NO MILK FOR THE FOXES Comes to Camden People's Theatre, April 22-May 9

Beats&Elements and Camden People's Theatre present No Milk For The Foxes at the Camden People's Theatre, 58-60 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PY, running Wednesday 22nd April - Saturday 9th May 2015. Press night: Wednesday 22nd April, 7.30pm.

Two security guards. One night shift. Zero hours contracts.

Is it important to aspire to a higher station or better just to accept your lot? As the television monitors buzz in front of them, two friends pass the night shift debating status, class and milk. Mark is keeping his head down, working hard and praying his contract will be extended. He's saving up to take his girlfriend Gemma on her dream holiday to Tenerife. Sparx just can't wait to clock off and roll a spliff. Minimum wage with no pension? He's had enough. Today he is leaving. Quitting. Definitely. Although, he said that yesterday...

Through spoken word, humour, live looping and beatbox, No Milk For The Foxes explores Cameron's England from the perspective of the working class. As working class artists themselves, the creators want to challenge representations of class on the modern stage and bring humour and humility to their audiences.

Beats&Elements present this exciting new piece as a co-production with Camden People's Theatre with award-winning dramaturgs Yael Shavit and Tom Parkinson. The company is comprised of spoken word artist/musician Paul Cree and theatre-maker/musician Conrad Murray who come together to create hip-hop inspired theatre; between them they have presented work with the Roundhouse, Battersea Arts Centre, Bestival, Latitude, Secret Cinema and Wild Works.

Conrad Murray comments, Paul and I would often talk and complain about the fact there wasn't any theatre speaking from a working class perspective or to a working class audience. We both grew up on council estates in London and, coming from these backgrounds, we felt like there wasn't much, if any, art being made that related to us. Having known each other for years we had always wanted to collaborate; we use beatbox, spoken work, music and rap in our solo work and this show seemed to be the perfect vessel to mix all the things we were passionate about into one piece.

No Milk For The Foxes is part of The State We're In - three weeks of political work at Camden People's Theatre leading up to the General Election.

There will be a post-show discussion on Friday 24th April with Dr David O'Brien (Senior Lecturer in Cultural Policy, ICCE, Goldsmiths' College) and Dr Sam Friedman (Assistant Professor in Sociology, LSE). Drawing on recent high-profile debates about working-class representation and participation in culture, Dr O'Brien and Dr Friedman's brand new research 'uncovers worrying patterns of disadvantage within the acting profession, a cultural form that is vital to the UK, reflecting the exploitation and inequality at the heart of contemporary Britain.'

Running time: 1 hour 5 minutes. Tickets are available from www.cptheatre.co.uk or 020 7419 4841 at £12 (£10). Camden People's Theatre is found opposite Sainsbury's Local, on the corner of Hampstead Road and Drummond Street. The other nearest underground stations are Warren Street (on the Northern and Victoria line), Euston Square (on the London Overground) and Euston (on the Northern and Victoria lines). The nearest rail station is Euston.

As a poet/spoken word artist, Paul Cree has performed around the UK at festivals and events such as Bestival, Latitude, Secret Garden Party, One Taste and Edinburgh Fringe. He has won slam competitions at Farrago, Bang said The Gun, Lyric Lounge and was runner-up in the televised 2010 Manorlogz UK Extreme Spoken Word competition. In November 2013, he wrote and performed his first solo show, A Tale From The Bedsit ('gentle, personal and honest ... a complete delight and also very funny' - Sabotage Reviews), working with award-winning director Stef O'Driscoll, commissioned and produced by the Roundhouse as part of their acclaimed Last Word Festival. Paul also works regularly in theatre, performing in over fourteen professional productions since 2009, working with artists, venues and companies such as Battersea Arts Centre, Wildworks, Look Left Look Right, Secret Cinema, Kazuko Hohki and Abi Conway.

Conrad Murray recently directed Beatbox/ hiphop theatre show The First Instrument at BAC with the Beatbox Academy and musician Tom Parkinson. The production was developed through eight weeks' workshop and rehearsal. Conrad was also a collaborator and performer in Dad Dancing by 2nd Hand Dance at BAC (2014), and is currently developing his solo show DenMarked, also with BAC. Other recent experiences include performing in The Borrowers by Kazuko Hohki; London Stories (BAC, Dec 2013). In November/December 2012 - 2013, Conrad also performed in the critically acclaimed The Good Neighbour at BAC with Uninvited Guests and Sarah Golding.

Tom Parkinson is a composer, musician, sound designer and performance maker. His recent collaborators include Bryony Kimmings, with whom he co-directed Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model, Sharon Smith (Gob Squad), and Karen Levi (who has made over 20 award-winning pieces). His work has been performed in 19 countries.

Yael Shavit is a Jerwood Award-winning theatre director. She has worked with many leading spoken word artists including Molly Naylor, Warsan Shire and Polarbear on the development of new work. She currently leads the Spoken-Word Ensemble based at Roundhouse Camden and is known for her deep appreciation of storytelling and character development.

Camden People's Theatre is a central London space dedicated year-round to supporting innovative early-career artists - particularly those making work about issues that matter to people right now. Over 21 years, a range of extraordinary artists have developed work at CPT, including Fevered Sleep, the Pacitti Company, Ridiculusmus, Shunt, Chris Goode, Made In China, Blind Summit, Scottee and many more. Recent successes includes the Calm Down, Dear festival of feminism, a co-production with Common Wealth Theatre on the site-specific theatre event Our Glass House, and a sell-out run of Tom Frankland & Keir Cooper's punk Don Quijote (Guardian 4*). CPT recently became the only theatre venue in London to join the Arts Council England's National Portfolio in the 2015-18 funding round.

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