What’s happening?
Paines Plough, one of the UK’s leading theatre companies, are working with Lambeth Council to bring our pop-up venue Roundabout to Slade Gardens for ten days in August.
Paines Plough will put on plays and a musical, with some tickets to every Paines Plough show free to local residents, and concession prices available to all SW9 residents.
There will also be plays and events from visiting companies, and free community events every day, including free activities for young people.
When is it happening?
The Roundabout Festival will last from 19 August to 29 August.
Our team will start setting up in Slade Gardens on 17 August, and we’ll have left the gardens as they were by 30 August.
Where will Roundabout be?
Roundabout will be put up in Slade Gardens. We’re currently talking to Lambeth Council and community partners about where to place the site to make sure that:
- We leave as much of Slade Gardens free for local residents as possible
- We don’t prevent people exercising, playing ball sports of socialising
- We don’t make noise for local residents, especially in the evenings
If you want to be a part of this conversation, email our Producer, Matt, at matt@painesplough.com
What time will events be?
Most events will start at around 11am each day, but we might have some free events for the local community in the mornings.
Events will finish by 10.15pm on weekday evenings, and by 10.45pm on weekend evenings.
What shows will be on?
Paines Plough will perform four plays in Roundabout during the festival:
- REALLY BIG AND REALLY LOUD, by Phoebe Eclair-Powell
- This is a new show for young people about losing your voice and going on a big adventure to find it again.
- BLACK LOVE, by Chinonyerem Odimba, with music by Ben and Max Ringham
- This is a new R&B musical about a brother and sister living in London asking what it means to love whilst Black.
- HUNGRY, by Chris Bush
- This is a new play about food, class, and if we are what we eat.
- MAY QUEEN, by Frankie Meredith
- This a new play set on May Day; sixteen-year-old Leigh is the May Queen and she’s buzzing, but an encounter during the day’s festivities will change everything.
How much will tickets be?
Tickets to the shows will be between £5 and £15. Some tickets for each Paines Plough show will be available for free to SW9 residents, andt SW9 residents will never have to pay more than £10 for a ticket.
Most community events will be totally free. We’re talking to our partners who run these events, including local organisations, to arrange this at the moment.
What free events will there be?
We’re going to have a lot of free activity for young people, including a week-long holiday activity programme with free packed lunches, and free workshops after performances of REALLY BIG AND REALLY LOUD.
We’re working with local organisations and arts companies to arrange other activities and will announce these soon.
How will you make the festival COVID-safe?
We have been granted the use of Society Of London Theatre & UK Theatre’s ‘See It Safely‘ mark. The mark certifies that we are complying with the latest Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, to ensure the safety of our staff and audiences.
We’re really excited to welcome you to Roundabout and it is our priority that you have as safe and enjoyable a visit as possible
Please see our COVID SAFETY INFORMATION PAGE which covers all information on what we are doing from July 19 in line with government guidance to keep you, our staff, and artists safe as we reopen.
If you have any more questions about what we’re doing in order to ensure that we’re keeping our audiences safe, please contact us – office@painesplough.com.
Will the festival be accessible?
Roundabout is fully wheelchair-accessible and step-free. We can provide three wheelchair spaces per performance, with space for one companion seat next to each wheelchair space.
Roundabout has a built in T-loop available for every performance.
Roundabout has closed caption units, and we’ll have a number of captioned performances.
We will have one relaxed performance of REALLY BIG AND REALLY LOUD, our show for young people.
What is Roundabout?
You can read all about Roundabout and its journey so far here.
This year Roundabout will also be a food bank donation point, with all donations given to local food banks and food poverty organisations.
Who are Paines Plough?
You can read all about us and we do here.
How can I get in touch?
If you’re a local resident and you’d like to talk to us about how to make Roundabout work for you, or you work with young people and want to see how they can access our events, email our Producer, Matt, at matt@painesplough.com.
If you’re a local organisation and want to work with us to put on a community event in Roundabout, email our Associate Producer, Christabel, at christabel@painesplough.com.
If you’re a press or media organisation, and would like to talk more about the festival, contact our Marketing Manager, Cherise at cherise@painesplough.com.
If you have any queries regarding box office or tickets, please email boxoffice@painesplough.com