Photos: represent. Presents TRUEMAN AND THE ARSONISTS at The Roundhouse Studio

represent. presents TRUEMAN AND THE ARSONISTS, written by Max Frisch, in a new version by Simon Stephens, with songs by Chris Thorpe, 18 October – 8 November 2023 

Director: Abigail Graham; Designer: Lizzy Leech; Lighting Designer: Rajiv Pattani; Sound Designer: Zac Gvi; Costume Supervisor: Katie Kelson; Casting Director: Sarah Leung 

Cast: Adam Owers (Trueman), Nadine Ivy Barr (Bobsy), Thara Schöön (Anna), Tommy Oldroyd (Smith), Angela Jones (Hadid), Charlotte O’Leary (Police Officer/Professor/Mrs Waits), and Aaron Douglas and Lucy Yates (Chorus) 

Fires keep starting. All across the city, arsonists worm their way into respectable people’s homes only to burn them all down. It’s a plague. And we don’t know why. 

But Trueman is no fool. He can spot an arsonist from a mile away. These two strangers with troubled pasts who turn up on his doorstep asking for a spare room can’t be arsonists. They’re too polite. Like him. Everybody is far too respectable to act on their suspicions. Even when they fill his attic with barrels of petrol and ask him to help measure the fuse. 

In a new version by Simon Stephens, with songs by Chris Thorpe, Max Frisch’s Trueman and the Arsonists explores how moral lethargy can invite evil in – even encouraging you to give it a warm blanket and a nice dinner. 

This is an amoral morality play. It’s also got songs in it.

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