A new, updated version of Peter Hamilton’s 2005 drama about attempts to set-up a white-supremacist state in East Anglia, Danelaw, comes to London’s Old Red Lion Theatre this autumn. Book your tickets now!
The new production, directed by Ken McClymont, runs at the Islington venue from 17 September to 5 October 2019.
An aristocratic civil servant working for MI6 is tracking down trouble-makers of the far right and poses as an embittered racist in order to lure a group of disaffected, working-class, white men into a plot to set up the Danelaw, a white-supremacist state in East Anglia. As this ludicrous plan unfolds, it engulfs both civil servant and his prey in unforeseen violence and chaos.
Danelaw is loosely inspired by the true story of an attempt by the neo-Nazi group Combat 18 to establish a white-supremacist homeland in East Anglia in the 1990s, with Chelmsford as the capital. This ambitious project failed to materialise, however, when the leaders of the group were involved in a gruesome murder committed on waste ground in Harlow over an internal party dispute.
Peter Hamilton
Hamilton originally staged Danelaw at the White Bear Theatre in 2005, but with the erosion of middle ground and the rise of far right and left politics, the time for a revival could not be better.
Hamilton’s other plays include Bridlington, described by Remotegoat as a “surrealistic, powerful and extraordinarily beautiful play”, and The Poetry of Exile, which Arthur’s Seat dubbed, “a hidden gem”.
The project reunites Hamilton with regular collaborator and former Artistic Director of the Old Red Lion Theatre, McClymont, who previously directed Hamilton’s The Poetry of Exile and Playground. McClymont’s other recent directorial work includes A Small House at the Edge of the World, which he also designed, I am of Ireland and Montagu.
Dan Maclane leads the cast as Cliff, a racist thug serving five years in prison, who is offered the chance to re-establish the Golden Age of Viking rule by Mr Warboys, played by Craig Crosbie. Bradley Crees, Will Henry, Marcus Kinsella, Marcel Hagen, Tomi Jatto, Richard Fish, Evelyn Craven, Josie Ayers and Emma Stannard complete the cast.
Danelaw runs at Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John St, Islington, London EC1V 4NJ from 17 September to 5 October 2019, with performances Tuesdays to Saturdays 7.30pm, matinees Saturdays and Sundays 3pm. Tickets are priced £16. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!!
