Portsmouth Road Productions Announces Two New Readings at The Drayton Arms Theatre

Portsmouth Road Productions has announced rehearsed readings of two new plays at The Drayton Arms Theatre. The Contrarian written by Richard Toye and Bodkins Beans written by Scott Younger will be presented on the 2nd and 3rd October.

The Contrarian is the debut play of established historian and author Richard Toye, whose book Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness, was the winner of The Times Higher Young Academic Author of the Year Award. The reading, which will be directed by Mandi Chivasa, will be presented on Sunday 2nd October, explores social media, the culture wars, loneliness, and the emotional backdrop behind ideological arguments. The Contrarian tells the story of Vernon Heathrow, an embittered right-wing academic, about to launch his final book before he retires from his post at university. However, when one of his PHD students and social media savvy, Anita Pendharker, accidentally walks into his book launch, he sees an opportunity to benefit both their futures. Vernon presents an agreement that will allow Anita to realise her dream of a career in academia, while Vernon receives his five minutes of fame as a social media sensation. As Anita agrees we see how their contrasting ideologies affect their relationship to collaborate and how social media success can easily go wrong.

The second play, Bodkins Beans, is a new play from playwright Scott Younger and will be presented on Monday 3rd October. It is a tragi-comic love story about an older couple, a demographic rarely explored on our stages and touches on the plight of carers, particularly isolated elderly carers, who are let down by our social care system. Retired dance-teacher Grace and her husband Brian have been together for over 50 years. As they prepare for their final dance show at a village hall in North Yorkshire, Grace is determined to beat her rival and ex-pupil Val. However, Brian starts to see a terrible change come over his wife which leaves him isolated and questioning himself, what will their future together look like?

Portsmouth Road Productions is the relaunch of the previously named Blueleaf Theatre. The company's aim is to produce world premieres of new, provocative work that addresses societal issues. Alongside this they have a passion to develop the careers of emerging artists and contribute to widening accessibility across productions and events whether that be through participants or audiences.

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