ESTIMATED WAITING TIME Will Tour Housing Estates After Receiving ACE Funding

ESTIMATED WAITING TIME, a new play by Hackney-based playwright Mark Lindow, will tour to Housing Estates and outdoor community spaces across England this summer after receiving a substantial grant from Arts Council England.

The play tells the story of local residents Alyssa (42) and Lewis (15) who meet by chance one evening while both looking for a place to escape their home lives. Isolated and lonely, the pair find a commonality and form an unlikely friendship through their shared frustration with family and the systems that are failing them, and their love of storytelling.

Exploring themes of loneliness, lack of NHS funding and delayed waiting times, difficulties within the educational system, and the pressures facing carers and young people, Estimated Waiting Time reaches out to those who have limited opportunity to experience socially relevant live theatre.

Mark Lindow first wrote Estimated Waiting Time several years ago, influenced by his experiences working as a manager for the NHS. For the last two years, he has been working with actor/creative producer Holly Joyce to develop a two-hander version of the play. When the Covid 19 pandemic hit in March 2020, they saw an opportunity to share live theatre with local communities in a safe, outdoor environment once the lockdown restrictions eased - the play is set solely in a housing estate playground and features only two actors, with the set comprising of a simple, portable swing.

In August 2020, producer Lauren Reed came on board and Estimated Waiting Time was performed in Shillington Park, Battersea as part of the Wandsworth Summer Sessions. The socially-distanced, free of charge performances were warmly welcomed by audiences, despite the British weather. Then in March 2021, the Estimated Waiting Time team were awarded funding to take the play to schools as part of Islington council's 11 by 11 pledge; a commitment to ensure all children and young people attending a school in Islington have eleven outstanding cultural experiences by year eleven. They also produced a recorded version of the production that could be viewed online by schools who were restricted or forced to close due to Covid.

Over the coming weeks, performances will take place on some of the country's most deprived estates in areas across England, including Blackpool, St Helen's and Selby. HOLLY JOYCE will return to the role of Alyssa, and KANE HEADLEY-CUMMINGS will play Lewis.

Actor/Producer, Holly Joyce, said: "Largely inspired by the work of the late Jennie Buckman and her company Giants Theatre, I am passionate about making theatre that is accessible and relevant to traditionally non-theatre-going-audiences. While the COVID 19 pandemic has devastated the creative industries in so many ways, it has given some not-for-profit theatre-makers the opportunity to focus on creating and sharing work in different ways. It has allowed us time to reflect on how we might enable everyone to experience the joy of live theatre regardless of socio-economic or cultural background. We are very grateful to Arts Council England, The Cripplegate Foundation and the Windmill Hill Big Local initiative for their generous financial contributions to the project, and to the local councils and organisations who have worked against the odds to ensure the performances can happen within their local communities."

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