THE SILENCE AND THE NOISE and BIRDCATCHER to Tour UK
Tom Powell and Laura Waldren's stage premieres will open at Marlowe Theatre before visiting Bristol Old Vic and beyond.
Papatango Theatre Company and Pentabus – the nation's rural theatre are joining forces to produce and tour two new productions from two award-winning playwrights. This pilots an exciting new writing partnership to showcase world premieres on bigger platforms and redress the devastating 64% drop in touring plays since 2019 (Audience Agency 2026 Report).
The first production is by Tom Powell. His 2021 Papatango New Writing Prize-winning play The Silence and The Noise will have its long-awaited stage premiere this autumn, opening at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury before touring to Bristol Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre and Park Theatre, London. Papatango's Artistic Director and Genesis Foundation Prize-winner George Turvey directs. The play was originally made by Papatango during the pandemic as an audio drama, also directed by George Turvey, before a new filmed version was produced by Pentabus and Rural Media in 2023. Tom was Pentabus' Clive Richards Foundation Writer In Residence in 2020/21.
The second production is Birdcatcher – the latest play by award-winning playwright Laura Waldren. Directed by Pentabus's Artistic Director and BAFTA-winner Elle While, the production is presented in association with Hull-based new writing theatre company Middle Child, opening this autumn at the company's new venue at 69 Humber St, before embarking on a two-week rural tour. It then continues its UK theatre tour in January 2027. Waldren was Pentabus' CRF Writer In Residence in 2023 and was awarded the 2023 Papatango New Writing Prize for Some Demon, which Papatango premiered at the Arcola Theatre in June 2024 before transferring to Bristol Old Vic.
Papatango's George Turvey and Chris Foxon said today, “The touring ecosystem – especially for new plays – is at risk of collapse. This would have devastating consequences for emerging artists, who need access to a national network of venues, producers and audiences if they are to achieve sustainable careers, as well as for audiences, who deserve varied programming including relevant contemporary stories regardless of where they live. We are excited to pilot a new partnership with Pentabus to tackle this systemic crisis; by combining resources, expertise and networks, we can together help the next generation of writers to flourish and share their stories nationwide. We and Pentabus resolutely believe that the right to tell and to watch new plays belongs to everyone.”
Pentabus' Joint CEOs, Artistic Director Elle While and Executive Director Verity Overs-Morrell, added: “Tom Powell and Laura Waldren are two exceptional writers whose plays both Pentabus and Papatango have proudly championed. We're delighted to be launching Birdcatcher, set in Laura's home county of Yorkshire, in association with Papatango and Hull-based new writing theatre company Middle Child, as well as working with Papatango on Tom's The Silence and The Noise. Collaborations like this give outstanding new plays the strongest possible launchpad, helping them reach more audiences across the UK.”
THE SILENCE AND THE NOISE
By Tom Powell
Direction: George Turvey; Set & Costume Design: Stella Blackman; Lighting Design: Si Cole; Composition and Sound Design: Asaf Zohar.
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
4-6 November (tickets to go on sale soon)
Then on UK tour as per listings below
Press Night: 11 November, Bristol Old Vic
Press Night: 27 November, Park Theatre, London
Daize has a sharp tongue and a sharper blade. Ben has killer trainers and not much else. She's determined to protect her mum from his drug-dealing boss – but can two neglected teenagers change their destinies? These natural enemies start to find something in each other no adult has ever given them.
Tom Powell's extraordinary play beautifully portrays two young people finding hope together. It is partly inspired by his own family experience. The Silence and The Noise will open at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury before embarking on a tour in Autumn 2026 to Bristol Old Vic and Chichester Festival Theatre, before completing its run at Park Theatre.
Tom Powell won the 2021 Papatango New Writing Prize. He was the 2020/21 CRF Writer-in-Residence at Pentabus, where he is now an Associate Artist. Tom was selected for the BBC Studios Writers Academy 2019/20, and his first short as writer/director is currently in post-production. Tom has completed a residency at The National Theatre's Immersive Storytelling Studio, and his narrative virtual reality piece Underneath the Forest is in development, with support from the RSC and the Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Realities.
Following the death of his brother, Antony Irvin, Tom has become a campaigner for humane drugs policy.
Theatre includes Surfacing (VAULT Festival and UK Tour, Off West End Award Finalist), The Silence and the Noise (Papatango audio production UK tour, Pentabus/Rural Media digital production streamed and screened in London, Ludlow, and Milan, winner of Off West End Award for Best Online Production and Broadstairs International Film Festival Best Film), Little Echoes (Hope Theatre, Off West End Award nominated), and I Dare You (UK Tour, shortlisted for Soho Theatre Young Writers Award).
TV includes Eastenders, Holby City and original work in development with Clerkenwell Films. Radio includes Love Beyond the Zoo (BBC Radio 4X).
His work is published by Methuen and Nick Hern Books, and has been translated into Polish and Korean.
George Turvey co-founded Papatango in 2007 and became its sole Artistic Director in January 2013. He has won the Genesis Foundation Prize and was also named in The Stage 25. As a dramaturg, he has developed all of Papatango's productions, including Olivier, Susan Smith Blackburn and Critics' Circle award-winning world premieres. Direction for Papatango includes The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights (Park Theatre), The Watch House and The Silence and the Noise (UK tours), Some Demon (Arcola Theatre and Bristol Old Vic, nomination for the OffWestEnd Award for Best Director), Here (Southwark Playhouse, nominated for 3 OffWestEnd Awards), Shook (Southwark Playhouse/UK tour, nominated for 7 OffWestEnd Awards including Best Director and Best Production, also broadcast on Sky Arts), Hanna (Arcola Theatre, UK tour), The Annihilation of Jessie Leadbeater (ALRA), After Independence, winner of the Alfred Fagon Audience Award (Arcola Theatre/BBC Radio 4), Leopoldville (Tristan Bates Theatre), and Angel (Pleasance London/Tristan Bates Theatre). He is the co-author of Being A Playwright: A Career Guide for Writers.
BIRDCATCHER
A new play by Laura Waldren
Direction: Elle While
Middle Child
16-17 October 2026
Press Night: To be confirmed
Then on UK tour.
Birdcatcher is a darkly comic drama about a teenage girl navigating life inside a doomsday cult. Set in East Yorkshire, the play shines a light on the murky, repressive underworld of religious “high control groups” in the UK - and asks how you find yourself in a world you think is about to end.
Pentabus is the Nation's Rural Theatre. This world premiere production is directed by BAFTA-winning Artistic Director Elle While (Mother Courage, Richard III, Shakespeare's Globe) and written by award-winning playwright Laura Waldren, whose first play Some Demon won the 2023 Papatango Prize.
The production will open at Middle Child before embarking on a rural autumn tour across Yorkshire and Shropshire and returning for a tour in Spring 2027 to Ludlow Assembly Rooms as well as other dates to be announced.
Further venues to be announced.
Laura Waldren is a prize-winning writer from Hull. Her first play Some Demon won the 2023 Papatango Prize and premiered with Papatango at the Arcola in June 2024 to critical acclaim, before transferring to Bristol Old Vic for a sell-out run. Waldren was the 2023 Writer-in-Residence for Pentabus Theatre. For television, she has an original series in development with Drama Republic and was part of BBC Voices (North and Midlands) 2025. She has written three short plays for Completed works for their London Fashion Week shows in 2025 and 2026, starring Jerry Hall, Jemima Kirke and Debi Mazar, all of which are available on YouTube.
Elle While is a BAFTA-winning Director, Artistic Director of Pentabus and Associate Artist of Shakespeare's Globe. Her directing credits include Even More Ghost Stories by Candlelight, Make Good, Driftwood, One of Them Ones, Idyll (Pentabus UK tours), Pinocchio (The Watermill Theatre), Mother Courage and Her Children, Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe), Private Peaceful (Nottingham Playhouse), Blue Stockings (Storyhouse Chester), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (UK tour), What the Moon Saw (UK tour, Edinburgh Festival), Glory Dazed (Soho Theatre, Underbelly Edinburgh, Holden Street Theatre), Just Too Much (Udderbelly), and Country Music (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Her screen credits include Twelfth Night, Destiny, The Silence and The Noise, and As You Like It.
Tour Dates
BIRDCATCHER
Middle Child
16-17 October 2026
Box Office: https://www.middlechildtheatre.co.uk/birdcatcher
Marsden Mechanics
23 October 2026
https://www.marsdenmechanics.co.uk/
Quatt Village Hall / Arts Alive
28 October 2026
https://artsalive.co.uk/
Oswestry Memorial Hall (OMH) / Arts Alive
29 October 2026
https://artsalive.co.uk/
Cosy Hall, Newport / Arts Alive
30 October 2026
https://artsalive.co.uk/
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
20-21 January 2027
Box Office: 01584 878141
https://ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk/whats-on/
More Autumn 2026 and 2027 dates to be announced for Birdcatcher
THE SILENCE AND THE NOISE
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
4-6 November 2026 – tickets to go on sale soon
Box Office: 01227 787787
https://marlowetheatre.com/whats-on/
Bristol Old Vic
10-14 November 2026
Box Office: 0117 987 7877
https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/the-silence-and-the-noise
Chichester Festival Theatre
17-21 November 2026 – tickets to go on sale soon
Box Office: 01243 781312
https://www.cft.org.uk/whats-on
Park Theatre
25 November – 12 December
Box Office: 020 7870 6876
https://parktheatre.co.uk/events/the-silence-and-the-noise/
