Today, the Evening Standard announces the 2022 shortlist for the 66th Evening Standard Theatre Awards. The shortlist features the biggest names and emerging talents from the London stage over the last eighteen months, who are recognised across nine award categories. Among the contenders are globally-renowned actors and actresses and hit shows including: Oklahoma!, Cabaret, The Father and the Assassin and Best of Enemies.
How we process grief is unique to us individually and how families mourn together can either bring everyone closer together or drive everyone further apart from one another. The process of a funeral an incredibly emotive one, a ceremony offering that vital opportunity for all to say their final goodbyes, cultural roots governing how funeral rites are observed. An exploration of loss, family and migration, writer Beru Tessema presents House of Ife, a drama observing a family confront the unsaid and traumas that they’ve lived with after the loss of family member Ife. Due to play from the 29th April until 11th June at the Bush Theatre as part of their 50th birthday celebrations, Beru tells us more about exploring the show’s themes, working with Artistic Director Lynette Linton and what he’s learned from the show’s creative process!
Sexuality is a component of ourselves that makes us who we are, it’s a personal preference that only we should have the right to own. However when there are laws and societal expectations placed stopping you from living your truth, this can often leave many feeling isolated with nowhere to turn to. Addressing this topic further in her debut play The High Table, Temi Wilkey talks to us ahead of the show about the importance of exploring LGBTQ+ issues and culture, how both the Bush Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre helped realise her story and her journey towards co-founding ‘Pecs, The Drag King Collective’.
Whether you’ve forgotten to prepare a sandwich for lunch, or are looking for a quick fix after school, or a long days work, there’s no doubt that a box of chicken and chips can offer a tasty yet affordable meal solution. An inner city staple, the Chicken and Chip Shop is more than just a fast food outlet, it also encapsulates a microcosm of metropolitan life.
It’s rare to walk down a high street without spotting either a bookies, or a chicken and chip shop. It’s a sign of our times at present, a marker of 21st century London. Both seemingly unassuming settings, what dramatically could happen? Well, in Lynette Linton’s refreshing new production, Chicken Palace, the chicken and chip shop setting is given a lease of life. Having made her debut at new writing festival, Angelic Tales, 3 years ago with her production STEP, Linton has gone from strength to strength in her writing career. Ahead of Chicken Palace‘s debut, Theatrefullstop were lucky enough to speak to the playwright about her inspirations for the play, working with Theatre Royal legends Rikki Beadle-Blair and John Russel Gordon, and offers advice to aspiring playwrights!
Hi Lynette! How are you feeling ahead of the first performance of your new play, Chicken Palace, due to show at Stratford East Theatre Royal?