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"The Playground Theatre aims to spark cultural exchange and enrichment, building bridges that connect people across borders and celebrate the diverse tapestry of human expression."

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The Playground Theatre is a dynamic space where artists from diverse backgrounds converge to foster collaboration and craft innovative, daring, and imaginative works within a secure environment. Our mission is to champion the incubation and collaboration of new works on both the national and international stages, from emerging to establishing artists, by cultivating a fertile ground for creativity and cross pollination.

 

We are committed to exploring new multicultural, artistic, and stylistic languages in performance, pushing boundaries and redefining the artistic landscape. Through our performances, projects, and partnerships, we actively contribute to the vibrant multicultural tapestry of the present moment.

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Our roster of Associated Artists exemplifies that, with international and national award-winning and groundbreaking names in their own areas, we are proud to be associated with names such as American writer, director, producer Tina Andrews, the first Black American writer to win the Writers Guild of America Award for a Long Movie Script, theatre maker Guy Masterson, Oliver award-winning director and Edinburgh Fringe theatre legend, Janie Dee, Oliver award-winning actor and Climate Change and Green activist, Trinidad born multi diverse artist Christian Holder, one of the most iconic dancers of the Joffrey Company NY in its history, and also award-winning director and writer Lisa Forrell, Sierra Leone born actor and writer Annie Domingo, Grammy award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Darren Berry, director and writer Jolley Gosnold, dancer and actor Naomi Sorkin, one of America's leading classical and dramatic dancers, award-winning actor and writer Myriam Cyr, West End star Ray Shell (Lion King and Starlight Express), South-Africa born award-winning writer Gail Louw and anthropologist and writer Raminder Kaur. 

 

Beyond the stage, The Playground expands its influence through our impactful outreach projects WELL READ and WE START. These are free services provided to local residents. These projects highlight our strong commitment to fostering a love for the arts and contributing positively to the social and cultural growth of communities outside our theatre, whilst confronting mental health issues and loneliness.

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Deeply engaged with our rich and diverse community, The Playground Theatre is a vital hub for creativity and inclusion.

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The Playground Theatre has garnered support from prominent entities such as  RBKC, The Linbury Trust, Theatre's Trust, the Arts Council, The West Way Trust, Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation, Grenfell Projects Fund and others. Many projects initiated within its walls have transcended to renowned venues, including The Young Vic, The Hampstead Theatre, The West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Birmingham Rep and more. 

 

Before we opened our doors to the public, officially becoming a fully-fledged theatre in 2017, the project "Terrific Electric" developed in 2007 at the Playground Studio, earned the Oxford Samuel Beckett Trust Award for Innovative Theatre and was featured in the Bite season at the Barbican Theatre.

 

The theatre has hosted renowned international artists, including actor and theatre maker Steven Berkoff, theatre maker Henryk Baranowski from Poland, twice winner of Russia's and Polands's top awards as director, award-winning director Saulius Varnas from Lithuania and Hideki Noda, the head of Japan's National Theatre. Notable partnerships before the theatre opened to the public include working with Marcello Magni, co-founder of Theatre De Complicité and Linda Kerr Scott.

 

We also have exciting patrons that have supported us along the way, such as Golden Globe winner Brian Cox CBE, actors Cherie Lunghi, Celia Imrie, Ben Miles, and the late prima ballerina and choreographer Lynn Seymour CBE (1939-2023).

 

 

With its commitment to fostering creativity and providing a stage for innovative projects, The Playground Theatre has become a dynamic force in the theatrical landscape, contributing to the development and production of groundbreaking performances.

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In 2017, The Playground Theatre made the pivotal decision to open its doors to audiences. This decision came from the desire to bring the works of the exceptional artists who had collaborated and experimented within its creative space to full production. Led by Artistic Co-Director Anthony Biggs and Co-Director and founder Peter Tate from 2017 to 2020, The Playground Theatre, fueled by private and small trusts donations, produced several medium to small-scale productions, featuring works like Picasso by Terry d'Alfonso with Peter Tate as Picasso, Paradise Circus by James Purdy directed by Anthony Biggs, Shirlymander by Gregory Evans  directed by Anthony Biggs, and Jazz Age by Allen Knee and again directed by Anthony Biggs.

 

We closed our doors to covid's lockdown in 2020 after hosting SINNERS by Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol. Directed by Brian Cox CBE and performed by Nicole Ansari and Adam Sinner. 

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In 2020, we successfully secured ACE's Covid-19 Recovery fund, ensuring our survival during the challenging lockdown and pandemic uncertainty. This recovery fund empowered us to maintain core staff, enhance studio and technical equipment, and support performers and companies by providing our theatre with no hiring costs or financial risk upon legal reopening.

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In 2021/22, The Playground Theatre continued its commitment to new productions, community engagement, and outreach initiatives. We created a new free service for local residents, WE START, in partnership with The Royal Court and The National Theatre, this award-winning programme for residents of North Kensington, is supported by the Grenfell Projects Fund and The Linbury Trust. The programme aims to increase participation and expertise in the arts. It provides free expert-led workshops and opportunities in areas such as performing arts, poetry, writing, etc. The most recent programme focused on LGBTQ+ opportunities and inclusivity in the arts, delivered in partnership with our new partner the Saatchi Gallery.​

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Our consistency in creating innovative work and impactful community projects, even through the pandemic, led us to secure enough support from corporation partners like Les Ambassadeurs Group, governmental grants from RBKC and others like Grenfell Project Fund, and private foundations such as The Linbury Trust, The Mercers, John Lyon's Charity and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

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In 2021, we co-produced with Nicolas Kent's Nick of Time Productions, the award-winning show Grenfell: Value Engineering - Scenes From the Inquiry, the verbatim show by Nicolas Kent and Richard Norton-Taylor, following the first official inquiry of the tragic Grenfell Fire. The show was a success, being transferred to Birmingham Rep and aired by Channel 4. We finally produced our bioplay on Ida Rubinstein: The Final Act with Naomi Sorkin as Ida and directed and choreographed by Christian Holder. We also incubated and produced Changing the Sheets by emerging Irish writer Harry Butler and directed by Anthony Biggs.

Parallel to our co-production of Grenfell: Value Engineering we also run an educational project VALUED. The programme included a matinee performance of the play, two in-school pre- and post-performance workshops curriculum-aligned resources, and the opportunity for students to participate in a week-long creative verbatim retreat at The Playground Theatre. A downloadable package is still available on our website, designed to support continued learning in the classroom, it provides more information about the fire, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the history of verbatim theatre.

We continued to facilitate our WELL READ sessions and showcase the Well Written’s participants' amazing poetry. 

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In 2022, most of our work focused on the support of Ukraine, refugees of war, pos-Brexit reactions towards migrants and oppressed minorities. We programmed chamber concerts, poetry recitals and small events to raise funds and awareness to the Ukraine war and refugees needs. Our most notable event, Love and Destruction, was produced in partnership with Ukrainian pianist Alla Sirlenko. A two part evening, the first part compositions by Alla Sirenko are accompanied by the words of Ukrainian poets Lesya Ukrainka and Lyuba Yakimchu and spoken by Mariam D'Abo. The second half we presented a short new play ONE MAN by Peter Efthymiou. A battle between two opposing forces: the tyrant and the man of love which latter was made into a film and invited to be presented at the Houses of Parliament.

We welcomed shows in diverse languages from the bilingual Portuguese-English show, Tales of Gin and Tonic and the celebrations of the 25 of April Carnations Revolution by Helena Hipolito, the Italian show memorial 39 Stories: Lost Lives at Heysel, the bilingual Cantonese- English show Chinese Boxing by Mark Kitto, an Hungarian show Hetedhét Hotel by HubArt, and the French-English opera company Opera On The Move with The Telephone & La Voix Humaine. 

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Over the summer of 2022 we partnered with artist Jarelle Francis and the charity My Yard to produce a photographic exhibition by the residents of Granger Estate, My Yard, and a community play YARD TALES, on the hardship and unsaid rules of living in a degraded council estate in London, behind relocated, a story about community and estate regeneration. The project started with Jarelle, the photographer, giving cameras to young people on the Estate. They documented their lives, a book was then made as a result of their work. This event was supported and run as part of K+C Festival.

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We hosted outstanding shows by guest companies, such as Rehab The Musical, composition and lyrics by Grant Black & Murray Lachlan Young, book by Elliot Davis, directed and choreographed by multi award-winning theatre director Gary Lloyd and starring Keith Allen, Johnny Labey and Gloria Onitiri, and produced by Clive Black for Blacklist Entertainment. Welcomed the European premiere of Apples In Winter by award-winning playwright Jennifer Fawcett, presented by LynchPin Theatre, directed by Claire Parker, and performed by Edie Campbell. Edie received an OFFIE nomination for Best Solo Performance for her outstanding performance for this production.

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We produced our first edition of TPT’s Pick of The Fringe - our 5 star solo shows' pick, and invited award-winning veteran actor Tim Hardy to present his internationally acclaimed show, The Trials of Galileo written by Emmy award winner Nic Young, and award-winning solo show Ghislaine/Gabler, created and performed by a promising emerging theatre maker, Kristin Winters. 

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For 2023, we adapted PICASSO by Terry d’Alfonso into a solo show, with Peter Tate as Picasso and directed by Guy Masterson, and developed Lapwing Act, a live art performance with improvised live sound design by Dom Bouffard, video design by Matt Feldman, video mapping by Helena Hipolito, book and story concept by Patrick Galbraith, live sculpture by Jack Taylor and staged by Anthony Biggs. 

We co-produced a Jazz and spoken words piece in Italian-English, Concert in F. Developed by Filomena Campus and Anthony Biggs, the show was supported by the Italian and Sardinian Embassy in London, highlighting the work of Italian writer and performer Franca Rame.   

 

After 6 years of directing outstanding work and driving the Playground’s artist vision, our much loved Artistic Co-Director Anthony Biggs  left his position with one last great production A Double Bill of Forbidden Love,  presenting a short new play Artefact by Rena Brennan and performed by award-winning actor Sophie Ward and Tennessee Williams’ Something Unspoken performed by Amanda Waggott and Sarah Lawrie. 

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Our solo show PICASSO had an outstanding run in 2023. The show had rave reviews and secured an OFFFest nomination at Edinburgh Fringe, and was awarded an OFFCOM, an Off West End award for shows with outstanding runs, for having a high number of 5 stars reviews. 

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For our Pick of the Fringe 2nd Edition we welcomed outstanding solo shows, The Devils Passion by Justin Butcher and directed by Guy Masterson, Quality of Mercy created and performed by Edwin Flay, The Good Dad: a Love Story & The Mitfords by Gail Louw, directed by Anthony Shrubsall, the first performed by Sarah Lawrie and last performed by Emma Wilkinson Wright, and Nearly Lear created and performed by Susanna Hamnett.  

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We keep supporting new work by new writers from all ages, such as the Little Buttons Theatre Company’s play High Trees about twin siblings in a mothers womb, and PlayGC’s Tonight Will Be A Memory Too written by Robert G. Clark and performed by him and his wife Lisa, about old age dementia and Alzheimer.   

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We hosted Ruby Wax’s I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was, her new work in progress show on discovery of her own mental health’s state, before she took it on an international tour.

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We closed 2023 with “Hugh Hefner’s After Dark: Speaking out in America”, a documentary by Oscar winner Brigitte Berman, featuring a treasure trove of musical gems, the film features candid conversations about freedom of speech, racism and progressive politics at a time when Hefner was one of the few with enough conviction to give the voices of dissent airtime.

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For our community plays and projects in 2023 we have partnered with Playhouse Creatures from US, New York to produce two outstanding community led events, Greensboro: A Requiem, by Emily Mann and Griswold by Angela J Davis. The partnership resulted in a community reading with a mix of professional actors and non experienced community participants reading together and being live streamed to New York.  

We Are Not A Boat & The Time Has Come: Windrush Generation, events all year around in partnership with BlackBird iNotting Hill and fully funded by National Lottery Community Fund. We raised the Windrush flag at the Town Hall, co-produced a reggae roots street festival, with live music, poetry and street food and closed the events with a one day performance at the Playground Theatre with a new play written by Makonenn and performed by the community of West London and Intermission Youth Theatre.

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We opened 2024 with our outstanding, award-winning GAIL LOUW SEASON, to celebrate the work of Gail Louw and premiered three new plays Rika's Rooms with Emma Wilkinson Wright and directed by Anthony Shrubsall (OFFCOM award 2024), Storming! directed by Anthony Shrubsall, with Chris Barritt, Edmund Sage-Green and Bu Kunene, and The Girl In The Green Jumper directed by Christian Holder and with Peter Tate and Natalie Ava Nasr (OFFCOM award 2024). We also welcomed Fiona Ramsay from South Africa with Blond Poison (OFFCOM award 2024) to open the Season. 

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We welcomed AGATHE from our associates at Sohaya Visions Productions, a powerful play by Angela J. Davies about the Rwandan genocide of 1994. We continued to support new and emerging artists as we invited WIFI - SEXUAL by Tom Hodgson & Harrison Trott for an outstanding two week run. The production was nominated for an OFFIE Award for NEW PLAY.  

 

For our Pick of The Fringe 3rd Edition we invited multi award-winning show ONE MAN POE by Stephen Smith and Oliver award-winning Janie Dee with her Beautiful World Cabaret.

 

We had the pleasure to take part in the VOILA! Theatre Festival, the first umbrella edition of the Cockpit Theatre’s 10-year pan-European language festival.

 

We opened the festival with our production of Dostoevsky's The Dream of A Ridiculous Man as we invited award-winning Lithuanian Director Saulius Varnas to collaborate with The Playground Theatre's Artistic Director and multi award winning actor Peter Tate, to devise a new unique solo show. 

 

We welcomed over 10 shows, 35 artists for 3 weeks in November 2024, representing 15 languages and cultures: LUDO by Helena Hipolito (Portugal/Angola/France), WOMEN IN THE ATTIC by Paulina Krzeczkowska (Poland), THIS IS NOT MEDEA by Cristina Apana (Greece/England), IF MOUTH COULD SPEAK by Timotei Cobeanu (Romania/Lithuania/England/Portugal), MYSTICAL ECSTASY by Paula Rodriguez and Arthur Astier (Spain/France), KATABASIS by Nefeli (Cyprus/Italy/Spain/England/Japan/France/China), CHEKHOV: THE BEAR, SWANSONG, EVILS OF TOBACCO and DARIO FO: ONE WAS NUDE AND ONE WORE TAILS by J Milan Productions (England/Italy).

 

We closed our doors with a SOLD OUT production of Sondheim's PUTTING IT TOGETHER: A Musical Review directed and starring the incredible Janie Dee and the outstanding drag artist Kate Butch. 

 

We continued to offer our award-winning free services WELL READ and WE START to our community. Free tickets or highly reduced prices for shows at the Playground, National and Royal Court, free workshops for developing artistic and business arts led skills, vacancies for backstage, stage manager and admin positions for local residents to work at the National Theatre, and we have continued to delivered our Wednesdays’ free group readings at the Playground Theatre led by professionals.   

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