Directors' Showcase 2023

Directed by
Grainne Robson

Three of Shakespeare’s Messengers from Hamlet, King Lear and Love Labour’s Lost meet in a void, well, a café. They try to understand themselves and their predicament before they have their “admittance” and presumably come to an end in what little life they have. A love letter to absurdism and the work of Tom Stoppard.

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Directed by
Ben Fleming

What if you could be anywhere, instantly? What if there was a cost? Two friends who have spent a lifetime pulling together and pushing apart, can teleport. Every time they do, they grow a little more like one another. So they run away again. My Imaginary Friend is a play about a chase, across an entire world — about atoms, insects, and the interconnectedness of everything.

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Directed by
Tara Noonan

When Ellis moves in with Mia and Finlay - flatmates she found on the internet - she finds herself bonding with them a lot faster than she expected when they discover her teenage diary and insist on making a very long (and very gay) night out of reading it.

Exploring the overwhelmingly confusing - and hilarious - experiences that come with navigating queer life as a young adult, Diary of a Gay Disaster is a new musical comedy where three queer women get to grips with their gay panic the only way they know how: singing, and a lot of shots.

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Directed by
Connor Goodwin

Winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2013. Scenes from Yen follows two brothers (Hench and Bobbie) and their relationship with society and each other. They live alone in Feltham, with their Mum (Maggie) occasionally visiting after being comatose on the lawn outside the flat. Suddenly, Maggie shows up and turns their world upside down.

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Directed by
Natalya Micic

What is it that stops someone from going completely over the edge? Even great moral compass has a limit, right? Tash, an ever-growing social media influencer, is being stalked by once best friend Seven, who is desperately trying to cling onto their collapsing friendship. Seven explores female friendship, stalking and the art of acting on impulse.

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Directed by
Elissa Smith

Sisters Connie and Ursula were once everything to each other. Years on, they're almost strangers. Spanning over four decades, nurture competes with nature as the pair navigate their unbreakable bond. Run Sister Run is a witty and heartfelt story of family, class, dependence and Northern grit.

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Created and directed by
Ben Newman

Malcolm sees angels. He also believes in territorial mabs and seductive forest sylphs. Malcolm believes in lots of things. When he is visited by a young girl named Betty determined to know more about his unusual conspiracies, Malcolm is immediately suspicious. But as the pair delve further into his fantastical world, they realise they have far more in common than either of them first believed. A dark comic drama about grief, loneliness, faith - and the supernatural.

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Directed by
Millie Brolly

The sun’s out and the surfs up but the pressure never stops for the staff of the Café on the Beach.

A new season starts for the staff of this Cornish café on the Beach, but with some new staff and a new owner joining the team, tensions soon rise. local girl and long-time manager Maz has managed tough situations before, and it doesn’t take her long to get the café and all the staff running like clockwork. But this year things are different, and the pressure may be too much for even her to bear.

Fast action, music and fun are at the fore in a snapshot view of the harsh realities of living and working in coastal communities.

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Directed by
George Marlin

Four Play is a frank and funny comedy about sex, commitment and monogamy in the 21st century. After seven-and-a-half blissfully happy years together, Rafe and Pete have hit a rut. So when they proposition mutual friend Michael to help solve their "problem" - knowing full well that Michael has his own partner - the boundaries of love and loyalty are pushed to the to extreme.

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