Henry Naylor's New Play ECHOES Comes to the Arcola Theatre This November

Henry Naylor, in association with Gilded Balloon, presents the London Premiere of his Spirit of the Fringe Award 2015 winner ECHOES. The play will run at the Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin St, London E8 3DL, Monday, 16th to Saturday, 21st November 2015 at 8.00pm (Saturday matinee - 3.00pm).

In his brand new play, ECHOES, Naylor finds surprising similarities between the Islamist adventurers of today and early Victorian pioneers. Presented as a pair of intercut monologues, ECHOES tells the stories of two women, born 175 years apart. One is a student jihadi from London -- the other a Victorian member of the Fishing Fleet (the women who travelled to India to be brides of those men who were setting up the Empire). Both are idealists: intelligent adventurers, with strong religious beliefs. Both travel to the East with a mission to impose a system of government upon an unwilling people. The Victorian would play a leading role in the establishment of the Empire; the jihadi, a caliphate... ECHOES is a provocative and brutal tale of colonialism and the rhyme of history.

Henry Naylor has suddenly started writing hard-hitting drama, after having previously been a specialist comedian. He was previously best-known for his comedy work with Andy Parsons, with whom he presented nine series of Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections on Radio 2. He's also been a prolific satirist for TV having been the lead writer on Spitting Image, and having written for Alistair MacGowan, Rory Bremner, Dead Ringers, among others.

In 2014, he wrote his first straight play, The Collector, which explored the issue of prisoner abuses during the Western occupation of Iraq, and questioned how essentially decent people became brutalized by war. The play won the coveted Fringe First Award, and subsequently collected many four and five-star reviews during its run. The Collector went on to play a sell-out season at the Arcola Theatre, London.

Box office: 020 7503 1646 or online at www.arcolatheatre.com. Tickets: £12.00 / £10.00 concs (2-4-1 offers available on Monday, Tuesday & Saturday matinee).