21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS Will Premiere at the Hope Theatre Next Month

This winter, The Hope Theatre - the acclaimed 50 seat pub theatre in the heart of Islington - will present the world stage premiere of 21 Round For Christmas by Matthew Ballantyne and Toby Hampton. Tickets are on sale now, with performances from 30 November to 18 December, with a press night on 2 December.

Directed by The Hope Theatre's award-nominated Deputy Artistic Director, Toby Hampton, 21 Round for Christmas will star Clare Bloomer, who reprises the role of Tracy from the successful OnComm nominated Hope At Home digital series, produced by the theatre during lockdown.

Christmas time, mistletoe & wine, children singing Christian rhymes... out of tune and far too loudly for six in the f**ing morning! Join Tracy Sullivan, a day-dreaming, outspoken, list-making, extroverted-introvert in the midst of cooking Christmas Dinner for her family - her extremely large family. A raucous festive romp with... a little bit of spice!

Toby Hampton said, "This show has been so long in the making that I can't believe it's finally here! It's been such a pleasure to work with this brilliant team and I'm really excited to share Tracy with the world. I hope that there's something in it for everyone so come and see our show... please!"

Clare Bloomer's recent credits include Margaret Thatcher in Maggie and Ted by Michael McManus (Yvonne Arnaud/Garrick Theatre/White Bear - OffComm Commendation); Gertrude in Hamlet (Iris Theatre); Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (Bedouin Shakespeare for Duke of York's/ Silvano Toti Globe Theatre, Rome); Always Tuesday (Southwark Playhouse) and Foul Pages (The Hope Theatre). Clare trained at RADA where she was a Lilian Baylis and Verity Hudson Bursary Award recipient.

Opening in 2013, The Hope Theatre was originally a sister theatre of Islington's King's Head Theatre, renovated from a function room above the famous Hope & Anchor pub and music venue into a black box studio theatre. The Hope Theatre has transferred two productions to the West End (Ushers to the Charing Cross Theatre and the Snoo Wilson's Lovesong Of The Electric Bear to The Arts) and has been home to many world premieres. It also housed the professional world premiere of Joe Orton's Fred And Madge.

The Hope Theatre is a place for audiences and companies to explore BIG ideas. It nurtures and develops new producing models, working with exciting companies to present a mix of new writing, lost gems from well-known writers, re-polished classics and innovatively staged musicals.

Although The Hope Theatre has received no regular public subsidy since its 2013 opening, it was the first Off West End venue to open with a house agreement with Equity. This ensures a legal wage for all actors, stage managers and box office staff working at the theatre.

In 2020, Kennedy Bloomer became Artistic Director of the theatre and navigated the theatre through the global Covid-19 pandemic and total closure by taking The Hope Theatre online. Phil Bartlett was appointed Artistic Director in September 2021, and will be announcing the theatre's 2022 programme later this autumn.

The Hope Theatre was successfully granted funds from the Arts Council England Emergency Response Fund, the ACE and DCMS Culture Recovery Fund 1 and 2, and Islington Council's Cultural and Evening Economy Support Fund. The Hope Theatre team would like to gratefully acknowledge the role that this funding has played in enabling the venue to survive and reopen this summer.

Learn more and book tickets at www.thehopetheatre.com.