YAEL BREUER INTERVIEWS GAIL LOUW
Latest TV presenter Yael Breuer interviews Gail Louw, acclaimed playwright, who has a season coming soon at the Playground Theatre, London.
The Playground Theatre in London is honouring Gail with a 5 week season of 4 of her plays.
Peter Tate, Founder and Artistic Director of The Playground Theatre, explained his reasons for this season: “I admire Louw’s wide divergence in content and wanted to explore more. She is a remarkable writer and what could be a better way to celebrate her work than by presenting a Gail Louw Season at The Playground.”
The Playground Theatre is easily accessible in London. Latimer Road is on the District Line and the theatre is a 10 minute walk from there. It is a lovely theatre with a cafe and fabulous vibe. Please do come along and see the plays. It really is worth it! You’ll see!
Week 1 | FEB 20-24, 2024
STORMING! (World Premiere)
Directed by Anthony Shrubsall
With Chris Barrit, Edmund Sage-Green and Bu Kunene.
Tuesday – Saturday | 7.30 pm
Matinee: Saturday | 2.30 pm
EXCITING WORK Fringe Review (play reading)
Russell Weston has schizophrenia. In 1998, he was the first to storm the Capitol in Washington, killing two Officers. His refusal to take his medication resulted in the state’s inability to prosecute him. In the US, infamous for capital punishment, there were many calls for him to be executed. The court appointed an independent psychiatrist to assess him for involuntary medication with uncertain repercussions.
Chris Barrett takes the role of Rusty Weston. The play develops the relationships between him and the hallucinatory figure in the background, constantly taunting and harassing him. Weston tries to make sense of his reality when, in act 2, this illusory figure becomes his treating psychiatrist, a woman married to a senator with strong pro-execution leanings.
Plus, there is the added issue of cloning…
Week 2 | FEB 27-MARCH 3, 2024
BLONDE POISON (International Production)
Directed by Fred Abrahamse
With Fiona Ramsay
Tuesday – Saturday | 7.30 pm
Matinee: Saturday | 2.30 pm
Sunday | 4 pm
“ without doubt, one of the finest pieces of solo theatre ever to have been performed”. What’s on Stage
Fresh from her performances in Cape Town, Fiona Ramsay – one of South Africa’s most acclaimed actors — reprises her role as Stella Goldschlag, nicknamed ‘Blonde Poison’ by the Gestapo. Stella betrayed up to 3,000 fellow Jews when offered the chance to save herself and her parents from the death camps. The monologue has been performed in eight productions throughout the world, including at the Sydney Opera House, in LA and Berlin. It won an Argus Angel Award for Artistic Excellence in Brighton.
Week 3 | MARCH 5-10
RIKA’S ROOMS (World Premiere)
Directed by Anthony Shrubsall
With Emma Wilkinson Wright (The Mitfords)
Tuesday – Saturday | 7.30 pm
Sunday | 4 pm
“Wilkinson Wright is a tremendous actress” Broadway World
Rika’s Rooms is inspired by the playwright’s own mother, who moved from Nazi Germany to Palestine and then into the midst of Apartheid, where Rika becomes a war victim and freedom fighter. Aged seventy six, living in England with dementia, Rika inhabits two worlds: the present, which makes no sense, and the past, populated by ghosts.
Production Company OXIA Theatre
Executive Producer APTER ART
Week 4 – MARCH 13-24, 2024
THE GIRL IN THE GREEN JUMPER (World Premiere)
Directed by Christian Holder
Peter Tate as Cyril Mann
Preview: Wed 13 Mar | 7.30 pm
Tuesday to Saturday | 7.30pm & Sunday 4pm
“Tate is magnificent, his voice a thing of beauty.” Quintessential Review
Peter Tate, previously seen as Picasso in Picasso: Le Monstre Sacre takes the challenging role of struggling, bipolar middle-aged London artist Cyril Mann, as remembered by his Dutch-Indonesian ‘child bride’, who became his muse, model and chief money earner.
GET TO KNOW CYRIL MANN BEFORE SEEING THE PLAY
PIANO NOBILE GALLERY is mounting an exhibition of self portraits by Cyril Mann, spanning half a century, from 1937 onwards.
11-22 MARCH | ADMISSION FREE
129 Portland Road, London W11 4LW
For more information and open hours see Piano Nobile (piano-nobile.com)
