Charlie Brooks and Simon Lipkin star as parents to an autistic child in Alex Oates’ new play All in Row, which receives its world premiere next month at London’s Southwark Playhouse. Gen up – and then get booking!
The premiere production of All in Row – reuniting the team behind Alex Oates‘ critically acclaimed, bitcoin-funded, dark-web play Silk Road (How to Buy Drugs Online) – runs at Southwark Playhouse from 14 February to 9 March 2019, with a press night on 18 February and a post-show Q&A chaired by Mates co-founder Terri Paddock on Thursday 21 February.
Laurence likes pizza.
Laurence is about to go to school.
Laurence thinks it’s okay to wee on mummy’s pillow.
Like any couple, Tamora and Martin have big hopes and dreams. But when your child is autistic, non-verbal, low-functioning and occasionally violent, ambitions can quickly become a pipe dream.
In a household brimming with love, resentment and realisations, meet Tamora, Martin, and Laurence’s carer Gary as they struggle to care for their beloved boy. On the night before social services finally intervenes, who is the victim here? Who was the traitor? And who do you blame when you can no longer cope?
Charlie Brooks and Simon Lipkin star as Tamora and Gary alongside Michael Fox as Gary and puppeteer Hugh Purves as Laurence.
Silk Road, starring Josh Barrow, transferred to Trafalgar Studios in August 2018
Inspired by his experiences working as a carer for over a decade, Alex Oates’ new play is a kitchen sink comedy-drama filled with heart… and French Fancies. It reunites the team – director Dominic Shaw, designer PJ McEvoy and producer Paul Virides – behind Oates’ one-man play Silk Road (How to Buy Drugs Online), which transferred to the West End’s Trafalgar Studios after success at VAULT Festival and on tour.
All in Row is presented by Paul Virides Productions, Evelyn James Productions and United Theatrical. It has puppet design by Sian Kidd and lighting design by Rachel Sampley.
Bios
Charlie Brooks plays Tamora. Her theatre credits include Monogamy (Park Theatre), How The Other Half Loves (UK tour), A Streetcar Named Desire (Curve Leicester), Beautiful Thing (UK tour/Arts Theatre) and Our Country’s Good (Liverpool Playhouse). For television, her credits include Moving On, Suspects, as series regular Janine Butcher in EastEnders, and Wired. And for radio, Tightrope (BBC Radio 4).
Michael Fox plays Gary. His theatre credits include A Lie of the Mind (Southwark Playhouse), An Enemy of the People (National Theatre), As You Like It (Luxemburg/UK tour) and Edmund Kean (Watford Palace Theatre). For television, his credits include as series regular Andy in Downton Abbey, Endeavor, Marvellous, The Ark, New Worlds, LittleBigMouth, and Mrs Bradley Mysteries. For film, his credits include Downton Abbey, Dunkirk and Good People.
Simon Lipkin plays Martin. His theatre credits include Nativity! The Musical, The Wind in the Willows, Honeymoon in Vegas and I Can’t Sing! (London Palladium), Whisper House and Miss Atomic Bomb (The Other Palace), Guys and Dolls (Phoenix Theatre), The Lorax (The Old Vic), Rock of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre), Avenue Q (Noël Coward Theatre), Spamalot, The Wedding Singer (UK tour), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), As You Like It (Southwark Playhouse), Alice in Wonderland (Nuffield Southampton Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Arts Theatre), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Above the Arts), Oliver! (Grange Park Opera), Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (New London Theatre). For television, his credits include Doctor Who, Casualty, The Bill, No Strings Attached and The Amazing World of Gumball. For film, his credits include Nativity Rocks!, Show Dogs, Nativity III and The Muppets – Again.
Puppeteer Hugh Purves plays Laurence. He trained as part of the inaugural year of The Curious School of Puppetry in 2016. His theatre credits include Clementine’s Fabulous Roadshow (Mark Mander Productions) and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Alex Oates has been shortlisted for The Old Vic 12 and Papatango Prize, and longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. His other theatre credits include Silk Road (How to Buy Drugs Online) (VAULT Festival/Live Theatre/Trafalgar Studios), Rules for Being a Man (UK tour), Pig (Hull Truck Theatre/New Diorama Theatre), Hansel (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Hull Truck Theatre), People Will See Me and Cry (Arcola Theatre), Time Warner Ignite (Old Vic Tunnels); and for television, Match Not Found and EastEnders: E20.
Dominic Shaw directs. His directing credits include Silk Road (How to Buy Drugs Online) (VAULT Festival/Live Theatre/Trafalgar Studios), Secret Garden (Barn Theatre), A Memory For Forgetting (Arcola Theatre), Get Got (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and Thirteen Days (The Other Palace). As an Associate Director, his credits include Kinky Boots (Adelphi Theatre), Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (Aldwych Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre/UK tour) and Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre/UK and international tour). As an actor his credits include Wicked (Apollo Victoria) and Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre).
