Smoke N Oakum's Dark Fairytale KINGS Hits New Diorama Theatre

Kings - the latest play by Oli Forsyth and award-winning new writing company Smoke & Oakum Theatre- opens at New Diorama Theatre next month. The darkly comic fairytale is the company's first full-length London run and follows on from the success of Cornermen and Happy Dave.

The story follows Bess, Hannah and Ebi, three rough sleepers who have come together to form a makeshift camp under the railway arches. They manage to eke out a living, with Bess and Ebi guiding Hannah towards the ultimate goal of getting a council house. However, as nights get colder, and the waiting list grows longer, their belief that they might somehow escape their situation is beginning to fade.

Then Caz arrives, a mysterious and charismatic young woman whose charming personality and seemingly magical abilities begin to upset the balance of the group. Soon, what started as simple card tricks progress into unexplainable feats of magic, and Bess begins to fear for her position as the group's leader as Caz's 'Don't ask: Take' philosophy begins to influence the others.

After initially previewing at the 2017 VAULT Festival, Kings won the Show of the Week award, was reviewed as 'The Pick of the Festival' by Exeunt Magazine and described by Sir David Bell, former director of Crisis, as "a brilliantly authentic play...as close to the 'real thing' as I have seen, a must see".

Smoke & Oakum Theatre was founded by Oli Forsyth as a new writing company in 2013. Since then they have produced six shows that have played to thousands of people at venues all over the UK, with four of the shows having been published and bought by drama schools and companies across the country. Smoke & Oakum shows cover a range of topics, from boxing to rave culture, and always have the same mix of urgency and crackling dialogue that led New Diorama Theatre Artistic Director David Byrne to label them 'One of the best new companies around'.

For this run of 'Kings', Smoke & Oakum will be partnering with the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint to raise funds and awareness for the plight of the homeless in the UK.

As well as the London run of 'Kings', Smoke & Oakum is currently preparing to take their hit show 'Cornermen' on the road for a national tour in Spring 2018 playing at many venues, including York Theatre Royal and The Bikeshed, before returning for a short run in London.

For more information visit www.newdiorama.com/whats-on/kings.

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