First Season Of Plays In Greenwich Theatre's New Studio Space Launches Today

The first season of plays in Greenwich Theatre's new studio space launches today (January 13) with the in-house production of Sian Rowland's Gazing At A Distant Star. Directed by the theatre's artistic and executive director James Haddrell, the play gets its world premiere and a two and a half week run as part of the strategy for an exciting new era at the theatre.

"The studio gives us so much more flexibility for longer runs," said James. "With our short runs of touring shows in the main auditorium we often find that there isn't enough time for word of mouth. The creation of the studio means that we can run shows for longer periods of time and also, with new work, have time for shows to develop.

"Gazing At A Distant Star is a good example of how we evolve shows at the theatre. We had a try-out reading of Sian's script in the studio in October and got fantastic feedback from a sell-out audience.

"I knew it was a great script even when reading the draft version. It follows three characters that have experienced loss in one way or another. There's a young woman who's gone missing, a younger man whose colleague has disappeared and a slightly older woman whose adult son has been radicalised."

The play shows how three very different characters come to terms with their experiences and how their lives gently touch on each other's. "They don't know each other but their lives cross over," said James, "and those moments in the script are really special. But it's not all dark. There are some very light moments, some joyous moments and some important glimmers of hope."

Gazing At A Distant Star will be followed by one week runs for visiting productions of Fledgling Theatre's They Built It. No One Came, Silent Uproar's A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) and later on in the season, Certain Dark Things Theatre Company's Melancholy.

Fri 13-Sun 29 January - Gazing At A Distant Star
Tue 31 January-Sat 4 February - They Built It. No One Came
Tue 7-Sat 11 February - A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad)
Tue 18-Sat 22 April - Melancholy

FOR Greenwich Theatre news go to www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk