Space Chats

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Signe Ebbesen and Natasha Biggs,  writer and director of the show Prisms. We discuss the fascination of fairytales, the various styles of love and we talk about becoming a theatre maker at East 15, in advance of the run of Prisms at the Space (playing 18th- 22th October, including a livestream on the 20th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“When you fall in love colours change so maybe there are more colours once you find your soulmate“

With original live music, Prisms asks the question how far are you willing to go for love?  An intense play exploring early 20s angst, wilful optimism and experimental witchcraft in a world aiming to be aesthetically pleasing, alluring and correct.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about SwanBite Productions by following them on Facebook: @swanbite.productions

On Instagram: @swanbite.productions

Or Twitter: @swanbite.productions

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Janette Eddisford and Amy Kidd,  director and performer of the show The Last. We discuss feministic roots and burning bras, the fight about acting methods and the artistry and relevance of Mary Shelly's work, in advance of the run of The Last at the Space (playing 11th - 15th October, including a livestream on the 12th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“Well, here is my story – the last story I shall have to tell. All that might have been bright in my life is now despoiled. I am a victim of fate, spared for reasons I cannot know or understand – bound for nowhere..."

Set in a 21st century world troubled by deadly plague, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s 1826 novel The Last Man is poignant and hugely relevant today. Written after the death of her husband and three of her children, it expresses Mary’s own sense of loss and isolation.

This one-woman adaptation explores the book’s biographical elements along with Mary’s use of gender.  It draws on her graphic depiction of a world wracked by pandemic and her warnings of the dangers of mankind’s arrogance towards the world we live in.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about Different Theatre company on their website: https://different-theatre.com

Or on Instagram: @different_theatre

Or see what the actor Amy Kidd is up to on Instagram: @amykidd_

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Elin Doyle,  writer and performer of the show GUINEA PIGS. We discuss how to kill a play, silenced history of nuclear testing in Britain, moral injury and why we need a laugh when we're hurting, in advance of the run of GUINEA PIGS at the Space (playing 4th - 8th October, including a livestream on the 7th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“If Russia drops The Bomb on us, is that what it would be like, if it happens to us?”

“I suppose it would. We’d all be vapourised. But there’s that new man, Gorbachev, seems to have his head screwed on…”

It’s the 1980s. Coral O’Malley is discovering feminism, pacifism and Duran Duran. She’s a chip off the old block of her beloved dad, Gerry. Only he’s fighting a battle of his own with the British government over that time they dropped a nuclear bomb on him. And then there’s the small matter of the school public speaking competition…

The true story of Britain’s last great cover-up, GUINEA PIGS is a semi-autobiographical comedy/drama by actor and writer Elin Doyle, whose father served at the hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island in 1957.

Whilst highlighting the plight of Britain’s forgotten nuclear test veterans, GUINEA PIGS is also a coming-of-age story about a young woman trying to work out what kind of person she wants to be. It’s about intergenerational love and conflict, a celebration of the power of women and a reminder that we all have a voice.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about Elin Doyle by following them on twitter: @elindoyle

Find out about GUINEA PIGS the Play: https://www.guineapigstheplay.com

Or on Instagram: @guineapigstheplay 

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Bettina Paris,  director of the show Cookie Jar and one of the founding members of Abeille Theatre. We discuss artistic influences, the need for change in modern theatre, the danger of tech and media,  and the romanticised idea of being an artist, in advance of the run of Cookie Jar at the Space (playing 27th September - 1st October, including a livestream on the 29th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“Beauty. No match. 4.75 rating. When hired, replace face.”

COOKIE JAR is a fast-paced, comedic drama play, that implores us to reflect on how much of ourselves do we actually own. Written by emerging talent, Kiran Benawra and produced by female-led theatre company Abeille Theatre, COOKIE JAR begs the question: In a world where new technologies are developing at lightning speed, how can we tell what’s real or not?

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about Abeille theatre by following them on twitter: @AbeilleTheatre

On Facebook: @abeilletheatre

Or Instagram: @abeilletheatre

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Maria Laumark and Charles Sloboda-Bolton, creator of the show Mary & Mietek. We discuss love letters, our ancestral heritage and how it is reflected in our times, Brexit and its effects on personal life, and about providing accessibility in theatre, in advance of the run of Mary & Mietek at the Space (playing 13th - 17th September, including a BSL interpreted performance on the 14th, a livestream on the 15th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“Only things I have to offer you for certain are; my love, my respect and what is perhaps most important, my friendship. This is a lot, but sometimes it is very little” – Mietek, 1945.

Ben and Alma are feeling the strain, separated by Brexit, borders and uncertainty. Can they find help in Ben’s grandparent’s love letters? Presented by Katla theatre, Mary and Mietek is a testament to the power of love to overcome and break down borders.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about Katla Theatre by following them on twitter: @KatlaTheatre

On Instagram: @Katlatheatre

Or Facebook: @Katlatheatre

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Katie Bignell and Caitlin Lee Smith, creators of the show Post Sex Spag Bol and Winner of The Space Launchpad Award 2022. We discuss being a woman with thorns, comedy and the comparison to Fleabag and we listen to advice for dads with young daughters - in advance of the run of Post Sex Spagnol at the Space (playing 6th - 10th September, including a livestream on the 8th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“Now, girls. The pill can make you moody, borderline serious mental health problems moody, but it does give you big boobs, so depression can be worth it.”

After being handed a job as counsellor and sex-ed teacher, Krissy purposely leads a classroom full of goggle-eyed-girls down a motorway of mistakes. Fuelled by her own flaws, at a religious all-girls boarding school, she shaves away any expectation of a perfect role model. With a desire for destruction, Krissy intentionally feeds bad advice to the hormone-riddled girls, from questionable kinks, to the swimming pools secret-sex-shack. Told by a three women ensemble, this comedic story of sex, love, and spagbol explores self-love, womanhood and growing up … as well as, vibrators, funerals, the twelve disciples, piss play and that mint shower gel. BYOB – Bring your own Bolognese.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about Thistle and Rose Theatre by following them on Instagram: @thistleandrosetheatre

Or follow them on Facebook: @thistleandrosetheatre

Or Twitter: @ThistleRoseCo

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director of the Space, Adam Hemming, chats to Júlia Arquillo and Mirea Juanals, who have created the show Muses. We discuss why playing wicked characters are the best, how mistakes in rehearsals often make the cut, and the evolution of Muses as a production, in advance of its run at the Space (playing 23rd - 27th August, including a livestream on the 25th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“The moment for liberation has arrived. We need your help. Join the union of the muses liberated, exhilarated, refrigerated, redecorated, friends of the fairies obliterated!"

The adventures of three muses who decide to free themselves and start their own journey as artists. They soon find out that, without economic privileges and connections, initiating an artistic career isn’t that easy. It is, at that moment, when they receive a call from divine inspiration, a business called Inspirations inc. The corporation has proudly helped many artists throughout history, from the cavemen of Altamira to Dalí.

The protagonists begin a journey in search of a pure and ancestral art, fight for their place in an industry dominated by the male gaze and navigate with humour and irony through a surrealist and absurd world.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out about Puro Caos on Instagram: @purocaos.ct

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Director, producer and writer, Bethany Sharp, chats to Daniel Passi, director and writer of Siblings. We discuss Cinderella in shopping malls, visual artistry in theatre work, poetry in the profane and the psychology of guilt in family dynamics, in advance of the run of Siblings at the Space (playing 9th - 13th August, including a livestream on the 11th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“Try to understand them…. That’s the way they’re made. And since they’re like that, you were bound to rebel.”

C., L. and B. have locked themselves up in an old theatre where they re-enact the killing of their own parents. A question arises: is this a rehearsal for a crime, a confession of guilt or a dead serious game of make-believe? Taking the theatrical act to its utmost consequences, the children soon discover what happens once the parental order is overthrown.

Siblings is an original translation and adaptation of the work of the Cuban playwright José Triana, a fundamental voice of 20th century Latin American theatre.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out about the Overtone Theatre on Instagram: @overtonetheatre

Find out more about Daniel Passi on his website: www.danielpassi.com

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Director, producer and writer, Bethany Sharp, chats to Victoria Hadel and Megan Hanson, founders of Prudencia Productions about their upcoming world premiere The Brontës: A musical.

We discuss the life of the Brontë siblings, misrepresentation of female voices and spectacle versus intimacy in musical theatre in advance of the run of The Brontës: A musical at the Space (playing 16th - 20th August).

“To be judged on merit alone,

In the European premiere of this New York-originated musical, young authors Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell Brontë navigate the turbulent world around them through both their art and their reliance on each other. As they mature and begin to experience love, loss, and the pressures of careerism, they find that their writing takes on a life of its own, empowering them as individuals and threatening to pull them apart as a family.

With a lush, intimate score and witty, emotive lyrics, The Brontës is a heartfelt take on one of the most impactful families of artists the world has ever known.

You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about Prudencia Productions by following them on twitter: @prudenciaproductions      

Follow them on Instagram: @Prudenciaproductions

Or explore their work on their website: https://prudenciaproductions.com

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter

Artistic Director, Adam Hemming, chats to Vilma Kitula, Madeleine Carter and Olivia Catchpole, founders of Sisu theatre and creators of the  show Our Field at Twilight. We discuss the privilege of theatre, the outreach to the community , puppetry, climate anxiety and alternative visions, in advance of the run of Our Field at Twilight at the Space (playing 2nd - 6th August, including a livestream on the 6th and on demand access for two weeks after that).

“In my dream, there were cows on a field”. 

An insomniac mother and an anxious pot-head find themselves trapped in a workers’ cult in Northern Europe. Their milk turns sour when a stranger burgles their farmhouse, digging up the dirt from their past. Will they welcome her, or remain in their twilight state? Don’t miss the baby cow puppets and experience an evening of immersive storytelling, with dialogue and themes based on the life of Vilma Kitula’s grandmother. You can find out more about the Space, connect with us on the socials and see what's coming up at www.space.org.uk

Find out more about sisu theatre by following them on twitter: @sisutheatreco

Find out about Sisu Theatre: www.sisutheatre.com

Theme Music: Monsieur Miaow by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Edit credit: Stephanie Schreiter