Theatre Peckham Announces Autumn/Winter 2022-2023 Season Featuring Premieres & More

Theatre Peckham has announced its Autumn/Winter Season and unveils the title of this year's Christmas Show.

The programme from September 2022 to March 2023 includes the Premiere of two new powerful dramas which bookend the season. In between, sees the 5th edition of Young, Gifted & Black, an annual five week multi-artform festival celebrating Black excellence; a touring show; and writer and actor Geoffrey Aymer reunites with Theatre Peckham's Artistic Director Suzann McLean to stage the venue's traditional Christmas show inspired by a classic story with a unique Peckham twist. This family show with music and dance has become a firm festive favourite and the highlight of the season.

In more detail, this September sees Theatre Peckham presenting the premiere of None of The Clocks Work, an urgent play addressing generational trauma from Remove The Blindfold Collective, an organisation which aims to raise awareness on PTSD and to end stigmas around trauma and mental health. This powerful piece, performed by the young company from Bridge The Gap Studios, is part of a community-led intervention aimed at creating large-scale change. Post show panel discussions will also take place in collaboration with the Race Equality Foundation.

October welcomes the 5th edition of Young Gifted & Black a five-week programme unapologetically celebrating Black people from across the globe through a variety of artforms. Curated by Theatre Peckham's Associate Director Phillippe Cato, it has become the backbone to the autumn season. A total of nine productions will be platformed across five weeks. An announcement with full details of the programme and artists will be revealed in September.

A co-production with Theatre Centre brings For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy playwright Ryan Calais Cameron's visceral play Human Nurture to this part of South London in November. A continuation of a successful national tour, this beautifully written piece explores race, privilege, allyship and male vulnerability.

This December, Theatre Peckham stages its Christmas show and following on from last year's hit production, The Wonderful, writer and actor Geoffrey Aymer reunites with Artistic Director Suzann McLean to stage a brand new adaptation of Dickens' most famous Christmas tale. Scroogelicious will be, in true Theatre Peckham fashion, rooted right in the heart of the local community and the production will foreground its young people from the venue's Academy, casting them alongside industry professionals.

Looking further ahead into the New Year, February 2023 marks Theatre Peckham's first major in-house production of the year and sees CEO/AD Suzann McLean back in the directing chair. Sunny Side Up is written by playwright and actor David Alade and was first seen as a Work In Progress at the Peckham Fringe in June 2022. The fully developed version will be Alade's debut production on the main stage, a four-week run from 13 February to 11 March.

Artistic Director Suzann McLean summing up the season said: "I am so proud that Theatre Peckham is continuing to successfully carve out its own unique identity and to provide a platform for young talent and new work. This season's programme feels so special and stays true to our community spirit. I hope that the many artists, creatives, our young people and audiences feel that what we are creating together is a truly representative space and that this season's programme resonates, empowers and feels uplifting."

Theatre Peckham is an award-winning cultural venue for artistic excellence and social change founded in 1986. Through the power of theatre, they illuminate young voices, provide skills and opportunities, and platform excellent creatives by producing new writing and performance focusing on young, culturally diverse talent.

Programme Listings Information

NONE OF THE CLOCKS WORK

BY REMOVE THE BLINDFOLD (RTB) COLLECTIVE
DIRECTED BY SHELBY BOOTLE
PRODUCED BY BRIDGE THE GAP STUDIOS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THEATRE PECKHAM
12 SEPT - 2 OCT, 6.30PM, TICKETS FROM £9
(Post show Panel discussions exploring themes around responsibility, community and social care systems for healing will be chaired by the Race Equality Foundation).

"What are you saying - that this our fault? You're saying we're bad parents?"
Following one family through three generations (70's, 90's and present day), a traumatic event has ripples across time - forcing mothers, fathers and sons to make decisions that will bring them peace or destroy them forever.

A heartfelt and poignant story of loss, healing and what happens when unchecked generational patterns spill into the streets. This powerful drama by the Black-British RTB collective (Remove the Blindfold) is a new play directed by Shelby Bootle.
This production is part of a community-led intervention aimed at creating large-scale change. The play addresses generational trauma and the responsibility within our communities, families and social care systems, for healing.

YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK

CURATED BY THEATRE PECKHAM
12 SEPT - 2 OCT, VARIOUS TIMES, TICKETS FROM £6

Returning for a 5th year, Young Gifted & Black places Black excellence at the heart of storytelling. This year's season will see nine visiting companies taking up space presenting work in the main theatre.

Full programme to be announced in September.

HUMAN NURTURE (Touring)

BY RYAN CALAIS CAMERON
DIRECTED BY ROB WATT
PRESENTED BY THEATRE CENTRE AND CO-PRODUCED BY THEATRE PECKHAM
3- 5 NOV, 2PM & 7.30PM, TICKETS FROM £6

Roger and Harry's bond is so strong they could be brothers. They share the same food, music, computer games and even dreams, everything other than their race.
Roger is black, and Harry is white...but what does that matter, right?
When Roger is re-homed, Harry is left behind in the care system, and these "brothers" grow up on opposite ends of Britain's social spectrum. Then on Harry's birthday, Runaku (Roger's reclaimed Ugandan birth name) returns for a dream reunion that turns into a nightmare situation full of noise and dynamite.

A co-production with Theatre Centre brings For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy playwright Ryan Calais Cameron's visceral play Human Nurture to this part of South London in November. A continuation of a successful national tour, this beautifully written piece explores race, privilege, allyship and male vulnerability.

SCROOGELICIOUS

BY GEOFFREY AYMER
DIRECTED BY Suzann McLean
PRODUCED BY THEATRE PECKHAM
1- 23 DEC, VARIOUS TIMES, TICKETS £5-£15

"Christmas?! That's bare humbug, innit!"

A big-hearted production suitable for all ages is based on Charles Dickens' immortal classic A Christmas Carol. Feel-good, funny and full of joy, this cracker of a production immerses the community in this uplifting Christmas tale.

Christmas is a coming, but one man isn't happy
Mention of the word makes him irritable and snappy
He's all about his wealth, you see, and from his lofty station...
His vision for ol' Peckham is pure gentrification
Some say he's heartless, greedy and ambitious
But sum up his traits; he's simply SCROOGELICIOUS!

Theatre Peckham Scroogelicious fills the auditorium with music, mischief and merriment. Further Announcements in October.

SUNNY SIDE UP

WRITTEN BY AND STARRING David Alade
DIRECTED BY Suzann McLean
PRODUCED BY THEATRE PECKHAM
13 FEB - 11 MAR, 2PM & 7.30PM, TICKETS FROM £7

Following its success at Theatre Peckham's inaugural 2022 Peckham Fringe, Sunny Side Up transfers to the main theatre space. A coming-of-age story based on the real-life experiences of writer and performer David Alade, a member of Theatre Peckham's REP Company. This rollercoaster journey which also serves as an ode to his late father Sunday "Sunny" Alade, is captured in vivid storytelling from start to finish. David is also cast in the lead role.

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