, will take the part of Oliver, with Thusitha Jayasundera joining him as Nadia.  The play, which received its UK premiere at the Royal Court in 2008, will be directed by Nigel Douglas and opens on 25 September, with previews from 23 September, running until 26 October.