An international group of young democrats are working for an NGO called Democracy in Action in Zimbabwe in the run up to the elections.
Their goal, to educate and help register voters, but an increasingly violent run up to elections brings chaos their way testing the very reason for their commitment and presence in the country.
Trim? Fresh.
Skin? Glowing.
Vibes? Immaculate.
Nathaniel is a serious romantic who sees love as a fine art. He’s looking for the Mona Lisa to his da Vinci, and tonight is the night: his date with Destiny…’s Child.
Winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022, Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ debut play is a love letter to Birmingham, exploring Black masculinity through Beyonce lyrics, techno raves and the deeply intimate relationship between a man and his barber.
Scroll down to see the full Roundabout @ Summerhall 2023 programme.
Welcome back to Roundabout, Paines Plough’s pop-up amphitheatre with state-of-the-art lighting and sound, and where every seat is the best seat in the house. 168 people are wrapped around the stage, watching new plays from the UK’s most exciting writers, in a thrillingly atmospheric, spaceship-like theatre.
Since its beginning, the big yellow tent has existed to serve our mission as a company; to showcase the breadth of new writing talent that the country has to offer, and to platform stories from all sections of society. There will be deep reflection, hope, righteous fury, and lived experiences you might never have considered before.
Oh, and there will be laughter as well. Lots of it.
We’d like you to take these stories home with you, to keep them with you for a while, and hopefully you will fly the flag for new writing wherever you are.
Read more about all the productions in the e-Postcard Pack here (scroll down to view pages):
So they’ve both swiped right. Now they’re meeting for the first time. Facing each other. As if that’s a normal thing to do.
But she’s being uncomfortable, and he’s a total bore. The vibe is horrific and the banter is even worse. But something is keeping them in their seats. Something is making them stay.
With acid wit, Miriam Battye’s award-winning new play takes a scalpel to modern romance.
A U.S. production of Strategic Love Play opened at the Minetta Lane Theatre in November & December 2024, produced by Audible and Chase This Productions. It was directed by the show’s original director Katie Posner, starring Michael Zegen and Heléne Yorke.
Born in Denton Burn, Ric Renton had a troubled upbringing that led to him spending his young adulthood in prison. Whilst in HMP Durham he learned to read and crucially to write. This is his story. Relived and performed by him.
Three young men Knox, Brown and Shepherd pass their time in a prison with the highest suicide rate in the country. Energised by their friendship but with the walls around them getting smaller, haunted by the repeated pronouncements of another life lost, the arrival of a nightwatchman, Jock, offers Shepherd an unexpected way through the darkness.
Rich with emotion but sizzling with high energy and the blackest humour, One Off is one of the most urgent pieces of new writing you will likely see.
‘One Off was all the dignity afforded to those who could take no more. No names. Not even their number. One off.
I am DV7786.
And I write this for all the dead boys, and for night watchman Jock, who, without his invisible, persistent presence, unseen in the corridors of HMP Durham, I too may have just been another One Off.’
Ric Renton
In August 2022, our portable pop-up theatre venue Roundabout will take over Summerhall at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Our in-the-round auditorium will host three premieres from trailblazing playwrights Dipo Baruwa-Etti (Half-Empty Glasses), Sami Ibrahim (A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain) and Laura Lindow (The Ultimate Pickle) and the return of Chris Bush’s critically acclaimed play Hungry which premiered at Roundabout in 2021.
These will be performed in rep alongside visiting artists presenting theatre, cabaret, comedy, family shows, drag and more from 3 – 28 August.
Visiting artists also presenting work include YESYESNONO, Ellie Keel Productions, Maimuna Memon, Francesca Moody Productions and Nouveau Riche.
Read more about all the productions in the E-Postcard Pack here:
We can’t wait to be back, welcoming the best in new writing to the big yellow tent.
‘I’m sticking with you. You, my chum, my little chipolata, have got yourself your very own, real life, wolf!’
Everything is awesome in Dill’s life. A loving mum, good mates at school, a granddad who plays the drums, and Jack Tornado: the oldest and best goldfish in the world.
But when a little ball of fluff falls from grandad’s book, everything changes forever. Could that be a… wolf!? Join Dill on an adventure through the unexpected surprises in life.
A new play by award-winning writer Laura Lindow, The Ultimate Pickle is about the importance of stories, the imagination, and how our little ones deal with grief. A show for all the family and any friendly wolves!
Toye is preparing for his piano exam to get into a prestigious music school. He’s doing it for the contacts, the opportunity, the love of art. But when he notices the lack of Black British history in his school’s curriculum, he begins to question himself and the world around him. Is this really his dream, or is he letting these institutions write his story?
He starts offering his own school lessons on Black cultural icons, but he quickly discovers that maybe not everyone wants Black history to be celebrated…
An empowering new play by Channel 4 bursary winner Dipo Baruwa-Etti about the pressures of being young, gifted and ready to change the world.
‘I still play to their chords.
Livin’ within conventions.
Livin’ within restrictions.
Livin’ within a structure.
Lettin’ someone write my story.’