The readings will be run using Zoom so please contact Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com if you would like the URL link for the session. Further information about the play can be found by clicking on the link below.    If you would like to take part and read for any of the sessions it would be helpful if you could email Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com so that we can do some prior arranging of parts. You are also welcome to just come along and listen and take part in the discussion after the read.     Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth [http://email.criteriontheatre.co.uk/c/eJwljcsOwiAURL-m7CRcoGgXLEzV_6D0WrA8DKXp70tjMpvJ5MyZtZIIxGvOODDgACAV9BTo8GBMjuzZmuIj7zvJbPEVi8-pOjS1ILWZ7itxJ4zmxqCXkxKzhSvCYKVFnA2gsG8StKv1u3Xi3vFXy3EcNHm7Oixpynnd_ldt-WDZNxMwkqJNXJp18SGYeFkKYjqV8Qco2zfv]    

We have great pleasure in advertising the opportunity to audition for this forthcoming production directed by Richard Warren.  PRODUCTION RUN Between June and September 2021. Date of performance to be confirmed in accordance with assessment of Covid situation. PLAY SYNOPSIS We are in a half-empty theatre. A middle-aged man appears, with a battered suitcase and a story he is clearly keen to tell. He's a librarian in a small Dutch town, and his job is to handle the overdue books. One day a book was returned anonymously: 113 years late. Who brought it back - and why? All the librarian has to go on is a clue scribbled in a margin, and an unclaimed dry-cleaning ticket. How does he solve this mystery? And how does it change his life? That's what he's come here tonight to tell us....   Glen Berger's 2001 one-man play is a modern fable, neatly wrapped in a detective story, with something very powerful to say about humanity.   It's a beautiful, funny, moving piece of storytelling (and no small challenge for an actor).    Critical reaction:  "_The clues surface and mount, tease and taunt, and what might appear to be little more than a dull literary exploration becomes a dark and complex mystery that transcends the ages_." Variety  "_.... one of a handful of great plays written in the last five years.... it's an astonishingly beautiful piece of writing...._" Seattle Weekly   CASTING REQUIREMENTS   1 actor, able to play male aged 50s/60s    AUDITION DATES We are offering two opportunities for the auditions and these will be conducted by Zoom.  14th February 2021 4pm to 6pm 15th February 2021 8pm to 10 pm    Please contact artisticdirector@criteriontheatre.co.uk for further details of the play, audition process and the Zoom links.   You do not have to be a Criterion member to audition for a role. Auditions and casting are exercised in accordance with our EDI policy [/../../../edi/policy].   In line with our new EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. 'Underneath the Lintel' -The character of the librarian is Jewish and elderly and there could be flexibility around race/ethnicity. Has to be played as a male character. The story includes a theme of the consequences of anti-Semitic discrimination.

We have great pleasure in advertising the opportunity to audition for this forthcoming production directed by Richard Warren.  PRODUCTION RUN Between June and September 2021. Date of performance to be confirmed in accordance with assessment of Covid situation. PLAY SYNOPSIS We are in a half-empty theatre. A middle-aged man appears, with a battered suitcase and a story he is clearly keen to tell. He's a librarian in a small Dutch town, and his job is to handle the overdue books. One day a book was returned anonymously: 113 years late. Who brought it back - and why? All the librarian has to go on is a clue scribbled in a margin, and an unclaimed dry-cleaning ticket. How does he solve this mystery? And how does it change his life? That's what he's come here tonight to tell us....   Glen Berger's 2001 one-man play is a modern fable, neatly wrapped in a detective story, with something very powerful to say about humanity.   It's a beautiful, funny, moving piece of storytelling (and no small challenge for an actor).    Critical reaction:  "_The clues surface and mount, tease and taunt, and what might appear to be little more than a dull literary exploration becomes a dark and complex mystery that transcends the ages_." Variety  "_.... one of a handful of great plays written in the last five years.... it's an astonishingly beautiful piece of writing...._" Seattle Weekly   CASTING REQUIREMENTS   1 actor, able to play male aged 50s/60s    AUDITION DATES We are offering two opportunities for the auditions and these will be conducted by Zoom.  14th February 2021 4pm to 6pm 15th February 2021 8pm to 10 pm    Please contact artisticdirector@criteriontheatre.co.uk for further details of the play, audition process and the Zoom links.   You do not have to be a Criterion member to audition for a role. Auditions and casting are exercised in accordance with our EDI policy [/../../../edi/policy].   In line with our new EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. 'Underneath the Lintel' -The character of the librarian is Jewish and elderly and there could be flexibility around race/ethnicity. Has to be played as a male character. The story includes a theme of the consequences of anti-Semitic discrimination.

Just like the Radio 4 Play for the Day!  Brighton, 1862. A day in the life of Sarah, an African girl, adopted by Queen Victoria and raised in the Queen's circles. Today is the eve of her having to return to Africa, but will she go? The Present. A day in the life of Sarah, a black middle-class woman living in a Cheshire village with her husband and small child. They are paid a visit by well-meaning neighbours who have something to confess. The two Sarahs meet Queen Victoria for tea. This won't be your regular tea party… An outrageous play about imperialism, cross-racial adoption, cultural appropriation – and tea – Janice Okoh's _The Gift_ premiered at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry in January 2020, followed by a UK tour, including a run at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London. It was a co-production between Eclipse Theatre Company and the Belgrade Theatre, and directed by Dawn Walton.  The reading will be run using Zoom so please contact Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com if you would like the URL link for the session.  Further information about the play can be found by clicking on the link below.    If you would like to take part and read for any of the sessions it would be helpful if you could email Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com so that we can do some prior arranging of parts.   You are very welcome to just come along and listen and take part in the discussion after the read.     The Gift by Janice Okoh [http://email.criteriontheatre.co.uk/c/eJwljcEOgyAQBb9GbiXsiqgHDo1t_wNwRaJCgzT-fmmavMvkJTOzVpKABY0CQQACgFTQceDjQwg5iWclhRN2jRQuh0I5pFhWMiUTd4l_Nrbq3kmzDAOQsQqpByfV7DoprW0HFMvIdr2W8j6b9t7gq-66Lh6D21bK0aa0nX9Vfar65sNSWNbm8DXqw76b4-YzUfwVjy_Z9jbz]   In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. 'The Gift' by Janice Okoh has a central diversity message notably an exploration of what it means to be of African heritage in Britain and forms of historical and contemporary racism. The playwright specifies the race/ethnicity of particular roles as important to the narrative of the story.    This reading is licenced as an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books

3 WOMEN' BY KATY BRAND We have great pleasure in advertising the reading and opportunity to audition for this forthcoming production. The production run will be (hopefully!) between July and September 2021. The dates of performance are to be confirmed in accordance with assessment of the Covid-19 situation and subject to performance rights availability.  PLAY INFORMATION 3 Women is a funny and frank play by comedian and writer Katy Brand. The story places three generations of women from the same family in a hotel suite for on the evening before a wedding. As the evening progresses and the champagne flows, their resentments old and new surface, alongside their family bonds and affections. The play considers their experiences as women of different generations in a funny and engaging way as the wedding approaches. Bill Butler will be directing this play. He intends to cast the play and to hold initial rehearsals online with a view to having the play ready to stage at the Criterion as soon as we are able. READING This will be held online at 7:30pm on Sunday 7th March 2021 and is a relaxed and informal chance to read the play. Please contact Bill at wab16a@gmail.com for the private link to the reading.  OPEN AUDITIONS Open auditions will then be by appointment in the week commencing 15th March. The auditions will be held online. Those interested in auditioning should contact Bill at wab16a@gmail.com  You do not have to be a Criterion member to audition for a role. Auditions and casting are exercised in accordance with our EDI policy. EDI INFORMATION In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. '3 Women' by Katy Brand has a diversity message at its centre, including issues of gender identity. The playwright specifies that one character should be of mixed heritage and the story would be enhanced by looking for multi-ethnic and gender identity fluidity within casting. CAST: Suzanne: able to play 40s, a bit soft and scruffy, Laurie’s mother, Eleanor’s daughter Eleanor: able to play 60s, elegant and well put together. Suzanne’s mother and Laurie’s grandmother Laurie: able to play 18, androgynous, ideally mixed heritage. Suzanne’s daughter and Eleanor’s granddaughter Rufus: able to play early 20s, provider of room service, androgynous, drifting but open.

Just like the Radio 4 Play for the Day!  Rural Suffolk, 1759. As the country waits for Halley's Comet, Sally Poppy is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder. When she claims to be pregnant, a jury of twelve matrons are taken from their housework to decide whether she's telling the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose. With only midwife Lizzy Luke prepared to defend the girl, and a mob baying for blood outside, the matrons wrestle with their new authority, and the devil in their midst. Cast: 13-16f 2-4m Lucy Kirkwood's play _The Welkin_ premiered at the National Theatre, London, in January 2020, directed by James Macdonald and featuring Maxine Peake and Ria Zmitrowicz. The reading will be run using Zoom so please contact Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com if you would like the URL link for the session.     If you would like to take part and read for any of the sessions it would be helpful if you could email Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com so that we can do some prior arranging of parts.   You are very welcome to just come along and listen and take part in the discussion after the read.    In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. 'The Welkin' by Lucy Kirkwood has a central diversity message notably an exploration of historical sexism and its implications for contemporary women's everyday experiences. Casting specifies gender of roles but there is neturality around age and race/ethnicity.    This reading is licenced as an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books

Just like the Radio 4 Play for the Day!  An acerbically brilliant satire that explores the fault line between race and property. In 1959, Russ and Bev are selling their desirable two-bed for a knock-down price, enabling the first black family to move into the neighbourhood and alarming the cosy white urbanites of Clybourne Park, Chicago. In 2009 the same property is being bought by Lindsey and Steve, a young white couple, whose plan to raze the house and start again is met with a similar response. As the arguments rage and tensions rise, ghosts and racial resentments are once more uncovered... Bruce Norris's play _Clybourne Park_ was first performed at Playwrights Horizons, New York City, in February 2010. The play received its European premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2010, transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End in February 2011. The reading will be run using Zoom so please contact Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com if you would like the URL link for the session.     If you would like to take part and read for any of the sessions it would be helpful if you could email Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com so that we can do some prior arranging of parts.   You are very welcome to just come along and listen and take part in the discussion after the read.  Cast: 3f 5m In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. 'Clybourne Park' by Bruce Norris has a central diversity message notably an exploration of historical racism and its implications for contemporary  experiences. Casting specifies gender and ethnicity of roles.    This reading is licenced as an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books

Andrew Sheridan's gripping reinvention of Emily Bronte's classic novel.  When two souls collide, the impact can resonate for all eternity. So it was – and so it is – with Heathcliff and Cathy. But if they can't be together, the world that struggles to contain them will simply shatter and burn. This adaptation is a searing and ferocious celebration of passion, of desire – and of the female imagination that created this indelible masterpiece. Exposing a very different but essentially truthful side to literature's most electric couple, it premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in 2020, in a production directed by Bryony Shanahan, joint Artistic Director of the theatre. Cast: 5M, 5F   The reading will be run using Zoom so please contact Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com  if you would like the URL link for the session.     If you would like to take part and read for any of the sessions it would be helpful if you could email Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com  so that we can do some prior arranging of parts.   You are very welcome to just come along and listen and take part in the discussion after the read.    In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. The story of 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte adapted by Andrew Sheridan has no specific gender or ethnicity requirements and would benefit from a mixed ethnicity cast, reflective of modern day Yorkshire.    This reading is licenced as an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books to ensure that artists continue to receive the royalties due to them. 

Tickets are now available for the filmed version of our first post-lockdown live stage production, which will be streamed for 24 hours on 17th July 2021.  You will receive a dedicated link to the film just before showday. See a digital programme for the production here [/../../../programme/2021/3_women]. REVIEW COMMENTS _Each woman has their own song; each woman makes the most of their moment in the spotlight in a poignant yet often humorous play that kept me in mind of the soul-scarring work of the late Tennessee Williams. Only with more laughs._ Barbara Goulden, www.elementarywhatson.com [http://www.elementarywhatson.com] _Ruth Herd gives a powerful performance as Suzanne... She is tough, she is tender and when she is finally pushed to the edge to tell some truths of her own, she is magnificent. _Nick Le Mesurier, Leamington Courier. ABOUT THE PLAY 3 Women is a funny and frank play by comedian and writer Katy Brand. The story places three generations of women from the same family in a hotel suite on the evening before a wedding. As the evening progresses and the champagne flows, their resentments old and new surface, alongside their family bonds and affections. The play considers their experiences as women of different generations in a funny and engaging way as the wedding approaches. RUNNING TIME Approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes with no interval.    This is an amateur production by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.  EDI INFORMATION In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. '3 Women' by Katy Brand has a diversity message at its centre, including issues of gender identity. The playwright specifies that one character should be of mixed heritage and the story would be enhanced by looking for multi-ethnic and gender identity fluidity within casting

Join us at the theatre for a drink and a chat after 16 months! Our New Members Team will be there to welcome new members who have joined over the Covid period, and anyone interested in finding out about the theatre and getting involved. However, we also thought it would be a good idea to open up the night to existing members who would just like to touch base again after the long interregnum. Representatives from the Production and Front of House teams and Board members will be there, and it is a great opportunity to hear about what we have planned for 2022 and how you can get involved in all the various activities and production departments that are necessary to keep the theatre running. Remember that we are completely run by volunteers, and nothing happens if there are not people to take on all of the tasks. Perhaps you might like to sign up to one of the upcoming productions as part of the props or wardrobe team, volunteer for a bar or front of house duty, or might want to get involved in sound or lighting or in our new film/audio-visual team. If you have any questions or would like further information then just drop an email to info@criteriontheatre.co.uk or feel free to just pop along at 8pm on August 18th.

FRANKENSTEIN By Victor Gialanella, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley Playing dates – October 31st - 7th November 2021 Director: Steve Brown This classic tale of horror and suspense details the ill-fated experiments of Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to fathom the secrets of life and death. Purchasing cadavers from unsavoury grave robbers, he gives life to a creature which is both powerful and terrifying, yet touchingly innocent... but there is a high price to be paid for attempting to play God. CASTING INFORMATION: 12 PARTS – 11 ADULTS, 1 CHILD: (CASTING FOR ALL ROLES WILL BE GENDER AND ETHNICITY/RACE NEUTRAL AND PLAYING AGES CAN BE DIFFERENT TO ACTUAL AGE) VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN - A Scientist (25 – 50) ELIZABETH LAVENZA - His/Her adopted “Cousin” (20 – 45) ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her Father (50 – 75) WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her younger Brother (10 – 15) HENRY CLERVAL - An old friend of Victor’s (25 – 50) MUELLER - The local Magistrate (30 – 60) MUELLER - The Magistrate’s partner (30 – 60) HANS METZ - A Villager (20 – 45) PETER SCMIDT - A Villager (20 – 45) DELACEY - A Blind Hermit (45 – 65) JUSTINE MORITZ - A Maidservant (20 – 30) THE CREATURE - (30 – 45) (Must be physically athletic) OPEN READING AND AUDITION INFORMATION Open Reading on Sunday 5th September 19:30pm. Held in the theatre bar area. Anyone interested in auditioning or who just enjoys reading plays is very warmly welcomed. Auditions will be held from Monday 6th September through to Friday 10th September from 19:30 to 21:30 in the auditorium. For more information, please contact the director Steve Brown by emailing to: nowsteve.sb@gmail.com.

FRANKENSTEIN By Victor Gialanella, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley Playing dates – October 31st - 7th November 2021 Director: Steve Brown This classic tale of horror and suspense details the ill-fated experiments of Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to fathom the secrets of life and death. Purchasing cadavers from unsavoury grave robbers, he gives life to a creature which is both powerful and terrifying, yet touchingly innocent... but there is a high price to be paid for attempting to play God. CASTING INFORMATION: 12 PARTS – 11 ADULTS, 1 CHILD: (CASTING FOR ALL ROLES WILL BE GENDER AND ETHNICITY/RACE NEUTRAL AND PLAYING AGES CAN BE DIFFERENT TO ACTUAL AGE) VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN - A Scientist (25 – 50) ELIZABETH LAVENZA - His/Her adopted “Cousin” (20 – 45) ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her Father (50 – 75) WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her younger Brother (10 – 15) HENRY CLERVAL - An old friend of Victor’s (25 – 50) MUELLER - The local Magistrate (30 – 60) MUELLER - The Magistrate’s partner (30 – 60) HANS METZ - A Villager (20 – 45) PETER SCMIDT - A Villager (20 – 45) DELACEY - A Blind Hermit (45 – 65) JUSTINE MORITZ - A Maidservant (20 – 30) THE CREATURE - (30 – 45) (Must be physically athletic) OPEN READING AND AUDITION INFORMATION Open Reading on Sunday 5th September 19:30pm. Held in the theatre bar area. Anyone interested in auditioning or who just enjoys reading plays is very warmly welcomed. Auditions will be held from Monday 6th September through to Friday 10th September from 19:30 to 21:30 in the auditorium. For more information, please contact the director Steve Brown by emailing to: nowsteve.sb@gmail.com.

FRANKENSTEIN By Victor Gialanella, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley Playing dates – October 31st - 7th November 2021 Director: Steve Brown This classic tale of horror and suspense details the ill-fated experiments of Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to fathom the secrets of life and death. Purchasing cadavers from unsavoury grave robbers, he gives life to a creature which is both powerful and terrifying, yet touchingly innocent... but there is a high price to be paid for attempting to play God. CASTING INFORMATION: 12 PARTS – 11 ADULTS, 1 CHILD: (CASTING FOR ALL ROLES WILL BE GENDER AND ETHNICITY/RACE NEUTRAL AND PLAYING AGES CAN BE DIFFERENT TO ACTUAL AGE) VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN - A Scientist (25 – 50) ELIZABETH LAVENZA - His/Her adopted “Cousin” (20 – 45) ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her Father (50 – 75) WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her younger Brother (10 – 15) HENRY CLERVAL - An old friend of Victor’s (25 – 50) MUELLER - The local Magistrate (30 – 60) MUELLER - The Magistrate’s partner (30 – 60) HANS METZ - A Villager (20 – 45) PETER SCMIDT - A Villager (20 – 45) DELACEY - A Blind Hermit (45 – 65) JUSTINE MORITZ - A Maidservant (20 – 30) THE CREATURE - (30 – 45) (Must be physically athletic) OPEN READING AND AUDITION INFORMATION Open Reading on Sunday 5th September 19:30pm. Held in the theatre bar area. Anyone interested in auditioning or who just enjoys reading plays is very warmly welcomed. Auditions will be held from Monday 6th September through to Friday 10th September from 19:30 to 21:30 in the auditorium. For more information, please contact the director Steve Brown by emailing to: nowsteve.sb@gmail.com.

FRANKENSTEIN By Victor Gialanella, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley Playing dates – October 31st - 7th November 2021 Director: Steve Brown This classic tale of horror and suspense details the ill-fated experiments of Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to fathom the secrets of life and death. Purchasing cadavers from unsavoury grave robbers, he gives life to a creature which is both powerful and terrifying, yet touchingly innocent... but there is a high price to be paid for attempting to play God. CASTING INFORMATION: 12 PARTS – 11 ADULTS, 1 CHILD: (CASTING FOR ALL ROLES WILL BE GENDER AND ETHNICITY/RACE NEUTRAL AND PLAYING AGES CAN BE DIFFERENT TO ACTUAL AGE) VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN - A Scientist (25 – 50) ELIZABETH LAVENZA - His/Her adopted “Cousin” (20 – 45) ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her Father (50 – 75) WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN - His/Her younger Brother (10 – 15) HENRY CLERVAL - An old friend of Victor’s (25 – 50) MUELLER - The local Magistrate (30 – 60) MUELLER - The Magistrate’s partner (30 – 60) HANS METZ - A Villager (20 – 45) PETER SCMIDT - A Villager (20 – 45) DELACEY - A Blind Hermit (45 – 65) JUSTINE MORITZ - A Maidservant (20 – 30) THE CREATURE - (30 – 45) (Must be physically athletic) OPEN READING AND AUDITION INFORMATION Open Reading on Sunday 5th September 19:30pm. Held in the theatre bar area. Anyone interested in auditioning or who just enjoys reading plays is very warmly welcomed. Auditions will be held from Monday 6th September through to Friday 10th September from 19:30 to 21:30 in the auditorium. For more information, please contact the director Steve Brown by emailing to: nowsteve.sb@gmail.com.

Company Members' Annual General Meeting

Please note change of date.  Sephy and Callum sit together on a beach. They are in love. It is forbidden. Sephy is a Cross and Callum is a Nought. Between Noughts and Crosses there are racial and social divides. A segregated society teeters on a volatile knife-edge. As violence breaks out, Sephy and Callum draw closer, but this is a romance that will lead them into terrible danger. This gripping _Romeo and Juliet _story by acclaimed writer Malorie Blackman is a captivating drama of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world. Sabrina Mahfouz’s stage adaptation first toured the UK in 2019 and won the Excellence in Touring category at the UK Theatre Awards. It was commissioned and presented by Pilot Theatre in co-production with Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre Colchester and York Theatre Royal. Large Cast.  The reading will be run using Zoom so please contact Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com  if you would like the URL link for the session.     If you would like to take part and read for any of the sessions it would be helpful if you could email Lucy Hayton on lucyhayton@hotmail.com  so that we can do some prior arranging of parts.   You are very welcome to just come along and listen and take part in the discussion after the read.    In line with our EDI policy, we undertake an EDI impact assessment of all our artistic programming. The story of 'Noughts and Crosses' has a diversity story at its centre and is a love story set in a society divided by racial bigotry and a world rocked by terrorism.   This reading is licenced as an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books to ensure that artists continue to receive the royalties due to them.   

Coffee Morning

Audition - The Gift

Audition - The Gift

Coffee Morning

Please note the change of date. Do come and join us for the open reading of Two by Jim Cartwright, directed by Helen Withers, which will be produced March 12th-19th 2022.  Our open readings are an opportunity to hear the play in a relaxed and informal environment. Parts are split between the people who come along and we chop and change so that everyone who wants to read is able to.  If you are thinking about auditioning, or just like to hear a play read aloud, then do come along. You can choose to take part in the reading, or just listen.  The reading will take place in the theatre bar on Tuesday November 9th at 7:30pm.  If you have any queries then please email artisticdirector@criteriontheatre.co.uk 

We are thrilled to be able to participate in the script-in-hand performances of a new play by LUCY KIRKWOOD, produced at the Royal Court Theatre in October 2021.  The Maryland performance script has been offered for free for any theatre company or drama training organisation in the UK who is interested to stage their own script-in-hand reading. Lucy Hayton will direct this performance with a cast drawn from Criterion members who have participated in the Zoom play readings over the last 2 years.  The cast includes:  Lucy Hayton, Gennie Holmes, Sarah Priddy, Denise Pitter, Charlotte Rawson, Gisa Arum, Frances Hewison, Mandy Sutton, Debra Relton-Elves, Anne-marie Greene, Dawn Morris, Leonie Slater, Pete Gillam. Our performed reading will be produced on Zoom and all are welcome to attend. Please contact artisticdirector@criteriontheatre.co.uk to receive the private link and password.  Attendance is free, but in light of the motivation for the writing of the play, we ask that you consider making a donation to the Coventry Rape and Sexual Advice Centre (CRASAC) https://www.crasac.org.uk/get-involved/donate/  ABOUT MARYLAND: “_This play was for many years a private conversation with myself. The horrific murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa this year have galvanised me into making it public. I hesitate to even call it a play when it is simply a howl, a way of expressing what I feel about a culture of violence against women, but I am sharing it because I wonder if it might express a little of what other people feel about it too. It was written very quickly, and I am grateful to the Royal Court for snatching up a gauntlet thrown down last Friday night with such energy, care and seriousness._“ – Playwright LUCY KIRKWOOD _“__Sometimes you don__’__t know what you need until it arrives like a bolt from the blue and things are turned upside down. This is what happened to us at the Royal __C__ourt when Lucy __K__irkwood__’__s play Maryland arrived in our inboxes on Friday night. Since then we have all stepped up to her extraordinary rallying cry and are able to give her voice our space in search of some kind of understanding, howl, communal event in light of the horrific actions still being committed against all women and victims of gendered violence._ _We all live in the same world, hear the same news, share the same existential fears and longings. Some people specialise in tending to our health, and some people tend to our roads and buildings, and some people tend to the food we eat and some people teach us to read and write and some people move important things from a to b. And then there are some other people who sit in the same world as us but with their pattern of words and ideas show that world back to us in a way which momentarily stops us feeling so alone, so fearful, so lost. There is order. There is hope. This is what this tiny enormous play does. This is what the Royal __C__ourt is for. This is what art is for. __We are so proud to be stepping up. We are devastated we still have to._” – VICKY FEATHERSTONE Please note that this play contains strong language. References to sexual assault, rape and violence, References of abduction and murder, References of police brutality and coercion.

Will Johns is recognised as one of the most distinctive and exciting performers on the British Blues scene today. His guitar playing is both modern and cutting edge but also steeped in the blues history passed from generation to generation. As well as being a spellbinding live act, Will is a hugely respected songwriter, having three times been nominated for ‘Best Original Blues Song’ by the British Blues Awards in 3 consecutive years. His father is famed record producer Andy Johns (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton) and his mother is actress/model Paula Boyd, sister of Pattie. Some of his uncles are Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, George Harrison, and Glyn Johns, as well. Happily, Will more than lives up to his impressive lineage and proves it with every note he plays. His blues style is deep and intuitive and based in his true love and understanding of the genre. Listening to him tackle blues standards is endlessly entertaining and should quickly grab the attention of blues fans everywhere. Now Will, supported by Chris Gale on percussion, returns to the Criterion for the first time since 2017 with tracks from his "Bluesdaddy" album, as well as some favourites from his back catalogue. This is sure to be a fantastic evening of music, so be sure to get your tickets early. Seating will be in a cabaret style in the theatre auditorium and priced at £10.    

After a successful live production run, we are pleased to have secured the rights to stream a filmed performance of the play. Tickets are available to purchase now. Find out all cast and crew information as well as reviews, production photographs and the digital programme here [/../../../production/518]. This is a staging of one of the classic monster stories. Our production isn't a rehash of Boris Karloff's Universal Studios version, but a direct adaptation of Mary Shelley's Gothic novel for the stage. Victor Gialanella, the playwright, first brought this version to Broadway in 1981  and his adaptation of this classic tale of horror and suspense details the ill-fated experiments of Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to fathom the secrets of life and death. Purchasing cadavers from unsavoury grave robbers, he gives life to a creature which is both powerful and terrifying, yet touchingly innocent... but there is a high price to be paid for attempting to play God.

Coffee Morning