A unique weekend of six critically acclaimed solo plays, presented by Friends of Sunera Foundation.

A dark mood is caged and put on display. A giant finger cream. A lady wandering in an unstable landscape. An escape from a jar of kraken. A painting by numbers of the Apocalypse. Beasts paraded at a country fair. A green-eyed monster. A colony of sea lions living in a city. A primordial landscape. Inspiration comes from all encompassing titles like ‘Know About the World’ and ‘Living World of Nature’, museum displays, craft, horror and…

Rebekah Cameron from New Zealand, Robert Dixon and Lucy Newman from Great Britain exhibit moving images, painting and photographic likenesses to move onlookers.

Observe the quirky and unexpected exhibits and their lurking psychological drama.

A rehearsed play reading season featuring four diverse and innovative NZ plays never before performed in the UK.

Tammy (the alter ego of undertaker Sue Graves) has to make a life changing decision. Does she consult tarot cards, read endless horoscopes, discuss things with her therapist or talk to her friends?

Performing to a soundtrack from divas down the decades Caroline Parker interprets, translates, signs and tells the stories of songs that have touched a generation of music lovers - but it is Sue’s story that will touch your heart. Signs of a Diva incorporates captioned dialogue and signed song.

Part of the Southwark BOUNDLESS festival of inclusive arts.

Two kids, two cultures, one street.
Funny and poignant, irreverent yet touching, Niu Sila is a story about a friendship spanning over thirty years, two cultures and one multicultural neighbourhood.

Her family have departed. They have all departed. All of them. All Maori.

As her boarding call nears, the weary Mary is confronted by Peter, bringing with him revelations of why her family have departed. She is joined by others, and though they have their own reasons for departing, not all of them will leave today.

Fusing visual art with the aural, the ancient with the modern, Raymond uses performance and installation to weave together narratives from the Pacific traversing landscapes and laments, recalling love and long times, revealing the complex layers of the urban Pacific experience in Aotearoa NZ today.

Life expectancy is higher in the UK than ever before, and the figures keep rising. Some believe that in the future science will have eradicated the 'disease of ageing'. But do we really want to live forever? Can society adjust to an ageing population? If you've got questions, an opinion you'd like to share, or if you're simply curious come and join us for a drink and an informal discussion with scientists working to understand ageing.

All Welcome. Admission Free

An exhibition of electronic furniture and fittings from the Interaction Research Group at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Definately not your usual night at the theatre, more like going out for dinner to a place where rules are abandoned and no one knows your name. You may find you have more in common with the furniture than with the spontaneously inflating guests.

Refusing to commit to any of the traditional definitions of theatre; performers dance, sing and act their way through this part impovised and absurdly interactive piece. This is a place where the audience can become performers or choose to immerse themsleves in the unfolding spectacle around them. An indefinable realm where elements of the performance simultaneously evoke the familiar and surreal.

Sit back ... have a glass of wine and prepare yourself for a recipe even Delia couldn't cope with.

20 designers, 36 inches, 3 feet, 1Yard.
The leafy courtyard of the Pacific Playhouse, Bankside, hosts a Yard Sale. 20 designers sell one-off and limited edition 2D and 3D work with many pieces accompanied by the designers' special project process/sketch book. Come down for a cucumber sandwich, a home-made cake and the chance to pick up a unique work from London designers, some at yard sale prices.

Set in two time frames; 1916 and the present, Eugenia tells the story of Eugenia Martelli, an Italian immigrant at the beginning of the last century, who lives as a man and marries a woman without revealing her true gender. Eugenia is a charmer, a con artist, a womaniser and an outsider, who lives on a dangerous edge. Eugenia is arrested - but is she a cold-blooded criminal or has she been put on trial as a gender offender?

Kikia Te Poa is a funny, physical, and moving look at the relationship between New Zealand and South Africa, Maori and Pakeha, the colonial past and its legacy. The Boer War saw the birth of concentration camps, New Zealand's status as a warrior nation - and also international rugby. Although Maori were not allowed to fight in the Boer War, many mixed blood men did and one of them was John Walter Callaway, who wrote a haka for the Kiwi troops - 'Kikia Te Poa' (Kick the Boer). With strong physicality, fierce writing, and deft humour, Saville’s play explores the nature of war, masculinity, and the enduring appeal of thirty men and an odd-shaped ball.

‘Pioneers’ is a personal and intimate journey that brings alive the poetry of some of New Zealand’s leading writers, set to music and performed by three accomplished musicians. It incorporates story-telling, visual projection, movement and song. It is at times moving and poignant, at others unforgiving yet inspiring. Ultimately, ‘Pioneers’ is a beautiful piece of theatre that has at its heart a story told through its mesmerising musical performance.

Alongside works by Gil Whyman and Kate Hebblethwaite

These shows draw on a unique collection of 2000 Victorian and Edwardian magic lantern slides of New Zealand, held at the Centre for New Zealand Studies, Birkbeck, University of London. Using a genuine magic lantern projector these performances will present rarely seen images and views of old New Zealand. The first show will focus on cities, towns, and settlements, from Oamaru and Timaru to Christchurch, Wellington, Wanganui and more. The second show in December will focus on Maori culture and communities. Your projectionist is Dr Ian Conrich, of the Centre for New Zealand Studies.

The Bruce collective is an improvised comedy show with a difference. Using all the latest technology the Bruce Collective weave together film, the internet, and digital imagery with comedy to create an improvised comedic experience never seen before. From Google-prov to improvising a short film using Hollywood greenscreen technology right before your eyes, The Bruce Collective drag improv kicking and screaming, into the 22nd century.

“Why is it that technology can make something as spectacularly realistic and beautiful as you…but it can’t fix me? It can’t make me feel whole? Or for that matter make a decent tin opener.”

Set in a London of the not-too-distant future where genetic cures are possible but outlawed, Cohen is cursed with an inherited wasting disease. Fighting through the courts for the ability to bypass the Government and let scientists make the next step in evolution, Cohen's story evolves to create a funny yet powerful play, dealing with many of the questions surrounding cloning, genetics and religion, and discovering what it really means to be human. From exciting newcomer Rachel Welch, this energetic and entertaining play should not be missed.

"A rare treat! A shining example of how a company can be born from nothing other than talent, hard work and a love of theatre. I left deeply moved and challenged, having donated £10 towards and very much looking forward to Sturdy Beggars' next production."
Richard Cauldwin - timeout.com

Following our sell-out production of Princess Ivona, Sturdy Beggars invite you to the second part of their season on the theme of The Outsider: a new production of Shakespeare's Othello.

CHAOS IS COME AGAIN!
The hatred of a motiveless villain. The fall of a proud man. The murder of an innocent woman.

Shakespeare masterpiece gets the intimate staging it deserves.
Up-close and personal.
NO GIMMICKS. NO BUDGET. NO HOLDS BARRED.

"It's the proud boast of Showdon't tell that it is the only theatre company in Britain to use the teachings of American drama practitioner Viola Spolin. Judging by this entertaining, often hilarious romp, with a mordant edge, others should follow the lead."
Barbara Lewis, The Stage on Relative Values - March 2007

Following their hugely successful 2007 run of Noel Coward's Relative Values, Show Don't Tell return with another 20th Century classic, Dangerous Corner. Set in 1932, Priestley's unsettling play sees Freda and Robert Caplan play host to their 'snug little group' of friends and colleagues. Before long, though, a cigarette box and a chance remark spark off a relentless series of revelations as we are asked to consider whether it really is best to let sleeping dogs lie?

"the cast do Coward's witticisms a great service"
TimeOut

Directed by Daniel Brennan and produced by show don't tell.

"One of Mamet’s most satisfying and accomplished plays and one of the funniest American comedies in years"
New York Post

Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming ‘women of fashion’ who have long lived together on the fringes of upper class society, in a ‘Boston Marriage’- an intimate friendship between two women maintaining a household together. Claire is infatuated with a respectable young lady and wants to enlist the help of the jealous Anna for the seduction. Anna has just secured a wealthy protector. But the sudden appearance of the object of Claire’s affection sets off a chain of events that puts both the women’s futures- and their relationship- at risk.

"Great drama is alive and well and living in a small Sturdy Beggars venue."
TIMEOUT.com