Tackling Intergenerational Conflict and the Role of the Irish 'Mammy', REARED comes to Theatre503

BAFTA-nominated John Fitzpatrick's brand new play Reared will debut at Theatre503 this April. With unfailing humour, Reared tackles intergenerational conflict, postnatal depression, and the role of the Irish mother in the 'sandwich' generation caught looking after both their children and their parents.

Under one roof, three generations of Anglo-Irish women try to find space for a fourth. As Caitlin waits for life to begin, her grandmother Nora fears the end and Eileen frets about them both. Between her mother-in-law's incipient dementia and her daughter's struggle for independence, Eileen finds herself battling to adjust her household and wrangle her husband.

The Constitution of Ireland holds that the family is the cornerstone of society and at the heart of the family is the mother. As Eileen struggles to find some sort of control over her life she begins to see that the enemy might not be a controlling mother-in-law or an ineffectual husband but rather the roles they have been forced into.

Writer John Fitzpatrick comments, "At the heart of this play, I hope there are warm, funny, hard-working women. Society has set them against one another and yet, through their resilience, they manage to deeply care for and protect each other. Reared had to be funny because the women I've grown up with in Ireland are the wittiest people I know and I'd be doing them a disservice if my characters didn't at least try to match their level of humour."

Reared will also take part in Theatre503's Rapid Write Response. Writers are invited to see the new work and write a 10 minute play in response to it. These will need to be submitted by Monday 9th April. The company will read and choose between six and eight short plays which will be read and partly staged on Sunday 22nd and Monday 23rd April.

Tickets are available priced £18 - £12; Previews £10; Early Bird Offers are available.

John Fitzpatrick is part of the new generation of male playwrights passionately interested in gender-balanced work telling women's stories. John's work includes performances at the ICA, Hayward Gallery, RVT, The Bridewell and Soho Theatre. His first play was part of the Royal Court Writers' Programme and was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe to great critical success then transferred to the Soho Theatre. He has been awarded a grant from the Peggy Ramsay Foundation and was also shortlisted for Channel 4's 'Coming Up'. His short film Wren Boys has been nominated this year for Best Short Film at the BFI London Film Festival, at the British Independent Film Awards, at the Sundance Film Festival and at the BAFTAs.

As founder and artistic director, Sarah Davey-Hull has produced 21 plays and, as a freelance director, she has worked in the UK and abroad. Her highlights include directing projects for the British Council in New Zealand, running workshops with the National Theatre of Greenland, and directing new writing at Shakespeare's Globe in London. Sarah is a passionate advocate for new writers and new writing. Through her role as Course Leader of the MA Acting Contemporary course at Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, she often collaborates with writers, commissioning and developing new plays. In 2016, she commissioned A Serious Case of the Fuckits by Anna Jordan. Her most recent commission is When the Music Stops by Chris Bush, which will be performed by Central students at The Yard in July 2018.

Theatre503 is the award-winning home of new writers and a launchpad for the artists who bring their words to life. Theatre503 stages the work of more debut writers than any other theatre in the country. Over 100 new pieces of writing are created and performed on its stage every year, ranging from short pieces to full runs of superb drama. At the heart of this lies the belief that the most important element in a writer's development is to see their work developed through to a full production on stage, performed to the highest professional standard in front of an audience. Over the last 11 years a significant number of writers have made their start at Theatre503 including Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer, RSC and West End), Anna Jordan (Bruntwood Prize
Winner for Yen, Royal Exchange, Royal Court and Broadway), Vinay Patel (writer of the BAFTA winning Murdered By My Father), Katori Hall (The Mountaintop, 503, West End and Broadway - winner of Theatre503's first Olivier Award). 2 of the last 4 winners of the Evening Standard's Most Promising Playwright Award (Beth Steel and Charlene James) came from the 503Five - Theatre503's 18 month writers' residency, and Jon Brittain - whose play Rotterdam (first produced at Theatre503) - won the venue its second Olivier Award in 2017.

Currently in its 21st year, with 21 productions to its name, founded and led by a female director, bold & saucy theatre company has always supported the female perspective. Across cast and creatives, they are a company of highly skilled, intergenerational, female-led artists ready to talk about important issues relevant to women's lives. They are female storytellers who aim to thrill their audiences by staging women's stories in brilliant ways.

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