Blink at King's Head Theatre

Metal Rabbit Productions presents:
BLINK

King’s Head Theatre Announces the First Major Revival of Blink Starring Abigail Thorn and Directed by Simon Paris
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Imagery by Katie Kirkpatrick

BLINK
Written by Phil Porter
Directed by Simon Paris
Starring Abigail Thorn

King’s Head Theatre | 19 February – 22 March 2026

PRESS NIGHT: Monday 23rd February
INFLUENCER NIGHT: Tuesday 24th February

Metal Rabbit Productions will bring a bold revival of Phil Porter’s critically acclaimed play Blink to the King’s Head Theatre this spring, directed by Simon Paris, director of the hit show ...Earnest?.

BLINK marks Paris’ second collaboration with Broadway World award-winner, actress and playwright Abigail Thorn, creator of Philosophy Tube, and who recently featured in HBO’S Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon and Star Wars: The Acolyte.

Bruntwood Prize winner Phil Porter’s Blink is a two-hander that explores themes of seeing and being seen, updated for an age of livestreams, video doorbells, and online stalking.

This new take on Blink is produced by Metal Rabbit Productions (Boy Parts, Radiant Vermin, Cuckoo, Soho Theatre; The Prince, Southwark Playhouse; The Misandrist, Arcola Theatre; We’re Staying Right Here, Park Theatre) and directed by Simon Paris (…Earnest? Edinburgh Fringe & UK Tour).

Blink runs from 19 Feb - 22 Mar. Further casting to be announced.

ENDS

ABOUT ABIGAIL THORN (ACTOR)

Abigail Thorn is an actress, writer, and the creator of the acclaimed YouTube channel Philosophy Tube, which has amassed over 1.6 million subscribers worldwide. Her stage credits include HAMM (RADA festival), Thursday (Southwark Playhouse), and Much Ado About Nothing (outdoor tour). Her screen credits include Django (Sky), Ladhood (BBC3), and Chivalry (Channel 4). In early 2021 Abigail came out publicly as “one of Britain’s most well-known trans women” (Xtra Magazine) - “a woman who can do it all” (Diva).
 

On stage, she made her playwriting debut in The Prince at Southwark Playhouse (2022), receiving critical praise for her performance. On screen, she recently appeared in HBO’s House of the Dragon (2024) and has been featured in various projects for film, television, and audio drama. In 2019 she made headlines by performing the complete works of Shakespeare 24/7 for five days, livestreamed over the Internet and raising $130,000 for Samaritans alongside celebrity guests including Mara Wilson.

ABOUT SIMON PARIS (DIRECTOR)

Simon Paris is a theatre director known for exploring new ways audiences engage with performance. As Artistic Director of Say It Again, Sorry?, he directed …Earnest?, a new comedy where audience members are cast into the performance, creating a unique experience each night. His work with Fictive Theatre includes directing Lottery, Scarborough and Handbag. Paris’ work consistently explores interactive, engaging experiences that challenge traditional performance boundaries, offering audiences a fresh and compelling way to connect with the work on stage.

ABOUT PHIL PORTER (WRITER)

Phil Porter is a multi-award-winning playwright and librettist. His work has been produced at Manchester Royal Exchange, Northampton Theatre Royal, The Unicorn Theatre and The Royal Opera House. His plays include Vice Versa (RSC), The Man With The Hammer (Plymouth Theatre Royal), The Christmas Truce (RSC), The Cracks In My Skin (Manchester Royal Exchange, Bruntwood Award winner) and Stealing Sweets And Punching People (Theatre 503/Off-Broadway). Edits/adaptations include Moliere’s The Miser (West End, with Sean Foley), Middleton’s A Mad World, My Masters (RSC, with Sean Foley), Shakespeare’s The Tempest (RSC/Little Angel) and Janos Hay’s The Stonewatcher (National Theatre). Plays/libretti for young audiences include Moominsummer Madness (Polka/Northampton), The Flying Machine (Unicorn Theatre), Smashed Eggs (Pentabus, winner of Arts Council Children’s Award) and Pinocchio (Royal Opera House).

ABOUT KING’S HEAD THEATRE 

King’s Head Theatre is a purpose-built, wheelchair accessible theatre with a 200-seat flexible auditorium and 50-seat cabaret space off Upper St, Islington. The theatre showcases a wide range of performance styles from plays to musicals, opera to cabaret, and drag to comedy. Established in 1970, King’s Head Theatre was the oldest pub theatre in the UK until it closed its doors in August 2023. For 53 years, the theatre was housed in the back room of the King’s Head Pub on Upper Street in an old boxing ring and pool hall. In January 2024, the new theatre was opened in Islington square, right behind the pub. 

Under Artistic Director & Founder Dan Crawford, whose tenure lasted 35 years until his death in 2005, the theatre became known as a breeding ground for new talent and great work. Renowned actors like Maureen Lipman, Hugh Grant, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Alan Rickman & Richard E Grant all performed at the theatre. A number of productions also transferred to the West End and Broadway, and the venue premiered work from writers such as Steven Berkoff, Tom Stoppard, Bryony Lavery and Victoria Wood. 

In 2010, the Olivier Award-winning company Opera UpClose Productions became the theatre’s resident company for four years. With Adam Spreadbury-Maher as Artistic Director, the company turned the King’s Head into “London’s Little Opera House”, winning an Olivier Award for La Boheme in the Best New Opera category. More recently, the theatre has developed a commitment to emerging, daring and innovative work, such as Trainspotting, the Edinburgh Fringe and touring immersive hit which was developed by King’s Head Theatre. 

The theatre showcases a lot of LGBTQ+ work which explores the full spectrum of experiences symbolised by the rainbow flag. It is a home for a new wave of theatre makers, with a focus on work which is joyful, irreverent, colourful & queer. In the first two years of the new King’s Head, the theatre has showcased work from artists such as Rob Madge, Luke Bayer, Olivier award-winner Shaun McKenna, triple Fringe First winners Xhloe & Natasha, Heartstopper’s Cormac Hyde-Corrin, Lauren Ward, Josie Benson, Rosie Day, and Jo Foster and Harrison Osterfield, as well as establishing a successful annual family pantomime. 

ABOUT METAL RABBIT
Metal Rabbit Productions was established in 2012, since then it has produced quality new work in London, on tour in the UK and in New York, garnering multiple OffWestEnd and Broadway World award nominations.Previous productions include: Boy Parts (Soho Theatre), The Misandrist (Arcola Theatre), The Prince (Southwark Playhouse), Mediocre White Male (Kings Head Theatre & Park Theatre), Spiderfly (Theatre503), We’re Staying Right Here and Fishskin Trousers (Park Theatre); Cuckoo (Soho Theatre); Tonight With Donny Stixx (The Bunker); Cargo (Arcola Theatre); Radiant Vermin (Bristol Tobacco Factory, Soho Theatre, 59E59 NYC); Lardo (Old Red Lion); Johnny Got His Gun (Southwark Playhouse and UK Tour); and Ernest Hemingway’s Fiesta (Trafalgar Studios).

Blink
King’s Head Theatre, 116P Upper St, London N1 1QP
19 February – 22 March 2026
Running Time: 75 minutes, no interval
Age guidance: 14+
Tickets: King’s Head Theatre Box Office | 0207 226 8561
 

Performance Dates:

Evenings (7:00pm):

19, 23–26 Feb; 2–5, 9–10, 12, 16–17, 18–19 Mar
 

Early Evenings (6:00pm):

21, 28 Feb; 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 Mar
 

Matinees:

1:00pm – 22 Feb, 1 Mar, 22 Mar

2:00pm – 21, 28 Feb; 7, 14, 21 Mar

3:00pm – 4, 11, 18 Mar

Other Dates:

Press Night: 23 Feb (7:00pm)
Influencer Night: 24 Feb (7:00pm)

Pay What You Can: 11 Mar (3:00pm)

For more information please contact:

Mia Walker

Mia@miawalkerpr.co