Paines Plough Announce Programme 2018

Artistic Directors of Paines Plough James Grieve and George Perrin today announced the company's full Programme 2018.

James Grieve and George Perrin said: "We are honoured and excited to present some of the UK's most exciting new playwrights around the country, on the airwaves and online in Paines Plough's Programme 2018.

ROUNDABOUT will again tour the UK with three world premieres in partnership with Theatr Clwyd. Simon Longman's ISLAND TOWN is a play about friendship, cheap cider, and feeling stuck in your hometown. STICKS AND STONES is a hilarious, incisive satire on the modern condition from BAFTA nominated Vinay Patel. Georgia Christou's HOW TO SPOT AN ALIEN is a rip-roaring space odyssey for adventurous young people and older stargazers. We think Georgia, Simon and Vinay are amongst the most distinctive, observant and entertaining new voices in British theatre and we are thrilled to showcase their work across the UK in our beautiful pop-up Roundabout.

POP MUSIC is a new play from Bruntwood Prize winning writer of YEN, Anna Jordan, co-commissioned with Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Turbo charged by non-stop pop hits from the past 20 years of chart toppers, POP MUSIC is a euphoric, nostalgic, poptastic theatre party for anyone who's ever been a dick on the dancefloor.

Thanks to a Channel Four Playwright Bursary, London Laureate and former Roundhouse Poetry Slam Champion Zia Ahmed spent the last year on attachment to Paines Plough, during which time he wrote one of the most exciting debut plays we've come across in several years. We could not be more excited to be partnering with Tamasha to present the tender and lyrical love story I WANNA BE YOURS which will embark on a 'Create' Tour with Rural Arts in April.

We are again partnering with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and The Gate Theatre to showcase new talent with the world premiere of Isley Lynn's ALBATROSS, directed by Anna Himali Howard who was Paines Plough Trainee Director in 2016. Both Isley and Anna are major new talents and we are delighted to forge their partnership on a show which will be performed by the graduating actors at RWCMD.

It is our mission to take the best new theatre everywhere, live and digital. Our COME TO WHERE I'M FROM smartphone app will relaunch on the Apple store and Google Play with a 160-strong audio play library from writers across the country - a vivid patchwork quilt of accents, experiences and impressions in your pocket. Wherever you are in the world you can hear writers like Alice Birch, Mike Bartlett, James Graham, Roy Williams, April De Angelis and Lizzie Nunnery telling tales of their home towns.

Whether you're in a theatre, on a smartphone or listening to your car radio, there is something for everyone, everywhere in Programme 2018."

Paines Plough presents
ROUNDABOUT

Following another critically acclaimed season in 2017, Roundabout, Paines Plough's award-winning portable in-the-round auditorium, will return for a fifth consecutive year in 2018. The 2018 programme will include World Premieres from Simon Longman, Vinay Patel and Georgia Christou co-produced with Theatr Clwyd and performed in rep, opening at Theatr Clwyd and touring to The Lowry (Salford), Brewery Arts Centre (Kendal), Lighthouse (Poole), Theatre Royal Margate, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Appetite (Stoke-on-Trent), Darlington Theatre Town and Luton Culture.

The UK tour of Roundabout is part of a strategic audience development project funded by the Arts Council England Strategic Touring Fund. This is the third year of the project and the tour sees the company return to their eight partners.

Roundabout will also host a programme of visiting companies, comedy, music and local community events.

Paines Plough's 2017 Roundabout premieres from Brad Birch, Elinor Cook and Sarah McDonald-Hughes co-produced with the Orange Tree Theatre and Theatr Clwyd are currently running at the Orange Tree Theatre until 3 March 2018 (more details below).

The World Premieres at Roundabout are:

A Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd production
ISLAND TOWN
by Simon Longman

Kate, Sam and Pete are stuck. The town they live in doesn't have much going on. But they don't really care about that when they've got cheap cider and their whole lives ahead of them.

And they're going to break away anyway. Someone's about to get a car. And all roads go somewhere else. Right?

ISLAND TOWN is a new play about friendship, hope and trying to make an escape.

Simon is a writer from the West Midlands whose play GUNDOG is currently premiering at The Royal Court Theatre. Last year, his play WHITE SKY premiered at the Royal Welsh College before transferring to The Gate Theatre. Simon is currently under commission to the Bush Theatre and Paines Plough. He was a member of the Royal Court Young Writer's Group in 2014 he won the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme.

A Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd production
STICKS AND STONES
by Vinay Patel

"So we're clear
You know, right?
You know I'm not that kind of person."

Sometimes we can't find the right words. Sometimes the wrong word just slips out. Sometimes the right words become the wrong words. And sometimes that ruins everything.

When a misfiring joke turns their life upside down, B sets off on a surreal journey into the night, looking for answers. In an age when language is ever-shifting and technology multiplies every little mistake, can we find a way to understand each other?

Written by BAFTA nominated Vinay Patel, STICKS AND STONES is a side-splitting satire about the search for a sure footing in an uncertain world.

Vinay's debut play TRUE BRITS premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014 and transferred to the Bush's RADAR Festival and VAULT Festival. His second, FREE FALL, opened at the Pleasance Islington and was nominated for three Off West End awards. His latest play AN ADVENTURE will premiere at The Bush Theatre in September 2018 and will be directed by Bush Artistic Director, Madani Younis. Vinay's television debut MURDERED BY MY FATHER was commissioned for BBC3 and won 2 Royal Television Society awards including Best Single Drama as well as being nominated for three BAFTAs including Best Single Drama and the Breakthrough Talent Award for Vinay.

A Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd production
HOW TO SPOT AN ALIEN
by Georgia Christou

What do you do if you think your aunt is an alien? 12-year-old Jelly and her cousin JonJo have their suspicions.

She won't let them leave the house. Or ask questions. And she definitely won't let them in the attic.

Join Jelly and JonJo on their quest to discover the truth in a rip-roaring adventure through space full of friendship, fun and flying saucers.

Contains: one confused alien, two brave kids and a busted spaceship.
For space cadets age 5 and up.

Georgia is a previous member of the Royal Court Young Writers' Group. YOUS TWO is her first full-length play which was originally shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award in 2015. She has also been selected as part of Channel 4's 4Stories scheme and is writing an original single drama which will shoot in 2018. YOUS TWO is currently playing at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs until 24th February 2018.

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A Paines Plough and Birmingham Repertory Theatre co-commission
POP MUSIC
by Anna Jordan

Direction James Grieve

For anyone that's ever been a dick on the dance floor.

A wedding. A free bar. A blast from the past.

G and Kayla's lives are a mess but tonight they're determined to Have It Large. As their veins course with adrenalin and cheap prosecco we follow them on an epic journey through thirty years of Pop.

Can the DJ save them as they become Dancing Queens, reliving their Teenage Dream, Staying out For The Summer and Spicing Up Their Lives? Pop makes promises it can't keep, and soon they'll discover they have more in common than their taste in tunes.

Pop Music is an emotionally contagious rollercoaster. A night at the theatre like no other.

Anna won the 2013 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting for Yen (Royal Court) after having been twice longlisted for her plays MARIANNE and CHICKEN SHOP. YEN has had productions at Manchester Royal Exchange, the Royal Court and MCC New York as well as several international productions. It was also shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2015-2016. Other theatre writing includes WE ANCHOR IN HOPE (Royal Court Theatre - Beyond the Court), CHICKEN SHOP (Park Theatre) and FREAK (Theatre503 / Assembly Studios).

James is Joint Artistic Director of Paines Plough.

POP MUSIC will tour with support from Esmée Fairbairn and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

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A Paines Plough and Tamasha production
I WANNA BE YOURS
by Zia Ahmed

Direction Anna Himali Howard

Ella is from Yorkshire. Haseeb is from London. They order a pizza. House red for Ella. Hot chocolate for Haseeb.

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

Meet in the middle. Meet the parents. Meet the friends. Meet the aunties. They say opposites attract, but can they stay together?

A tender, funny, lyrical play about finding love and holding onto it with everything you've got. I WANNA BE YOURS is the debut play from slam poetry champion Zia Ahmed.

Zia is from North West London. He is a London Laureate, having been shortlisted to be the Young Poet Laureate for London 2015/16. He is a former Roundhouse Poetry Slam champion.

I WANNA BE YOURS was developed with support from the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme.

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A Paines Plough, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and Gate Theatre production
ALBATROSS
by Isley Lynn

Direction Anna Himali Howard

Tattoos are forever. Almost. And at Noodle Soup Tattoo there are strict rules: No names unless they're dead. Nothing on the face. Nothing you might get sued for later.

When Jodie, a rough sleeper, asks for a free tattoo from apprentice Kit, her request is well within the guidelines. But Kit is still unsure, because Kit knows only too well that getting inked isn't the only decision that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Albatross is a small but sweeping story about the past refusing to stay in the past.

Isley's most recent play, SKIN A CAT, won the Vault Pick Of The Year Award in 2016 and was nominated for three Off West End Awards. She is part of the Bush Theatre's Emerging Writers Group and a HighTide First Commissions Writer.

Anna was Trainee Director at Paines Plough in 2016. She is a Creative Associate at The Gate Theatre and an alumnus of the REP Foundry artist development scheme. Other directing credits include LIFE IS NO LAUGHING MATTER by Demi Nandhra (Battersea Arts Centre, Normal? Festival) and 20B by Jane English (Birmingham REP, Theatre Royal Stratford East).

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A Paines Plough production

COME TO WHERE I'M FROM

Since 2010, Paines Plough's nationwide project Come To Where I'm From has seen over 160 playwrights from across the pen plays about the places they call home.

Each play is performed for one-night only and then becomes part of the free Come To Where I'm From smartphone app which houses all the mini-plays that have been performed since the project began to create a vivid patchwork quilt of accents, experiences and impressions of the UK.

Thanks to support from The Space, in 2018 Paines Plough will relaunch the app which will be available free to download from the Apple Store and Google Play. The 160-strong audio play library will include a huge range of playwrights, from Olivier Award winners to first timers. Recent additions include: Alice Birch, Mike Bartlett, James Graham, Roy Williams, April De Angelis, Vinay Patel and Lizzie Nunnery.

The app was redeveloped with funding and support from digital commissioning agency The Space and developed by Milk Bar Studios.

Further locations and participating playwrights will be announced in due course.

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A Paines Plough, Theatr Clwyd and Orange Tree Theatre production
BLACK MOUNTAIN
By Brad Birch

Direction James Grieve

Rebecca and Paul are running away. Away from memories and mistakes.

They're trying to save their relationship. They need time and space. An isolated house in the country is the perfect place to work things out.

But you can't run forever. Especially when you're being followed.

BLACK MOUNTAIN is a tense psychological thriller about betrayal and forgiveness by winner of the Harold Pinter Commission Brad Birch.

Nominated for the Best Production in the English Language at the Wales Theatre Award 2018.

Brad was awarded the Harold Pinter Commission in 2016. In 2017 THIS MUST BE THE PLACE won Pick of The Year at VAULT Festival. He is currently under commission to the RSC, Teatro Malta, Sherman Theatre and the Royal Court and he is on attachment to the National Theatre.

A Paines Plough, Theatr Clwyd and Orange Tree Theatre production
OUT OF LOVE
By Elinor Cook

Direction James Grieve

Lorna and Grace do everything together. They share crisps, cigarettes and crushes. That's what happens when you're best friends forever.

But when Lorna gets a place at University, and Grace gets pregnant, they suddenly find themselves in starkly different worlds. Can anything bridge the gap between them?

A tale of friendship, love and rivalry over thirty years from award-winning playwright Elinor Cook.

OUT OF LOVE is a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2018.

Elinor was the winner of the George Devine Award 2013 for Most Promising Playwright. She was recently commissioned by The Donmar Warehouse to adapt Henrik Ibsen's THE LADY FROM THE SEA, which was directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. Her previous work with Paines Plough includes TEN WEEKS which was a co-production between Paines Plough, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Gate Theatre in 2016 and LATER in 2007 where it debuted alongside work by Polly Stenham and Alexandra Wood. Elinor also adapted Mac Barnett's EXTRA YARN which premiered in 2016 at the Orange Tree.

A Paines Plough, Theatr Clwyd and Orange Tree Theatre production
HOW TO BE A KID
By Sarah McDonald-Hughes

Direction James Grieve

Molly cooks. Molly does the dishes. Molly gets her little brother Joe ready for school. Molly is only 12, but she doesn't feel much like a kid anymore.

Now Molly's Mum is feeling better, maybe things will get back to normal. Can you help Molly learn how to be a kid again?

Join Molly, Joe and her Nan for a larger than life story of family, friends and fitting in.

Warning: Contains dancing, chocolate cake and an epic car chase.

Winner of the Best Play for Young Audiences at the Writers Guild Awards 2018.

For ages 7+.

Sarah is an actor and writer from Manchester. She recently won a 2018 Writer's Guild Award for her play HOW TO BE A KID and won the 2017 National Octagon Prize for her play SHERBET, co-written with Curtis Cole. She has previously worked with Paines Plough on Come To Where I'm From.

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PAINES PLOUGH'S AUDITIONS PLEDGE

In line with their season announcement, Paines Plough have launched a new initiative designed to create the best possible conditions for actors during the auditioning process. Developed by the company to counteract some of the unnecessary challenges actors face when applying for a role, the pledge encompasses the following elements:

• To hold open auditions for actors with or without agents, anywhere in the country and regardless of whether they are on Spotlight
• To publish breakdowns on their website for every part they are casting, and make sure anyone can submit themselves for consideration. They will consider everyone, for every part.
• To provide actors with the information they need to prepare, letting them know in advance who they will be meeting, how the meeting will work, and what they expect to be prepared so there are no surprises on the day.

James Grieve said: "Back in 2010 when I joined Paines Plough we started Open Auditions as a direct response to actors telling us they were frustrated at the Catch-22 of needing to be seen to be in something, and needing to be in something to be seen. Our answer was to hold open calls across the country so everyone had the same chance of securing a slot.

Over the past couple of years, I've been fortunate to spend time with some great groups of actors and what has become apparent is how often the auditions process is stacked against the actor. For any normal job interview there's a job description, you'll get sent some information about the company, you'll be told who you'll be meeting, you'll have time to prepare to present the very best version of yourself. But for auditions, actors often find themselves sitting in waiting rooms with nothing but some pages of text and with no idea who is on the other side of the door or what they're looking for.

For my Actors' Guild workshops I drew up lists of practical tips for auditions, and some of my pet hates. Once I'd given them to the actors, they gave me great auditions. It dawned on me that I'd get much better auditions across the board if I just let actors know what to expect, and what I was looking for.

So last year we started sending advance emails to every actor who came to audition for us. The email gave them some basic information about the format of the meeting, the people that would be there, and what we'd like to see. Armed with some prior knowledge, actors came in more confident and less liable to be thrown. I got to see more of the real them because we'd already established some simple parameters.

From now we promise to always provide actors with the information they need to best prepare for their audition with us, and what to expect from us. We're making it a formal pledge partly to hold ourselves to account, and partly because we hope it might encourage others to follow suit.

The other thing actors tell us frustrates them is they often only find out about parts when the cast is announced. So from now on, when we announce new productions, we'll publish breakdowns on our website and we'll accept and consider CVs from anyone who thinks they're right for the role."

More information on the pledge can be found here.

THE BIG ROOM FIERY DEVELOPMENT FUND

In a new partnership with Fiery Angel, Paines Plough will launch a writer development fund to support a group of outstanding playwrights to develop their craft on a bespoke programme for each writer with the aim of figuring out what it takes to write big plays for big stages and big audiences in subsidised and commercial houses.

The Big Room - Fiery Development Fund is supported by The Fiery Development Company which was created by Fiery Angel and Fiery Dragons.

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