Chris Sonnex Announced as The Bunker's New Artistic Director

The Bunker has announced Chris Sonnex as its new Artistic Director. Sonnex, who takes up the post with immediate effect, replaces founding Artistic Director Joshua McTaggart. He is a London-born theatre director who previously served as the Community Producer and Artistic Associate at the Royal Court.

Sonnex comments, Under Joshua's brilliant leadership, the Bunker has achieved phenomenal success and it is a great honour and privilege to be taking over from him as Artistic Director.

I am no stranger to the revolutionary nature of theatre. It has transformed my life on numerous occasions. As a working class boy from a London council estate, art gave me a focus and something to be proud of. I was extremely fortunate to become a part of professional theatre through my time at the Royal Court. There, under the mentorship of so many great people, theatre continued to change my life as an artist and a person and I experienced the many ways that it can transform the world; how it can inspire, change outlooks and generate opportunities. In this exciting role I hope to continue enabling and championing the community of artists and theatre makers originating from underrepresented backgrounds. The Bunker will endeavour to open a gateway for artists, theatre professionals and audiences alike.

We need voices from all walks of lives to stand on the metaphorical soap box and tell us their experience, their story and their solutions. Where better to start a theatrical revolution than in an underground car park?

Chris Sonnex started his theatrical life at the Royal Court, starting as an intern on the Theatre Local Peckham project, progressing to backstage crew, then to Community Producer and Artistic Associate. He oversaw and changed the way the community work in the building was made, and successfully created, directed and produced shows in two London boroughs. He worked with working-class artists and on the way discovered and mentored a variety of artists and theatre professionals, many of which are now cemented in the industry. Chris made his Royal Court debut co-directing Tom Fowler's katzenmusik in 2017. Chris was involved heavily with work in the Calais refugee camp with Good Chance Theatre over the months that the camp was still active. Since then Chris has created work for The Donmar Warehouse participation department, the Almeida Theatre participation department, Synergy Theatre Project, Central School of Speech and Drama and the National Theatre Studios digital development department.

The Bunker's autumn season kicks off next week with the world premiere of Eris by John King presented by Airlock. Running from 11th - 28th September, Eris tells the story of a young Irish man, Seán, who is feeling wronged that his boyfriend, Tim, has been excluded from a family wedding back home. The problem for his family is that Tim is femme, fabulous and worst of all, English. What does it matter that they've just broken up? Spurred on by righteous anger, Seán is determined to do something about it. Greek myths, hook-up apps, and the musical stylings of Sinéad O'Connor collide in this touching and humorous tale of young love and difficult families.

In October, The Bunker's resident company Pint-Sized present their first ever week-long festival showcasing five short plays chosen from an overwhelming 1,681 entries. October-Fest runs from 1st - 6th October with a series of free industry-led workshops for writers, actors, and directors during the day.

Knaive Theatre's War with the Newts, based on the Karl Kapec sci-fi novel, arrives at the Bunker from 9th - 26th October after a run at Summerhall during the Edinburgh Fringe. Produced in association with Royal Exchange Theatre and part of its UK tour, the story of a species of newt enslaved by the human race is told with actor musicians and a live surround sound installation by sonic artist Robert Bentall.

Finally, Flux Theatre present Chutney by Reece Connolly from 6th November - 1st December. Chutney has been developed following its appearance in the first of Flux Theatre's new writing nights called EMERGE, which have been based at The Bunker since March this year. Directed by Georgie Staight, Greg and Claire are the power couple who have everything they could have ever dreamed of: The house. The car. The careers... They also have an insatiable desire to murder animals. Their mutually discovered desire threatens to gut their world to its very core in this pitch-black comedy about love, happiness, and unleashing the beast within.

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