GIRLS Talawa Theatre Company, HighTide and Soho Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, Tue 22–Sun 27 Aug, noon, £11–12 (£9.50–£10.50). Teresa Ikoko’s play tells the tale of three young friends kidnapped in Nigeria, and explores the stories behind forgotten headlines. Ikoko works with young violent offenders and young women affected by violence, and Girls is the winner of the George Devine Award (2016), the Alfred Fagon Award (2015), and was shortlisted for Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award (2015). Part of British Council Showcase 2017.
KAFKA AND SON Theaturtle, Threshold, Richard Jordan Productions in association with the Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 15, 16), 11.40am, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6. Winner of Outstanding Production at the Prague, Canada, Germany, and South African Theatre Awards, and a i ve–star, sell–out hit on four continents. At age 36, Franz Kafka wrote a monumental letter to his overbearing father that would change the course of his life and i ction forever. A blistering, often hilarious dissection of domestic authority, Kafka and Son is a revelatory visit with one of the architects of the modern psyche. MONSTER Worklight Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 16), 3.15pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6. Monster is a thrilling new performance about violence and masculinity, from the internationally acclaimed Worklight Theatre. Written and performed by Joe Sellman–Leava, a Fringe First winner for acclaimed play Labels.
THE NATURE OF FORGETTING Theatre Re Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 14), noon, £10.50–£12.50. Previews Thu 3 & Fri 4 Aug, £6. Following a sell–out run at the 2017 London International Mime Festival, Theatre Re presents a powerful piece about what is left when memory and recollection are gone. Tom is 55, today. As he dresses for his party, tangled threads of disappearing memories spark him into life. Directed by Guillaume Pigé and developed in collaboration with UCL Neuroscience Professor Kate Jeffery. Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017. A SUPER HAPPY STORY (ABOUT FEELING SUPER SAD) Silent Uproar in association with LittleMighty Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 2.20pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £7. Written by Jon Brittain (Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho) with music by Matthew Floyd Jones (Frisky and Mannish), this cabaret musical about depression mixes storytelling, live music and sketch comedy as it tells the story of Sally and how she deals with her mental health.
Odyssey Pleasance
WHEN WE RAN Patch of Blue in association with Greenwich Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 14), 2.55pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6. Two sisters escape the commune they’ve grown up in, and discover the world that surrounds them. Storytelling with original songs from the creators of We Live By the Sea, the award- winning Patch of Blue. In the past, the company have received the Grahame F Smith Peace Foundation Award for promoting human rights through theatre, as well as the Best Theatre and Critics Choice awards at the Adelaide Festival.
YVETTE China Plate presents Urielle Klein– Mekongo Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Thu 24 Aug (not 14), 2.15pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6. A one–woman coming-of-age story about a stolen childhood and growing up with a secret, featuring original music. Yvette has a script from East 15 graduate Urielle Klein-Mekongo and is directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord. Winner Young Harts Audience Favourite, Stella Wilkie Award; East15 Pulse Award 2017. Commissioned by Bernie Grant Arts Centre in association with Hull 2017. FLESH AND BONE Unpolished Theatre Pleasance Dome, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug, 4pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews
Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6. See preview, page 69. SUMMERHALL
A GIRL AND A GUN Louise Orwin Summerhall, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 7, 14, 21), 6pm, £10 (£7). Previews Wed 2 & Fri 4 Aug, £5. This is a show about girls and guns. A woman and an unprepared male performer to take to the stage and play out a i lm script in front of you. Louise Orwin’s acclaimed show explores what the difference might be in watching something on screen and experiencing something live, and questions what makes the match-up of guns and entertainment so attractive.
ANCIENT SHRINES AND HALF TRUTHS Binge Culture Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug, 3.15 & 6.15pm, £11 (£9). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, 3.15pm, £9 (£8). See preview, page 66. THE NORTH! THE NORTH! Christopher Harrisson Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 14), 5.50pm, £11 (£10). Preview Wed 2 Aug, £6. The writer of Fringe sell–out 64 Squares returns with a piece full of physical storytelling and animation. Christopher Harrisson’s new work is set against the backdrop of post-Brexit Britain and the rise of extremism, and plays as a graphic novel brought to life on stage.
Festival 17 PLEASANCE, SUMMERHALL & ZOO BROCHURE 67