If Mark Gatiss tweets his love for your show, you must be doing something right! Just opened on Friday (13 July 2018), the world premiere of Alkaline has already garnered some great reviews as well as praise from Gatiss as well as other big hitters. We’ve rounded up these top tweets and some of our favourite review highlights below. Time to get booking!
Following on from its success with Birthday Suit at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2017, pluck. productions now bring their latest work, Stephanie Martin‘s new play Alkaline, to London’s Park Theatre for a limited season to 4 August 2018. In addition to Mark Gatiss, the premiere production has also gotten Twitter traction from the likes of director Stephen Unwin, founder of English Touring Theatre and the Rose Theatre in Kingston, and playwright Iman Qureshi. Qureshi is this year’s winner of the Papatango Playwrighting Prize, an annual playwriting award in the UK guaranteeing emerging playwrights a full production on the professional stage, with previous winners going on to earn BAFTAs, Offies and work with the National Theatre, RSC, Headlong, BBC, and HBO.
Alkaline tells the story of Sophie and Sarah, who have been best friends forever. Both women are newly engaged and want to celebrate. One hot summer evening the two couples have a get-together. Sophie is desperate to meet Ali and even more desperate to rescue her drifting friendship with Sarah. Sophie also wants to ask Sarah if she’ll take off her hijab for Sophie’s wedding – a headscarf ‘just won’t quite go’ with the other bridesmaids, and Sophie likes things to match. It’s all going well (ish) until an uninvited guest arrives with some news that turns the evening – and the couples’ lives – upside down.
Helmed by Offie-nominated director Sarah Meadows, Alkaline stars EJ Martin and Claire Cartwright play Sophie and Sarah and are joined in the cast by Nitin Kundra (Ali), Reena Lalbihari and Alan Mahon.
Alkaline runs 10 July to 4 August 2018 at the Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4. Performances are Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7.45pm, with Thursday and Saturday matinees at 3.15pm. Tickets are priced £10-£14.50. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!