The Royal Court Theatre has today announced new productions for the end of 2023. The theatre will welcome back Chris Thorpe with his brand new play Talking About The Fire, and will present the work of Nathan Queeley-Dennis, a current member of the Court’s Long-Form writers’ group, for the first time with a transfer of his critically acclaimed Edinburgh show Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz.
Both productions will play in conjunction in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from November until the end of the year. Talking About The Fire is presented by China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz, Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is presented by The Royal Court Theatre, Ellie Keel Productions, Paines Plough and The Belgrade Theatre, in association with Royal Exchange Theatre.
The newly announced productions join Rory Mullarkey’s Mates in Chelsea which runs in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 3 November - 16 December. The brand-new comedy, directed by Sam Pritchard, is currently in rehearsals.
Bruntwood Prize Award winner Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ debut play Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz, directed by Dermot Daly, premiered at Paines Plough’s Roundabout this summer to sold-out audiences and critical acclaim and will have its London premiere at The Royal Court. Queeley-Dennis also performs in the production which is a love letter to Birmingham exploring Black masculinity through Beyoncé lyrics, techno raves and the deeply intimate relationship between a man and his barber. It runs in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from Tuesday 28 November - Wednesday 20 December 2023, with Press Night on Wednesday 29 November 2023.
For a strictly limited run in December, China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz present the premiere of Chris Thorpe’s brand solo show Talking About The Fire. Written and performed by the multi-award-winning Thorpe (Confirmation/Status), the play explores the ubiquitous but invisible presence of nuclear weapons in modern life. Examining international policy making, and the development of The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Chris Thorpe invites the audience to engage, through direct conversation, with the international effort to eradicate the threat of nuclear weapons. Directed and created with Claire O’Reilly, and developed with Rachel Chavkin. It runs in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from Wednesday 6 December - Saturday 16 December 2023, with Press Night on Thursday 7 December 2023.
Rory Mullarkey’s riotous comedy Mates In Chelsea begins on 3 November 2023 in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, running until 16 December.
Mohamed-Zain Dada’s debut play Blue Mist is currently running in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, until 18 November 2023.
Show information:
Royal Court Theatre presents an Ellie Keel Productions, Paines Plough and The Belgrade Theatre production, in association with Royal Exchange Theatre
Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz
Written by Nathan Queeley-Dennis
Directed by Dermot Daly
Tuesday 28 November - Wednesday 20 December 2023
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press night: Wednesday 29 November 2023, 7pm
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.
Nathan Queeley-Dennis is an actor and writer from Birmingham. The production is directed by Dermot Daly.
China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz present
Talking About The Fire
Written and performed by Chris Thorpe
Created by Chris Thorpe and Claire O’Reilly
Developed with Rachel Chavkin
Directed by Claire O’Reilly
Wednesday 6 December - Saturday16 December 2023
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press night: Thursday 7 December 2023, 7pm
If nuclear weapons continue to exist, we won’t. That’s how this started.
Very few of us have lived in a world without nuclear weapons. Not me. Probably not you.
They just… exist.
Sometimes the threat slides into view. Russia invades Ukraine, maybe. But that doesn’t
make the weapons more dangerous. They’re always dangerous. And one day – deliberately
or accidentally – they’ll be used again. And then it’s all over.
From the team that created the award-winning Status and Confirmation, comes the world
premiere of a show about a new nuclear weapons treaty – one that’s trying to give the
power to eliminate nuclear weapons to the states, and people, who don’t possess them.
A play that inspires us to make a change, through the true story of one woman who did.
Supported by Battersea Arts Centre, The Albany and Véronique Christory.
Chris Thorpe is an Associate Artist at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. The production is directed by Claire O’Reilly. Design is by Eleanor Field, and Production Manager is Rob Athorn.
