Kate Sumpter's One-Woman Show SPIN Makes London Premiere in January

3 hearts canvas, the producers of hit show Smoke at Southwark Playhouse, bring their one-woman show, SPIN, to the Arcola Theatre in January, following an acclaimed and sell-out run in Edinburgh this summer. Written and performed by Kate Sumpter in her debut solo show, Sarah Jane Schostack directs, with set and costume design by Lee Newby, sound design by Jamie Lu and lighting design by Robbie Butler.

The production is in Studio 2 at the Arcola opens on 9 January 2024, and runs until 20 January 2024.

Performed entirely on a spin bike, this London première is a dark comedy about toxic fitness culture and our modern obsession with our bodies.

 

Join an aspiring spin instructor as her enthusiastic attempts to create the perfect class are derailed by a forced journey of self-discovery. What starts as an average spin class, featuring the tightest of lycra and some sexy beats, soon gets weird(er?). 

 

As she confronts her past, The Instructor has big questions to ask: Is the industry she loves actually helping people? Why can't she remember that weird dream? Does anyone else hear screams of terror? 

 

Kate Sumpter plays The Instructor.  A writer and performer, her theatre credits include The Actor's Nightmare (Park Theatre), Henry VI (Upstart Crow Collective), Pride and Prejudice (Book-It Theatre), and as a company member of Seattle-based ensemble The Satori Group. Her television work includes The Little Drummer Girl. Sumpter was named Best Solo Performance at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023 by Theatre Weekly for her performance in SPIN.

Sarah Jane Schostack directs. She is a director, dramaturg and creator. Directing credits in New York include What I Left Behind (Hudson Guild Winterfest Best Short Play), and No Stranger There (2014 Samuel French Finalist). International directing credits include Urinetown (Lost Nation Theater - Winner Broadway World Regional Awards), Singin' in the Rain (Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre, Hong Kong), and James and the Giant Peach (Barrington Stage Company). Associate/assistant credits include The Last Five Years (Garrick Theatre), Taylor Mac's The Fre (The Flea Theatre), Cry Havoc (Lincoln Center), The Stone Will Roll (New York Theatre Workshop), and three seasons with NewArts Newtown Musicals with Michael Unger and the Newtown, CT community in the wake of the Sandy Hook School Shooting.

Lee Newby is a set and costume designer. His design credits include Enfield Haunting (Ambassadors Theatre), I'm Sorry Prime Minister, I Can't Quite Remember (Bath Theatre Royal), Labour of Love (Noël Coward Theatre);,The Life I Lead (Wyndham's Theatre / UK tour), The Cherry Orchard (Theatre Royal Windsor), My Night with Reg (Turbine Theatre), Killing The Cat (Riverside Studios), Vienna 1934 – Munich 1938 (Ustinov Studio Theatre, Bath), The View Upstairs (Soho Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatr Clwyd), and Gently Down the Stream (Park Theatre).

Jamie Lu is a sound designer. Her theatre credits as sound designer include Declan (Camden People's Theatre, EdFringe23), Hedda Gabler (Reading Rep), Smoke, Tokyo Rose (Southwark Playhouse), Iphigenia (Hope Theatre), A Gig for Ghosts (Soho Theatre), The Apology, We Started to Sing, Broken Lad (Arcola Theatre), Dirty Hearts (Old Red Lion Theatre), The Wild Duck (West Side Theatre, ET Space, China), and String (Lion and Unicorn Theatre).

Robbie Butler is a lighting designer, and one of only a handful of life members of the Association for Lighting and Production Design. His designs include The Makropulos Affair (Welsh National Opera), They Don't Pay We Won't Pay (Mercury Theatre Colchester), The Gunpowder Plot Immersive Experience (The Tower of London), and Our Man in Havana (Watermill Theatre). Further credits include work with Complicité, The Royal Danish Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Theatre by the Lake, Hofesh Shechter Company, Polish National Opera and The Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.

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