Rehearsal photos have been launched for A VIEW FROM ISLINGTON NORTH, an evening of imaginative, provocative and hilarious political satire from some of the UK’s most celebrated playwrights, directed by Max Stafford-Clark, playing at the Arts Theatre in London from 18 May until 2 July, with a press night on 24 May.
The company includes Sarah Alexander (Smack the Pony, Coupling, Armstrong and Miller), Ann Mitchell (extensive screen and stage credits, most recently series regular ‘Cora Cross’ in EastEnders), Bruce Alexander (A Touch of Frost, Love and Marriage), Steve John Shepherd (‘Michael Moon’ in Eastenders, Jo in This Life) Jane Wymark (Midsomer Murders, Poldark), Joseph Prowen and Kathryn O’Reilly.
In THE ACCIDENTAL LEADER by Alistair Beaton (Feelgood, Not the Nine O’Clock News, A Very Social Secretary), Jim, a backbench MP in the party of Her Majesty’s Opposition is attempting to orchestrate a very British coup. But trouble comes in the shape of Nina, Deputy Chair of the party’s grass roots organisation…‘Impetus’.
In HOW TO GET AHEAD IN POLITICS by Stella Feehily (This May Hurt A Bit, Bang Bang Bang, Duck), The Chief Whip practices his dark arts on an MP, who doesn’t stand a chance…
In AYN RAND TAKES A STAND by David Hare (The Moderate Soprano, Stuff Happens, The Judas Kiss ) members of the current government, feeling their ideology fall apart, receive a bracing visit from Ayn Rand, the high priestess of the free market.
In TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE, Caryl Churchill (Love and Information, Escaped Alone, Top Girls) imagines a world where even language is sponsored.
And in The MOTHER, Mark Ravenhill (Shopping and Fucking, Mother Clapp’s Molly House, Candide) eyes the cost of our military adventures, as a soldier’s mother does all she can to avoid hearing the news she dreads.
Max Stafford-Clark said, “From Beyond The Fringe to Spitting Image to The Thick of It, political satire has never really gone out of fashion, and continues to act as a pungent corrective to political pomposity and ambition. Over a few years Out of Joint has accumulated a number of short plays, originally written for other purposes; Caryl Churchill’s play Tickets Are Now On Sale formed part of a Theatre Uncut season, and Stella Feehily’s How to Get Ahead in Politics was written for a one-off occasion on the eve of the General Election.
Leave a Reply