New production about a couple on the run, holed up in a squat on a northern estate, Starved, the latest show from Faded Ink Productions, premieres at the Bread and Roses Theatre later this month. Grab your tickets for the gritty dark comedy now!
Written by and starring Michael Black, the production runs at the Clapham pub theatre from 30 April to 11 May 2019.
Lad and Lass are on the run. They’re Norther, working class and in a toxic relationship. Despite having negative effects on each others’ mental health, they’re determined to stay together. They’re squatting in an unused bedsit on one of Hull’s roughest estates, living a hand to mouth existence and surviving on a diet of roll ups, vodka and cuppa soups. As the walls start to cave in around them, this unhinged couple must make some tough decisions and face up to what they have done.
Starved is a gritty, fast-paced, character-driven dark comedy, examining the extremes people are willing to go to when desperate. It is the third play written by Black, whose first two productions, Pride and In the Wake Of were staged as part of the Camden and Clapham Fringe Festivals in 2018.
Michael Black
Black, who’s also a performer, recently starred in Sunrise for the Blind at Tristan Bates Theatre, alongside his Starved co-star Alana Connaughton. Matt Strachan, who previously directed Black’s In the Wake Of, reunites with the writer to directed Starved.
Speaking about the production, he said:
The play is all based in truth and things that I’ve heard, seen and been through. I wanted to really turn the heat up on these characters and look at what people can be driven to when they feel isolated. When they feel like they have no meaningful purpose or place in society. How far can we be pushed until we bite back?
Starved is one of a number of productions in London this spring examining the experiences of working- and benefits-class communities. Acclaimed plays Killymuck and Box Clever play at the Bunker Theatre until 13 April, while Killing Nana, which Black is directing, runs at the Hen and Chickens theatre from 9-13 April.
It is also part of an eclectic spring at the Bread and Roses Theatre, that includes a revival of August Strindberg‘s The Weak Ones and new plays As We Unravel and Glass Half Full Theatre’s comedy about a sister trying to reconnect with her brother, Taking Liberties.
About Faded Ink Productions
Faded Ink’s In the Wake Of
Faded Ink was founded to produce high quality work that reflects working class society and represent communities that are not regularly touched upon in the theatre, bringing something real, grounded, passionate and rooted in personal experience to their work. They aim to tackle real issues in an imaginative way and examine the extremes people can go to in life.
