5 Star, Fringe Hit THE UNICORN Announces Arcola Theatre Run And UK Tour

Following a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, THE UNICORN returns for an extensive UK Tour, including runs at London's Arcola Theatre, North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford; Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch; The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford; Harlow Playhouse; The Hat Factory, Luton; and VAULT Festival (Studio).

This "powerful and unflinching exploration of sexuality and addiction," tells the story of Andrea, who after being fired from her job, finds herself in a depressive spiral. To combat her feelings of hopelessness, she looks to fill the void with casual sex but what starts as a distraction, soon threatens to take over her life. Everything Theatre said of the play: "Sex addiction is a blistering topic which we don't often see approached on stage with the same honesty as in The Unicorn."

This one-woman show will star rising talent ALICE LAMB (Drac and Jill-Wardrobe; Faustus-Headlong; Wild Swimming-Full Rogue). ) It is written by award-winning writer Sam Potter (Hanna-Papatango; Mucky Kid-Theatre 503) and directed by Offie-nominated Tom Brennan (The Sugar House-Finborough Theatre; Education, Education, Education-Trafalgar Studios.)

Director Tom Brennan said: "Sam Potter's The Unicorn is twisty, sexy and sad in many ways. For me, its about how complicated it can be to take control of your own sexuality. It's about how difficult it is to find out who you really are, without shame or judgement. The play talks about sex as addiction, sex as medicine, sex as a plaster, sex as intimacy."

Writer Sam Potter said: "I was drawn to writing about compulsive sexual behaviour because it is still such a taboo for women. There are still so many double standards in society when it comes to women expressing themselves sexually and I wanted to write something that challenged that. But I also think I was drawn to the idea of a person self medicating by connecting with other people... with alcohol and drugs, there is a sense of withdrawing from the world, but with sex addiction, the person is doing the opposite, which is fascinating."

Performer Alice Lamb said: "The play nestles its way into all the contradictory elements I think a lot of people experience in their sex lives such as shame, empowerment, vulnerability, the wanting of touch and also of numbness, connection and anonymity. It delves into the mess of it all, particularly how our mental health and feeling of self worth affects our sexual desires and behaviours. Sam's play communicates a lesser openly talked about human experience so honestly and acutely, I feel very lucky to be the one to perform it."

The production has Composition and Sound Design by Jack Drewry and Lighting Design by Hayden Camidge.

VAULT FESTIVAL: (Studio) London: 20-26th Feb 2023 (Tues-Fri 21:15) (Sat & Sun 20:40)
TOURING: North Wall, Oxford: 17th Feb 2023 (20.00)
Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch: 1st March 2023 (19.30)
Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead: 3rd March 2023 (20.00) Yvonne Arnaud: 8th March 2023 (19.45)
Harlow Playhouse: 9th March 2023 (20.00)
The Hat Factory, Luton: 10th March 2023 (19.30)
ARCOLA: London: 7th-24th June 2023 (Mon-Sat 20.00)

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