David Mercatali News

Twenty years after its first premiere, Terry Johnson's Insignificance is being given new life by director David Mercatali. He discusses his career and how the world has changed since the play was first on.

Metal Rabbit, in association with The Bunker Theatre, present the London transfer of critically acclaimed 2015 Edinburgh Festival sell-out Tonight with Donny Stixx, running Tuesday 8th November - Saturday 3rd December 2016. Press Night: Today 11th November 2016, 7.30pm. Click below to go behind the scenes with the cast and creative team!

Metal Rabbit, in association with The Bunker Theatre, present the London transfer of critically acclaimed 2015 Edinburgh Festival sell-out Tonight with Donny Stixx, running Tuesday 8th November - Saturday 3rd December 2016. Press Night: Friday 11th November 2016, 7.30pm. Click below to go behind the scenes with the cast and creative team!

Carol Churchill is one of our greatest playwrights; gems such as Top Girls and Far Away have challenged the concepts of theatrical writing in wonderful and exciting ways. Blue Heart at Orange Tree Theatre is a different animal. It is both clever and absurd, and Churchill tests many traditions of theatrical form, yet feels a little empty at its core.

Two years ago, Philip Ridley called me up to say he was working on a companion piece to one of our previous collaborations, the explosive Dark Vanilla Jungle, which had charted the downfall of a vulnerable young woman in our increasingly violently patriarchal society. This would be the journey of a young man who had become victim and perpetrator in that same violent world - a sensitive soul with a dangerous edge, who you wanted to cuddle one minute and run away from the next. He was Donny Stixx, an entertainer with the confidence to go all the way to the top. I fell for him from the start.

Metal Rabbit, in association with The Bunker Theatre, present the London transfer of critically acclaimed 2015 Edinburgh Festival sell-out Tonight with Donny Stixx. Donny has committed an act that shocked everyone. Tabloids called him The Most Hated Boy Alive. But, despite this, Donny doesn't want forgiveness. All Donny wants is his own television show.

Tobacco Factory Theatres and the Orange Tree Theatre are embarking on a new co-producing partnership to stage the first major revival of Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart. Gillian Axtell, Alex Beckett, Amanda Boxer, Amelda Brown, Andy de la Tour, Maroussia Frank, Mona Goodwin, Janet Henfrey and Tracey Lee Sharples will appear in Caryl Churchill's two exhilarating one act plays, which have not been seen for nearly twenty years. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal!

Tobacco Factory Theatres and the Orange Tree Theatre are embarking on a new co-producing partnership to stage the first major revival of Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart. Gillian Axtell, Alex Beckett, Amanda Boxer, Amelda Brown, Andy de la Tour, Maroussia Frank, Mona Goodwin, Janet Henfrey and Tracey Lee Sharples will appear in Caryl Churchill's two exhilarating one act plays, which have not been seen for nearly twenty years. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal!

A brand new theatre, named The Bunker, is opening in a former underground car park in Southwark Street and is set to be the capital's newest contemporary Off-West End venue.  Behind this exciting venture are emerging creatives Joel Fisher and Joshua McTaggart.

Casting has been announced for first major revival of Caryl Churchill's BLUE HEART, nearly 20 years after its Royal Court premiere, co-produced by Tobacco Factory Theatres and the Orange Tree Theatre. Blue Heart brings them together to work again with key creatives David Mercatali and Angela Davies, who have worked on previous projects with both organisations. The play runs at Tobacco Factory Theatres 22 September-1 October, and at the Orange Tree Theatre 13 October-19 November.

Gary Naylor sees a powerful, important play that speaks to a 2016 audience explicitly about the defining issue of our times.

CARGO is an enthralling new play from author and playwright Tess Berry-Hart (Someone to Blame, Sochi 2014). Directed by Evening Standard Award nominee David Mercatali (Little Light, Radiant Vermin), this timely world premiere is a tense and provocative thriller that reveals just how much people are willing to risk in search of a better life.

CARGO is an enthralling new play from author and playwright Tess Berry-Hart (Someone to Blame, Sochi 2014). Directed by Evening Standard Award nominee David Mercatali (Little Light, Radiant Vermin), this timely world premiere is a tense and provocative thriller that reveals just how much people are willing to risk in search of a better life.

CARGO is an enthralling new play from author and playwright Tess Berry-Hart (Someone to Blame, Sochi 2014). Directed by Evening Standard Award nominee David Mercatali (Little Light, Radiant Vermin), this timely world premiere is a tense and provocative thriller that reveals just how much people are willing to risk in search of a better life.

59E59 Theaters will host the US premiere of RADIANT VERMIN, written by Philip Ridley and directed by David Mercatali, at the 2016 Brits Off Broadway festival. Produced by Supporting Wall, Metal Rabbit Productions, and Soho Theatre, RADIANT VERMIN begins performances on Thursday, June 2 for a limited engagement through Sunday, July 3. 

The September 2016-February 2017 Orange Tree Theatre season will feature the first major revivals of Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart and Somerset Maugham's last play Sheppey, as well as a new play from Zoe Cooper, the English language premiere of Roland Schimmelpfennig's Winter Solstice, and an Elinor Cook adaptation of children's story Extra Yarn.

CARGO is an enthralling new play from author and playwright Tess Berry-Hart (Someone to Blame, Sochi 2014). Directed by Evening Standard Award nominee David Mercatali (Little Light, Radiant Vermin), this timely world premiere is a tense and provocative thriller that reveals just how much people are willing to risk in search of a better life.

Actress Scarlett Alice Johnson steps into the lead role in Philip Ridley's show-stopping satirical comedy RADIANT VERMIN. Actress Gemma Whelan regretfully withdrew from the production owing to a family illness.

59E59 Theaters has announced the line-up for the this year's Brits Off Broadway festival, the critically acclaimed annual festival of New British Theater. Now in its 12th Season, the 2016 Brits Off Broadway festival kicks off on Tuesday, April 19 and runs through Sunday, July 3.  Single ticket prices range from $25 - $70 ($17.50 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets to Brits Off Broadway go on sale to the general public on March 7, with an exclusive pre-sale for 59E59 Members beginning on March 1. Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org.