She and He are the pseudonyms of a real-life couple who live in separate houses in the same city on the west coast of America. She is 88. He is 93. For 30 years he has provided her with a home and an income, while she provides ‘mistress services’ – ‘All sexual acts as requested, with suspension of historical, emotional, psychological disclaimers.’ They first met at university and then lost touch. When they met again twenty years later, they began an affair when She – a highly educated, intelligent woman with a history of involvement in the feminist movement – asked her wealthy lover to sign the remarkable document that outlines their unconventional lifestyle: The Mistress Contract. Was her suggestion a betrayal of all that she and the women of her generation had fought for? Or was it brave, honest, and radical? Then – on a small recorder that fit in her purse – this extraordinary couple began to tape their conversations about their relationship, conversations that took place while travelling, over dinner at home and in restaurants, on the phone, even in bed. Based on reams of tape recordings made over their 30 year relationship, The Mistress Contract is a remarkable document of this unconventional couple, and the contract that kept them bound together to this day.
Oswald returns home from Paris to honour his dead father. As his mother begins to feel the presence of ghosts from the past around her, Oswald discovers that there is more to his mystery illness than he first thought. Only by uncovering the truth can they both be set free…This production of Ibsen's masterpiece is inspired by the artist Edvard Munch’s extraordinary stage designs for the play previously only seen once, in Berlin in 1906.
Doonreagan House in Cashel, Connemara, for many years home to the author of this play, was where future Poet Laureate Ted Hughes took refuge in the late 1960s, after the death of his wife Sylvia Plath. With him were his two young children by Sylvia, as well as his lover Assia Wevill and baby daughter Schura. Doonreagan explores the doomed relationship between Ted and Assia during their brief but intense spell in Connemara: an ultimate test of conjugality and family life, at which neither of them had excelled so far. Based on years of personal research and experience, Doonreagan opens up new angles on this tragic triangle drama and the mystery of Sylvia Plath's death.
Countries go through times of turmoil when in transition from one state of governing to a new order. They consist of many giant and individual struggles. But what happens when the future you meet is not the one that you were expecting? Cadre is one such South African story of dreams and change.
Secret terror cells, political conspiracy, police bungling, state-sponsored bomb plots… This is London, 1896. Inspired by Joseph Conrad's classic novel, The Secret Agent is theatre O's heartbreaking and hilarious chronicle of passion, betrayal and terrorism. Set at a time of social upheaval and growing disparity between rich and poor, at the heart of this tale is a woman fighting to protect her young brother from exploitationand violence. In their trademark highly imaginative style, described by The New York Times as, «vivid, enlightening, inventive and compelling», music halland early cinema collide in theatre O's return to the stage after five years away.
Meet Karim, Rehaan and Ammi, three first and second generation Pakistani immigrants trying to make a living, a life and a home in the UK's cultural capital, London.Another day on Harlesden High Street and business is not going well. Karim needs to save for Ammi's operation and time is running out. Rehaan wants to marry Firoza but who will take a man with such pitiful prospects? Something has to change and it has to change soon, but what hope is there when all they can sell is toilet roll and jackfruit?Harlesden High Street is a feast for the senses, an explosive exploration of the meaning, value and significance of home.Thought-provoking, witty, carefully observed and beautifully written in verse, this is a play for everyone and anyone who has ever lived in London. Boasting one of the most diverse populations on the planet, London has an influx of thousands of immigrants every year. But what happens to this population when the country’s social, financial and political climate is stretched?How are London’s demographically diverse boroughs affected?What changes and sacrifices have to be made in order to survive?
Maggie is just in from Sainsbury’s Local to make a quick sandwich for Jamie. He likes his cheese and pickle. With the crusts off. A good heart, that lad. Not like those other boys around here. You know what boys are like. Laws unto themselves once they reach that age. But it’s those other boys, really. Not Jamie. A boy with a Batman lunch box? What harm is he to anybody?Co-written by AJ Taudevin and Kieran Hurley, Chalk Farm explores love, responsibility, and the culture of blame and retribution surrounding the 2011 English riots.
Strepsiades lives in Greece. He has debt. A lot of debt. And that’s because his son, Phiddy, has a penchant for betting and isn’t so keen on working. At a loss, Streps has an idea: Phiddy can go to Socrates' Academy and learn how to talk himself out of trouble! Job done! What could possibly go wrong?Socrates and His Clouds is a serio-comic drama about the fragility of morality, the hazards of education and the burdens of being a teacher.
‘We are not beggars. I am not here for you to cast your pity at me like breadcrumbs tossed to a cripple. Because I know you’re listening to me; and my voice won’t be silent, not yet.’Tejas Verdes (‘Green Gables’), once a sea-side resort, was an infamous Chilean torture and detention centre during the early years following the Pinochet coup in 1973. Fermín Cabal’s humane and powerful play traces the life of a young woman who vanished one night in Santiago. Beneath the tolling of the church bells, her voice and the voices of those who share her story ring out with poetic beauty and overwhelming love.