Following a highly successful run at Latitude Festival, the multi-award winning Poleroid Theatre bring BAFTA nominated playwright Kenneth Emson’s Plastic to life at the Old Red Lion Theatre.
Directed by JMK 2017 award winner Josh Roche, this powerful new play explores how the insecurities of childhood can follow us into later life in this unflinchingly honest drama about time, memory and escape.
Remember the moment you became an adult? Or did you miss it? Kev used to have a girlfriend called Lisa – she wore a fitted blazer and reebok classics and lit up the school yard. Kev used to be the captain of the school football team and he scored the winner in the All-Essex schools cup final. Ben used to get beaten up most days. He stole money from his mum’s purse to pay off ‘Wicksy’. Now he’s an accountant. But Ben always had Jack. His loyal, unbreakable mate Jack. Adults are the kids that survive school right? But what if some kids don’t?
Set in a school in Essex, Emson’s poetic and unflinching production is an extraordinary mix of drama and performance poetry which tells the story of four young people who are forced into adulthood. Through its innovative verse, Plastic examines the creation of urban folklore and the sealed world of adolescence with all its unique pressures – how hard it can be to survive, and how hard it is to be left behind.
Director Josh Roche comments, School is hell. We all go through it, but as adults we’re quick to patronise and diminish teenagers who scream for help. We made Plastic to talk about the horror that takes root in schools, a horror of loneliness, frustration and identity – a horror that can define the lives of adults well into retirement.
Plastic is generously supported by Arts Council England, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation and The Old Vic Theatre.
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