Park Theatre Reveals HOLY FOOL World Premiere for Summer And Autumn Season Lineup

Five new productions have been announced as part of Park Theatre's Summer and Autumn seasons, including the world premiere of Holy Fool, examining the life and works of composer Dmitri Shostakovich under the brutal Soviet regime. Following this,The Pianist adapted by Thom Southerland from Wladyslaw Szpilman's internationally bestselling memoir, and the inspiration behind the Academy Award-winning film.

Paula Garfield MBE will be directing Deafinitely Theatre's adaptation of Mike Bartlett's Bull, and Original Theatre return to the venue with their revival of Micheál MacLiammóir's The Importance of Being Oscar. Finally, ParkTheatre collaborates with London Metropolitan University and the local community in a new verbatim play confronting the media's vilification in 2007 of Islington's renowned estate in The Talking Drum: Voices of the Andover Estate.

Park Theatre kicks off the summer with the fourth iteration of their celebrity-led murder mystery fundraiser Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] (11 May - 28 June), this time locating the action in the Wild West. Following this, Original Theatre return with The Importance of Being Oscar (22 July - 22 Aug), a revival of Micheál MacLiammóir's play directed by Michael Fentiman and starring Alastair Whatley. Original Theatre have previously enjoyed runs of The Interview, The End of The Night, and most recently the Olivier Award-nominated The Time Machine - A Comedy at Park Theatre.

The first of two productions about musicians creating art under dictatorships, Holy Fool (27 Aug - 10 Oct) follows celebrated composer Dmitri Shostakovich at the height of Stalin's brutal regime, where he finds himself struggling to accept that his music must be a tool of the state. Under constant threat of torture and death, he's forced to publicly conform while privately resisting. Holy Fool is an exploration of the absurdity of tyranny, the bravery of resistance and the triumph of the human spirit.

Next, Thom Southerland (Parade, Titanic) directs his new adaptation of The Pianist (15 Oct- 28 Nov) based on Wladyslaw Szpilman's extraordinary bestselling memoir, the inspiration behind the Academy Award-winning film. Original compositions from the so-called 'Polish Gershwin' score his story: popular songs and compositions that made him a star. A cast of virtuoso actor-musicians conjures the golden age of Jewish Warsaw in all its warmth and wit: the packed concert halls, the candlelit cafés, the irrepressible spirit of a city that loved music above all else. At its heart, this is a love letter to culture, to the artists and dreamers who carried it, and to the extraordinary power of creativity to outlast even the most turbulent chapters of history.

Over in Park90, the local community will be given a voice onstage in The Talking Drum: Voices of the Andover Estate (19 - 29 Aug), a powerful new verbatim play created from interviews conducted by London Metropolitan University researchers. A portrait of a vast and diverse neighbourhood, interwoven stories charting more than 50 years of history, and confronting MP Ann Widdecombe's highly-publicised vilification of Islington's renowned estate in 2007. They explode assumptions about class and identity and ask: what does community mean to residents now?

Finally, from Deafinitely Theatre and directed by Paula Garfield MBE, Bull (30 Sept - 24 Oct) by Mike Bartlett is adapted with fully integrated BSL and creative captioning, and is the company's second production of his work following Contractions in 2017. Four colleagues sit in a meeting room. Jobs are on the line. The rules are unspoken, but everyone knows them. Bull is a strained and unsettling examination of workplace bullying, power and survival. As pressure builds, alliances shift and cruelty surfaces, exposing a system where fear thrives and empathy disappears.

Artistic Director Jez Bond said, "We're incredibly proud to be announcing a season that feels expansive and deeply rooted in who we are. Bold new work like Holy Fool, a world premiere production in association with Wild Yak, represents our continued commitment to developing and producing exciting new work in-house. Whilst a powerful new adaptation of The Pianist and the wit and charm of The Importance of Being Oscar contribute to a summer programme that celebrates storytelling in all its forms.

"In Park90, The Talking Drum: Voices of the Andover Estate, remains central to the identity of our local area. Borne out of four years of conversations between London Metropolitan University researchers and the estate's residents, it enables Park Theatre to fully reflect the voices of the community around us and ask the big questions. Finally, we are thrilled to be welcoming Mike Bartlett's Bull, in partnership with Birmingham Rep Theatre and Deafinitely Theatre, and continuing to champion creative collaboration and genuine inclusivity, bringing together artists and audiences in meaningful and exciting ways."