"Something remarkable is happening at the Playground Theatre. This newest of venues on the London fringe, inhabiting a converted bus garage up Latimer Road, just a few yards from Westway and, beyond that, the charred remains of Grenfell Tower. A kind of cultural rebirth. Just as the space underneath the motorway buzz with the activity of sportsmen on the floodlit astroturf pitches, so too does the once industrial space of the Playground positively hum with creativity and innovation. Having burst upon the scene a few months ago with a memorable staging of ‘Picasso’, we now get a new work from the practised pen of Jonathan Lewis, which, in his own production, is every bit as arresting and unusual." ✭✭✭✭✭ BritishTheatre.com
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29th March 2018
The world premiere of Jane Austen's Persuasion opens at The Playground Theatre on April 17th. Produced by the award-winning Theatre 6, the play features actor musicians in Stephanie Dale's new adaptation of Austen's final novel. The cast of six phenomenal actor musicians will bring this magical and dynamic new adaptation to life.
Ceri-Lyn Cissone will portray Persuasion’s heroine and protagonist, Anne. Ceri-Lyn received high praise for her performance in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, transferring with the show to New York. Recently she played the hilarious and transformative female lead, Janet, in The Rocky Horror Show across Europe. An incredible pianist and winner of the Ian Fleming Award, Ceri-Lyn’s performance as Anne in Persuasion is sure to be extraordinary.
Ceri-Lyn Cissone will portray Persuasion’s heroine and protagonist, Anne. Ceri-Lyn received high praise for her performance in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, transferring with the show to New York. Recently she played the hilarious and transformative female lead, Janet, in The Rocky Horror Show across Europe. An incredible pianist and winner of the Ian Fleming Award, Ceri-Lyn’s performance as Anne in Persuasion is sure to be extraordinary.
Jane Austen’s Persuasion is her final novel and her most compelling romance. Known for its eclectic mix of characters, comedic to tragic and everything in between. We are delighted to announce the company of actors bringing all these characters to life, including Matthew Atkins (The Rocky Horror Show, Manchester Palace), Indigo Griffiths (The Interrogation of Sandra Bland, Bush Theatre), Jason Ryall (Twelfth Night, York Theatre Royal), Lucinda Turner (ITV’s Vanity Fair) and Siobhán Gerrard (Present Laughter, Theatre Royal Bath).
Equity at The Playground Theatre
‘I’m delighted that we have chosen to sign up to The Equity Fringe agreement. We want the Playground to be a space where artists of all disciplines have the licence to take risks, and we feel this happens best in a supportive and nurturing atmosphere.
This agreement ensures that our actors and stage managers are treated with the respect they deserve.’
Anthony Biggs - Artistic Director, The Playground Theatre
Anthony Biggs - Artistic Director, The Playground Theatre
8th March 2018
Coming to The Playground Theatre in April,
Jane’s Austen’s Persuasion announces its cast of six phenomenal actor musicians, bringing this magical and dynamic new adaptation to life.
Ceri-Lyn Cissone will portray Persuasion’s heroine and protagonist, Anne. Ceri-Lyn received high praise for her performance in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, transferring with the show to New York. Recently she played the hilarious and transformative female lead, Janet, in The Rocky Horror Show across Europe. An incredible pianist and winner of the Ian Fleming Award, Ceri-Lyn’s performance as Anne in Persuasion is sure to be extraordinary.
22nd March 2018
What's On at The Playground
Read yesterday's Evening Standard article on Soldier On:
14th February 2018
We are delighted to announce that the world premiere of a new adaptation of Jane’s Austen’s "Persuasion" will run at The Playground Theatre from April 17th to 28th!
Adapted for the stage by Stephanie Dale, this moving, comedic drama is directed by award-winning Kate McGregor, features original music by Maria Haik Escudero to be played live by a company of actor-musicians and is produced by Theatre6, co-producers of the award-winning, West End smash hit The Scottsboro Boys and critically acclaimed tour of Gabriel.
“Persuasion” - Jane Austen’s final novel - is the story of Anne Elliott; a shy woman from the south coast of England who was young and in love. Engaged to the dashing but poor naval officer, Commander Wentworth, her ambitious family tore them apart. Years later, the tables have turned and a chance encounter could lead Anne towards the true love she has yearned for or a life forever alone.
Filled with live music, drama, laughter and romance, Theatre6’s Persuasion is not to be missed.
Adapted for the stage by Stephanie Dale, this moving, comedic drama is directed by award-winning Kate McGregor, features original music by Maria Haik Escudero to be played live by a company of actor-musicians and is produced by Theatre6, co-producers of the award-winning, West End smash hit The Scottsboro Boys and critically acclaimed tour of Gabriel.
“Persuasion” - Jane Austen’s final novel - is the story of Anne Elliott; a shy woman from the south coast of England who was young and in love. Engaged to the dashing but poor naval officer, Commander Wentworth, her ambitious family tore them apart. Years later, the tables have turned and a chance encounter could lead Anne towards the true love she has yearned for or a life forever alone.
Filled with live music, drama, laughter and romance, Theatre6’s Persuasion is not to be missed.
Soldier On
The next production at The Playground Theatre is “Soldier On” - a new stage play written by soldier-turned-actor-turned-writer-and-director Jonathan Guy Lewis - which runs from 13th to 31st March.
A passionate group of individuals, many of them army veterans, will bring to life through a combination of storytelling and dance, hard-hitting, poignant and close to their own hearts experiences. It's their words that do the talking in what one veteran, filmmaker Neil Davies, has named “The Full Military Monty”.
This is a heart warming story about surviving the forces and PTSD and what happens when you leave the military ‘family”.
1st March 2018
Jessica Martin
(Doctor Who, Elf the Musical, Sunset Boulevard)
to star in WORLD PREMIERE
at The Playground Theatre
23 May to 16 June 2018.
London is in the midst of a housing crisis. Properties stand empty while homelessness soars. Close-knit communities are destroyed for profit. Local councils are accused of 'social cleansing', as families are evicted and forced to move away or into unsafe accommodation while affordable homes are sold as investment properties.
It’s the 1980s and in City Hall Tesco heiress Shirley Porter reigns supreme as the Leader of Westminster Council.
First broadcast to great acclaim on BBC Radio 4, Greg Evans’s Shirleymander is directed by The Playground Theatre’s new Artistic Director Anthony Biggs. Staged in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, this production is set to coincide with the first anniversary of the fire.
'One of the most extraordinary, and most calamitous careers in the history of British local Government.' Nothing Like a Dame by Andrew Hosken
‘A vividly impressionistic play… brutally comic, unexpectedly sad.' Daily Telegraph
'An atmosphere of poisonous paranoia ... Excellent fun.' The Times
London is in the midst of a housing crisis. Properties stand empty while homelessness soars. Close-knit communities are destroyed for profit. Local councils are accused of 'social cleansing', as families are evicted and forced to move away or into unsafe accommodation while affordable homes are sold as investment properties.
It’s the 1980s and in City Hall Tesco heiress Shirley Porter reigns supreme as the Leader of Westminster Council.
First broadcast to great acclaim on BBC Radio 4, Greg Evans’s Shirleymander is directed by The Playground Theatre’s new Artistic Director Anthony Biggs. Staged in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, this production is set to coincide with the first anniversary of the fire.
'One of the most extraordinary, and most calamitous careers in the history of British local Government.' Nothing Like a Dame by Andrew Hosken
‘A vividly impressionistic play… brutally comic, unexpectedly sad.' Daily Telegraph
'An atmosphere of poisonous paranoia ... Excellent fun.' The Times