As part of her ongoing series of post-show talks, Mates founder Terri Paddock chairs an unmissable event with leading British playwright Simon Stephens following the first revival of his play Nuclear War, part of the Old Red Lion Triptych. Got any questions?
Simon Stephens is one of the UK’s leading playwrights, whose myriad credits include Sea Wall, Heisenberg, Birdland, Punk Rock, Pornography, Harper Regan, Country Music, Motortown, One Minute, Port, Herons, Bluebird and his Tony and Olivier Award-winning adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Newly appointed artistic director Alexander Knott launches his tenure at London’s Old Red Lion Theatre with a ‘box-set theatre’ offering – the Old Red Lion Triptych, a unique three-play production, teams the first revival of multi-award-winning Stephens’ short play Nuclear War, a hit in its 2017 premiere at the Royal Court, with two brand-new plays by two up-and-coming writers.
Taken together, the triptych asks questions about love and loss: What do we do next when faced with the devastating, the unimaginable? How do we survive the insurmountable? Where are we now, and where are we going?
- Nuclear War is a heart-breaking and soul-stopping movement piece about a woman who needs to experience everything life has to offer, in order to feel something again.
- Buried is the harrowing true story of Max Spencer, who was buried alive in World War II. It’s written by his son David Spencer and performed by his real-life grandson, James Demaine.
- Graceland, by Max Saunders-Singer, is a darkly comic monologue from an overworked and harassed science teacher who is one small spark away from combusting in the classroom.
The Old Red Lion brings together work from multiple theatre collectives and production companies to create a mesmerising and lyrical triptych, which also marks the directorial debut of Alexander Knott, who helms Nuclear War and co-directs Buried. The triptych runs from 3 to 21 March.
Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. Terri is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent, The Times and other national publications. She is renowned for her 'legendary' post-show Q&As and also produces the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatre, producers and other clients. She tweets about theatre at @TerriPaddock.
