A spring season of plays as varied as Shakespeare and today’s media ethics in the ‘Me Too’ sexual harassment controversy is being revealed on Friday at the Space theatre on the Isle of Dogs.
The season opens at the converted Victorian chapel in West Ferry Road with Feeling Lonely at Parties on January 14 for five nights.
This is followed by a controversial new play, Us Two, by TV investigative journalist Lucinda Borrell from Channel 4's Dispatches and the BBC's Panorama, opening January 21 for five nights, exploring the reporting ethics through the lens of celebrity 'Me too' allegations.
The Millwall venue attracted more audiences in 2019 than in any of its previous 23 years.
"We're going into 2020 with a diverse and topical programme," its artistic director Adam Hemming promises. "This diversity goes from Shakespeare to Cher with lots more theatrical talent in between."
The programme includes Blue Stocking Effigy feminist theatre company's Revolt Again by Alice Birch, on January 28 for seven nights, a "badly behaved play" aimed at deconstructing oppression.
Less political, but equally timely, is Feeling Lonely at Parties, a work from the Pursued by a Dragon artists' collective, on January 14 for five nights, exploring today's dystopian mania and melancholy.
A festival of new works commissioned from new and established writers, Two Fest, opens next month for a two-week run, February 10 to 22. It includes three programmes of short plays aimed at hitting the spot with anyone who has ever argued politics with their family, clashed with a colleague at work, felt betrayed or has missed someone after they've gone.
Other works are set for March and April, including The Secret Diary of a White Supremacist, April 14 for five nights, challenging audiences with "parallel tales of historic and modern-day racism".
The Space at 269 Westferry Road is managed by St Paul's Arts Trust staging 200 performances a year and running workshops and performance opportunities for adults. It also manages the Crossrail Place Roof Garden performance space in Canary Wharf.
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