HIDE to Tour London Schools as Donmar Warehouse Marks Fifth Annual Schools' Tour

The Donmar Warehouse has embarked on its fifth annual Schools' Tour with HIDE – a new play by Stewart Pringle set in a failing secondary school, inspired by The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Directed by Jack Bradfield, the cast is Elios Douglas (Manny), Gia Imo (G), Leo Shak (Noah), and features the voice of Paterson Joseph. The tour is offered completely free to schools in Camden and Westminster with 29 performances at 19 schools between 15 June and 10 July.  

Playwright Stewart Pringle said, “HIDE is a story about lies and about control. It's about the relationship between how we control ourselves, and how we're controlled by others. A school is like a society in miniature, and the way it's run and the opportunities which are given to the children who attend it play a huge part in how our wider society will be lived in and run by future generations.”

Tim Sheader, Donmar Artistic Director said “we are very proud to be delivering our fifth annual schools' tour this summer, giving young audiences in Camden and Westminster the opportunity to experience the powerful intimacy of the Donmar in their own school halls. Our ambition is for all young people in our local area to develop a love of theatre, and we are delighted that through the schools' tour and our LOCAL programme, we now have partnerships with the majority of local secondary schools. We are grateful to our funders and partners who enable us to deliver this important work to schools for free.” 

The Donmar's Schools' Tour programme was created as a post-pandemic effort to ensure that young people had access to theatre. With expressive arts subjects increasingly under-prioritised in schools and enrolment in GCSE Drama down 45% since 2010, the Donmar aims to support Key Stage 3 students to engage with the arts in a cross-curricular way. To develop the play, the creative team has worked with young people and teachers from the Donmar's local schools' network to ensure the work is age-appropriate and  reflects the perspectives of young people.

Since 2021, nearly 12,000 young people have seen a Donmar Schools' Tour. This year, the theatre is hoping to meet a further 4,100. As an annual event, with a different play each year, the Schools' Tour aims to inspire young people to develop a love of theatre-going throughout their life.

About HIDE

What if, for one single hour... anything was allowed? At a secondary school on the brink of collapse, a radical new government initiative promises a solution. H.Y.D.E. - the Hostile Youth Diffusion Experiment. When the bell rings the rules no longer apply. In the claustrophobic confines of “the Tank,” a dingy ex-classroom piled with forgotten things, three students wait.

Manny is agitated, imagining all the rebellious things he could do. New boy Noah appears to know more than he should. And G is watching, trying to keep everything together, afraid of the monster inside.

They're being watched. What will they do when the moment finally comes? Who will they become when nothing is off-limits? When the bell rings, there's no going back.