New Play Written In Protest Against Borders Coming To Tristan Bates Theatre As Part Of The Camden Fringe

Starbound Theatre and Lights Down Productions are delighted to announce their first co-production. 'The Net' by American Playwright Zoë Guzy-Sprague will make its world debut at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London as part of the Camden Fringe Festival, 13th - 17th August 2019

The Net is an all-female ensemble story tackling border conflicts, war, and finding home.

All the stones have been used, all the brick, all the sand. The only thing left that can keep people out is a giant net, a border between two lands, stretched across the stage. A grandmother and her granddaughter are tasked with patching a hole in the border. As they weave it closed, two women appear on the other side, hoping to get through. The women must come face to face with each other as opinions change and loyalties switch.

Mixing poetic choral monologues and cutting dialogue, 'The Net' brings a new dimension to the age-old story of war by placing women at the centre, while exposing how utterly foolish the divides we create are. It is an ensemble piece that aims to highlight women of all different backgrounds and ages: from fourteen to seventy. The play uses the personal stories of these four women and their interactions with each other to interrogate larger political themes.

Writer Zoë said "I wrote The Net after a trip to Israel placed me in direct confrontation with a wall. I had never been to the US/Mexico border or to Belfast. Other than a piece of the Berlin wall in a ziplock bag that I found in my mom's closet when I was little, my trip to Israel was the first time I had personally been confronted by this big, looming mass of concrete. My first thought was that this division felt so utterly arbitrary. That we share history and land and blood and yet we are different. The Net tries to unpick this feeling, to understand divisions and conflicts by weaving and unweaving a border. In the three years since writing that first draft, old walls have been rebuilt and extended; the divisions they create have become the root from which today's politicians stoke fear and fake news and paint pictures of struggling humans as 'animals'. Now more than ever we need to force ourselves to confront the walls that divide us, to try to see things from 'the other side'."

Press Tickets are available for all shows from Tuesday 13 August until Saturday 17 August (6:15pm & Saturday matinee 2:30pm).

For further details, images, interviews and review tickets, email Caley Powell at lightsdownprod@gmail.com

Editor's Notes:

Starbound Theatre is an emerging, international, London based theatre company focused on the theme of identity. It aims to explore who and what we are - as individuals, actors, and human beings - through human-led stories found in classic, contemporary, and brand-new writing. Additionally, it aims to support and nurture diversity & representation in its work, and endeavours to celebrate women's voices both on and off the stage.

Lights Down Productions was set up in January 2018 by Caley Powell to produce female led new writing and our first play 'Hear Me Howl' by Lydia Rynne had WIP showings at The Landor Space (March 2018), The Plymouth Fringe (May 2018), a 2 week run at The Old Red Lion Theatre (September 2018) & 6 performances at the Vault Festival 2019. Other credits as a Producer include: 'Might Never Happen' at The Kings Head Theatre (May 2016), 'Dubailand' at the Finborough Theatre (February 2017) and 'A Great Fear Of Shallow Living' at Zoo Southside, Edinburgh Fringe 2017.

Listing Information

For ages 16+

Running time: approximately 1 hour

Dates and times: 13-17 August, Tuesday-Saturday 6:15pm & Saturday matinee 2:30pm

Tristan Bates Theatre, 1A Tower St, London WC2H 9NP

Tickets: £12/£10

Box office: www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-net

020 3841 6611

boxoffice@actorscentre.co.uk

Creative Team

Written by Zoë Guzy-Sprague

Directed by Samara Gannon

Produced by Caley Powell and Marta da Silva

Set/Costume Design by Sally Somerville-Woodiwis

Lighting Design by Irene Delfanti

Sound Design by Ruth Sullivan

Graphic Design by Martha Hegarty

Cast:

Marta da Silva as Hana

Yvonne Wan as Mona

Sarah Agha as Ama

Sue Moore as Edna

Social Media: Twitter @TheNetPlay

Instagram thenetplay

Facebook Starbound Theatre

With the collaboration from the Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs of the Embassy of Spain in London (OCSA)

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