New Perspectives Stage Script-in-Hand MARYLAND IN NOTTINGHAM

As the first statement from new Artistic Director Angharad Jones, New Perspectives in collaboration with Nottingham's Nonsuch Studios are presenting a script-in-hand reading of Lucy Kirkwood's Maryland, a 30-minute response to the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa that was written in just two days. Following its reading at the Royal Court, the play has been made available for a short space of time. 50% of the proceeds from its East Midlands performance will be donated to Nottingham Sexual Violence Support Services (formerly Rape Crisis Nottingham)

Director and Artistic Director of New Perspectives Angharad Jones said, "I am grateful to Vicky Featherstone for the speed at which she supported this piece and got it in front of an audience at the Royal Court, necessitated by this disturbing moment in time; and to Lucy Kirkwood who has captured the rage, fear and insult felt by women up and down the country so powerfully and truthfully and with immense craft.

It feels incredibly important to me to present this reading as my first statement as Artistic Director of New Perspectives and for this piece to be seen and heard by audiences in our home city of Nottingham, and where, recently, we have been highlighted in the national and international press due to the high number of shocking incidents of spiking by injection in nightclubs. Maryland is a play for now. It is devastating. And fuelled with rage. We're angry. And damn straight we should be! And we will shout about it. Loudly.

With thanks to the Royal Court and Nonsuch studios, I am proud to share this special piece of work with a live audience and will use this opportunity to flood the space with a mighty force of female East Midlands' talent."

On writing the piece Lucy Kirkwood said on the Royal Court website: "This play was for many years a private conversation with myself. The horrific murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa this year have galvanised me into making it public. I hesitate to even call it a play when it is simply a howl, a way of expressing what I feel about a culture of violence against women, but I am sharing it because I wonder if it might express a little of what other people feel about it too. It was written very quickly, and I am grateful to the Royal Court for snatching up a gauntlet thrown down last Friday night with such energy, care and seriousness."

Edward Boot, Artistic Director, Nonsuch Studios, "We're honoured to be working in partnership with New Perspectives and supported by The Royal Court to enable the audiences of Nottingham to come together to experience this new and breath taking piece that is so important for all to hear in support of the safety of women in our city. We're especially glad to be directly supporting those affected by sexual violence in our city with a donation to NSVSS included with every ticket."

New Perspectives is an East Midlands based company with nearly 50 years' experience of touring high-quality productions to venues of all sizes across the UK, from mid-scale theatres to village halls. With a strong rural core, they create productions to fit spaces of any size in order to bring new work that is unexpected and thought-provoking to a wide range of audiences. In 2021, Angharad Jones was appointed as their new Artistic Director, taking over from Jack McNamara. Their series PlacePrints, ranked the UK's 25th most popular fiction podcast (2020) is currently available. Other recent productions have included the internationally successful postcard drama Love From Cleethorpes which reached over 2,400 letterboxes, The Festival of Small Things, two days of engaging performances in Parks, schools, market places and pavements across Nottingham and the release of the Audiobook Voice of The Fire by Alan Moore, marking the 25th anniversary of the Northampton-set book.