Pither Productions is presenting the London premiere of Nina Atesh’s atmospheric dark thriller The Drought –a drama of desperation, dread and deception set to take the audience on a voyage of emotions – at the King’s Head Theatre from 20-24 September 2022.
Directed by Alex McCarthy, Atesh’s play – the winner of the 2021 London Horror Playwriting competition – shows ‘how purpose shapes our lives and mankind’s relationship with nature’.
Even before its London debut, The Drought has been championed by Mark Ravenhill as a ‘real honour to see’ along its journey and described as ‘wonderfully absurd, unique and eerie’ by Graeme Manson (creator of science fiction TV series Orphan Black).
After the ocean mysteriously disappears, a Captain and his Steward of a Victorian British Navy vessel find themselves marooned at the bottom of the sea floor. On the edge of survival and running low on provisions they hold out hope for rescue, clinging to their sanity while trying to block out the nameless and unknowable terrors that litter the sea floor. Their odd camaraderie is dashed when a stranger seeking refuge knocks at their cabin door.
As these men come face to face with their darkest fears, and with only a semblance of their previous lives anchoring them to reality, their world starts to trickle and the horror begins to take hold. For what is a captain without his ship? And what is a ship without water?
In the cast are Andrew Callaghan as The Captain, Jack Flammiger as Garson and Caleb O’Brien as Stranger.
[Clockwise] The Drought writer and producer Nina Atesh and director Alex McCarthy, plus actors Caleb O’Brien, Jack Flammiger and Andrew Callaghan
Atesh and director Alex McCarthy are joined in the creative team by set and costume designer Julia Sullivan and stage manager Chloe Cattin.
Pither Productions was set up in 2022 as a theatre company that produces new writing with an interest in representing female/non-binary and working-class writers.
