Photos: ARTEFACT & SOMETHING UNSPOKEN at the Playground Theatre

 

In Artefact by Rena Brannan featuring Sophie Ward, Our First Lady Priscilla discovers an unopened letter from her college roommate Julia that declares her absolute love for her 25 years earlier.

Something Unspoken by Tennessee Williams, featuring Amanda Waggott and Sarah Lawrie, was originally written as a companion piece to ‘Suddenly Last Summer’, ‘Something Unspoken’ is a short, comic tale of suppressed love and desire from one of the 20th century’s greatest playwrights.

1950s Mississippi. Wealthy spinster Cornelia Scott is waiting for a phone call. Today is the annual election of the Confederate Daughters - surely this will be the year she is rightfully elected Regent. And to make things even more special, today is the 15th anniversary of her secretary Grace’s arrival. As a gift Cornelia has bought her 15 roses - a rose for every year, a year for every rose. After all, Grace is more of a companion than a secretary. If only Grace was a little more forthcoming with her feelings. And if only the phone would ring.

Sophie Ward is an actor and writer who has worked in film and television since her feature film debut in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Young Sherlock Holmes’, and in theatre, most notably with the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. On television she played Dr Helen Trent in ‘Heartbeat’, Sophia Byrne in ‘Holby City’, Lady Ellen Hoxley in ‘Land Girls’ and Lady Verinder in the mini-series ‘The Moonstone’. Sophie has been an active campaigner for LGBTQ rights and her non-fiction book, ‘A Marriage Proposal’, was published by the Guardian in 2014. Her first novel, ‘Love and Other Thought Experiments’, was longlisted for the Booker prize in 2020.

Rena Brannan Born in Seoul, Korea, Rena Brannan is of Irish and Korean descent. She was a member of the Critical Mass BAME Writers’ Programme at The Royal Court. She is one of the founding members of the  Arcola’s Middle Eastern, Asian and North African writer’s group and the resulting play, ‘The Cu*ts’ was part of the 2nd Playwright Festival. One of a trilogy of plays about the US Constitution, ‘Mount Vernon’ premiered at The Hudson Theatre, Hollywood Fringe Festival 2016. ‘Mount Vernon’ had its European premiere at the King’s Head Theatre in 2018. Rena’s play ‘The History Of Two Lovers’ had a residency at the Arcola Lab in November 2018 and a subsequent R&D in 2022 at the ARTS theatre. Her play ‘Shutters: A Lesbian Rock Opera’ premiered at the Omnibus Theatre for Pride Festival June 2023. She has a double bill - ‘Ginzel’s Little Cordoba’ premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023.