PURGATORY Returns To London's Omnibus Theatre With Telos Ensemble
The eighth edition features table readings of Peptide Club, Uppers, and Ellipsis.
Telos Ensemble will bring its developmental reading series Purgatory back to London this Sunday, September 13th at 2:00pm at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham. The reading marks the series' return to the UK following stops across New York (Manhattan & Brooklyn), and a Los Angeles & San Francisco run earlier this year. The event will be followed by drinks and conversation with the cast and creative team.
This edition of Purgatory, the eighth in the series, features public table readings of three original pieces, all written by Telos Ensemble co-founder and resident playwright Dan Blick: Peptide Club, Uppers, and Ellipsis. Casting is by Dorie Magowan, a New York-based casting professional whose credits include casting for You (Netflix) and Countdown (Amazon Prime) along with The Acting Company's US National Tour.
The cast includes:
PEPTIDE CLUB
John Hunter Bell (Outlander, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, T2 Trainspotting. Theatre: The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, New Wimbledon Theatre).
UPPERS
Annika Foster (Burning Little Lies, Temptation Under the Sun, Modern Family); Caitlin O'Ryan (Outlander, Barred. Theatre: The Lights, Royal Court Theatre, and If and When, Soho Theatre); Patrick Shearer (Elvis, Harrow); and Dan Blick (writer of all three works).
ELLIPSIS
Sophie Simnett (Daybreak, Twist, Poldark) and Luke Azille (Grace, Casualty).
Purgatory is an intimate reading series offering audiences an exclusive opportunity to experience new, original works undergoing development by Telos Ensemble for the stage and screen, read by professional actors in a limited-seating setting. Launched in December 2024 at PRIV.Y Gallery in Manhattan, the series has since run at the Omnibus Theatre in London, Unit J in Brooklyn, Pluto's Loft in New York, Little Boxes Theater in San Francisco, and The Earl Gallery in Los Angeles (July 2026).
Telos Ensemble is a theatre and film company operating across New York, London, and Stockholm, co-founded by Dan Blick and Mitchell Pope, who met while training in the Meisner technique under Suzanne Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York. Since its first production in 2023, the company has staged seven original works across three countries, developing new writing from the reading room to the stage to the screen.
The company is led by Blick, who serves as Artistic Director and Head of Writing, and Pope, Managing Director and Head of Production, and is joined in Europe by Associate Producers Tora Hallström and Skyler Adams, both Stockholm-based and trained at the William Esper Studio. The company's debut feature film, Black Lake - written and directed by Blick, adapted from his stage play Lake George, and starring Hallström and Pope - is currently making its way through the international festival circuit following the completion of post-production in March 2026.