UK Tour Dates for TWIST by Chino Odimba Announced, with 6 shows at Soho Theatre

This autumn award-winning Theatre Centre tour schools and venues across the UK with Twist, a radical reimagining of a Charles Dickens classic set against the backdrop of the global refugee crisis.

Following the journey of a young Syrian refugee, playwright Chino Odimba weaves together a patchwork of compassion and criminality, transposing Dickens' tempestuous characters into the contemporary landscape of London's criminal underworld, where child traffickers continue to profit from the chaos of war and displacement.

In 2017, The Independent[1] reported that according to the Refugee Youth Service, 104 children referred to UK agencies as potential victims of human trafficking after making illegal crossings to the UK are currently missing. In the wake of so many similarly harrowing statistics, Theatre Centre's Artistic Director Natalie Wilson decided it was time for her ambition to adapt 'Oliver Twist' to finally come to fruition.

Natalie Wilson said:
In a time when our government has suspended the Dubs amendment and Brexit negotiations turn increasingly turbulent, we have to ask young people what kind of world do they want to live in? By showing the plight of one boy's struggle for sanctuary, we hope to reveal a story that is specific and humane so that young people can open their hearts and minds to the experiences of people from other places, and understand why so many of these people were forced to leave the places they call 'home'. We want Twist to inspire young people to take action in order to create a more helpful, welcoming and decent future for us all.

Written by Chino Odimba, winner of the Channel 4 Playwright Scheme and finalist for The Bruntwood Prize, Odimba brings the narrative into 2017, asking audiences how much progress have we really made from the Victorian London in which 'Oliver Twist' was first published almost 180 years ago?

Theatre Centre's first adaptation in over a decade, this retelling of a Victorian masterpiece will challenge intolerance with urgency and compassion. Creating work with and for young people since 1953, Theatre Centre's recent commissions Rise Up by Lisa Evans and What The Thunder Said by Ed Harris won Best Play for Young Audiences at The Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2017.

Twist will tour schools and venues between September and November 2017, including 6 performances at London's Soho Theatre. Book now.

UK Tour Dates

Redbridge Drama Centre, London
Thursday 14th September, 4.30pm & 8pm

Greenwich Theatre, London
Monday 18th September, 2pm & 7pm

Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, Taunton
Wednesday 27th September, 2.30pm

Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
Friday 29th September, 1pm & 7.30pm

Soho Theatre, London
Monday 2nd, Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th October, 4.30pm & 7.15pm

Gala Theatre: TakeOff Festival, Durham
Wednesday 18th October, 1pm & 7pm

Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea
Wednesday 15th November, 7.30pm

Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes
Friday 17th November, 4.30pm & 7.30pm

Mumford Theatre, Cambridge
Tuesday 21st November, 7.30pm

Tickets: Book now

[1] More than 100 child refugees missing in UK after being smuggled from Calais, July 2017, The Independent