Productions - The Hope Theatre

“Well, it’s not a party ’til someone’s crying in the toilets.”

Sophie’s sister, Lucy, is at that age where her friends are throwing yoghurt around at school. Sophie’s boyfriend, Tom, runs a catering company for picky wedding planners. And Sophie? Sophie has an eating disorder - which she sees as a rather large inconvenience. Now that she’s in recovery, Sophie is hopeful she can reconnect with Lucy and Tom, but she knows that after hiding within her illness for so long, it’s not going to be easy to cope without it.

Measured is a witty and moving new play examining the hidden consequences of an eating disorder for the sufferer and those who love them. Exposing the emotional turmoil of the illness without glamorising its dangers, Measured questions how effective recovery can be in a society that still wants women to be as ‘little’ as possible.

Emma has worked in mental health social work for over ten years and wrote Measured whilst in recovery from anorexia. Award-winning director Cat was Deputy Director of Jermyn Street Theatre 2019-21. Comedian and mental health ambassador Juliette Burton has sold out Edinburgh Fringe 2015-18 and won numerous awards, most recently recommended by The Guardian for lockdown comedy in 2020.

Performances of Measured on Tuesday 1st and Tuesday 8th March are on-sale at 50% capacity, to allow for additional distancing between audience members.

After each performance of Measured are late-evening shows which together make up Measured Festival. The festival supports charities Rethink Mental Illness and Beat and comprises a roster of electric late-evening preview and work-in-progress shows. Award-winning comedy, improv, spoken word and performance art celebrate mental health awareness and foster a lively and enthusiastic environment in which frank discussions about the difficulties of living with a mental health illness can be had.

Rethink Mental Illness improve the lives of people severely affected by mental illness through their network of local groups and services, expert information and successful campaigning. Their goal is to make sure everyone severely affected by mental illness has a good quality of life.
For advice and information: https://www.rethink.org

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.

Latecomers may not be admitted. Please arrive in good time for the start time of 7pm.
Under 18s are not permitted into the theatre for this performance.
No re-admittance once the performance has commenced. Refunds and exchanges are not available.

Cerys Bradley: Sportsperson
Sportsperson is a work in progress show written and performed by Cerys Bradley (Soho Theatre Young Company, Amused Moose Semi-finalist 2020). It's a show about playing sport and fitting in and how Cerys is quite bad at both of those things. It's also a show about being non-binary, embarrassed about wearing lycra and how spending your childhood in a car whilst your parents watch your brother plays football (and rugby and tennis and cricket) definitely doesn't leave you with a massive chip on your shoulder.

As seen on BBC One Wales

'Slick and quick-witted'
- Diva Magazine.

Sam Lake: Cake
Award-winning stand-up and nice young man Sam Lake presents an hour of hilarious and camp stand-up shaped into a heart-warming love story, talking about his life goals, and how he copes with succeeding and (more often) failing at them.

As well as starring in All4’s ‘The Joy of Missing Out’ & Dave’s ‘The Comedy Guide to Life’, Sam has written for Newsjack & Mock The Week and is the winner of Leicester Square Theatre’s New Comedian of the Year.

'Makes for fantastic company...A thoroughly engaging larger-than-life personality.'
- Steve Bennet, Chortle

'Fabulous and worth going to see'
- Theatre Reviews

This event is part of Measured Festival. All profits made by Forward Thought Theatre will go to charities Rethink Mental Illness and Beat. The festival comprises a roster of electric late-night preview and work-in-progress shows, presented after each performance of Emma O'Brien's witty and moving new play Measured. Award-winning comedy, improv, spoken word and performance art celebrate mental health awareness and foster a lively and enthusiastic environment in which frank discussions about the difficulties of living with a mental health illness can be had.

Rethink Mental Illness improve the lives of people severely affected by mental illness through their network of local groups and services, expert information and successful campaigning. Their goal is to make sure everyone severely affected by mental illness has a good quality of life.
For advice and information: https://www.rethink.org

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.

Latecomers may not be admitted. Please arrive in good time for the start time of 9pm.
Under 18s are not permitted into the theatre for this performance.
No re-admittance once the performance has commenced. Refunds and exchanges are not available.

The Greatest Band That Never Was...

Jack Left Town is an entirely improvised comedy show about a made-up washed-up rock band.

The cast tell the story of the band's meteoric rise and fall, based on nothing more than the title of their debut album suggested by the audience.

'I had a blast… It’s a great night out!'
- David Shore (Monkey Toast)

'Jack Left Town are incredibly funny - really smart stuff!'
- Gary Tro (The Just Us League)

'One of the funniest and most polished nights of improv in London'
- Gemma Arrowsmith

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.

After its debut at Clapham and Watford Fringe Festivals and a successful run in Rome and Bristol, Teatro Multilingue presents Mrs Green, a unique multilingual journey into the political, economic, social and human implications of Brexit. The show aims at exploring this crucial event in recent European history from as objective and neutral a perspective as humanly possible.

In three languages intertwined (English, français, italiano) but you don’t need to know or speak all of them to follow the story and understand! Teatro Multilingue is the one and only company presenting truly multilingual shows: come discover the surprising effect of multilingualism on the stories we tell!

The story: London. Mrs Green finds a green suitcase in the flat she used to rent to Isabella, an Italian girl in drama school. She gets in touch with her. But is the suitcase Isabella’s or Jacques’, the young French intern in a bank who Isabella used to date?

“Three strangers meet in London during Brexit… This play makes us wonder if the joke was on us.” ★★★★
- London Pub Theatres Magazine

“A new play where languages intertwine and interact seamlessly.”
- Broadway World UK

"A gaze at the aftermath of Brexit through the lens of love." - Bristol 24/7

Latecomers may not be admitted. Please arrive in good time for the start time of 7:45pm.
Under 18s are not permitted into the theatre for this performance.
No re-admittance once the performance has commenced. Refunds and exchanges are not available.

Join us for an evening of performance art and discussion as we explore the secret inner workings of the mind with What's Going On In Your Head? We have a talented line up of musicians and spoken word artists to take us on a journey of exploration around the theme of self-esteem.

The line up includes singer songwriter Sara Jasmin Page who has teamed up with poet Tim Fletcher and they will perform some new work they have co-created. There will be spoken word performances from Tom Manning and Laurentia Campbell and original music from singer, songwriter and guitarist Segun Haughton. The show will be hosted by Sacha Mandel.

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.

Come join Geraldyne for a night of improvised comedy inspired by live music! Our guest musician will perform some of their music live on stage for us, we’ll have a chat with them about it and then improvise scenes inspired by the music and chat. We’ve done shows with all sorts of musicians, from bluegrass bands to opera singers to spoken word artists, and they’re always an absolute riot.

'100% recommend. So funny (we nearly weed)'
- Comedy Central

'A top 10 Fringe comedy show'
- The Herald

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.

Malachy has just turned 25, and he has a few things to say about that. Dealing with the death of his younger brother, he is struggling to come to terms with all that he is, and everything that he's not.

Working as a customer support advisor in a call centre at a bin disposal company and experiencing many different escapades with his best friend Pauline, Malachy is eager to take some time to reflect and move on with his life. He quickly comes to realise, however, that it’s not as easy as it seems on paper.

A new play about growing up, and the lessons we learn along the way.

Written/performed by Conor Burke and directed by IFTA nominee Lesley Conroy. Featuring light and sound design by Aidan Cooney and produced by Lisa Nally. Originally developed with the aid of Dublin Fringe Festival.

Vix Leyton: I Feel Petty
Discovered by Mark Watson on Twitter, Welsh comic exiled to London Vix Leyton is a natural storyteller with a keen eye for observation, combining warm, whimsical charm with biting wit. A flagrant self promoter, you've probably heard of her but you have no idea why.

Her panel show podcast 'The Comedy Arcade' is both an audio success and compelling live show, charting as high as 22 for comedy on the Apple Podcast charts, and picking up a nomination for Leicester Comedy's best podcast last year.

In her show I Feel Petty Vix ponders the blend of factors that have turned her into the self styled 'Princess of petty', taking us on a tour of her family history and musing on whether pettiness as a trait is nature, nurture, trauma or a little of all three.

'She is funny, charismatic, resourceful and likely to achieve great things'
- Mark Watson

'Fun and irreverent'
- Jen Brister

'Vix has an undeniable bubbly energy, a natural wit and a real gift for hilarious story telling'
- Sam Rhodes

Rich Wilson
A new stand-up show from award winning comedian Rich Wilson

Rich Wilson, full-time comedian turned painter/decorator, turned t-shirt-printer is back…being a comedian… Fresh from a sell-out show at Soho Theatre, Rich invites you to forget everything that has happened over the past two years and enjoy a whimsical hour of the sharply observed and painfully honest tales that have won him Best International Guest at the 2016 New Zealand Comedy Awards and sold out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Rich campaigns for better understanding of mental health, particularly in men and is the host of award-winning podcast Insane in the Men Brain.

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.
For advice and information: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

Dave Chawner
A show about mental health (rather than mental illness) from number-1 best-selling author, award-winning stand-up comic and mental-health campaigner Dave Chawner.

Dave presented a series of BBC’s Tomorrow's World and has appeared on BBC Breakfast, Loose Women, Lorraine, Jeremy Vine on 5 and Sky as well as Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4. He's a reporter for LBC and appears weekly on the Talk Radio Breakfast Show.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Arts Award Voice
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Bunbury Magazine
★ ★ ★ ★ - The List
★ ★ ★ ★ - Edinburgh Festival Magazine
★ ★ ★ ★ - Three Weeks
★ ★ ★ ★ - Broadway Baby
★ ★ ★ ★ - Wee Review
★ ★ ★ ★ - Ed Fringe Review
★ ★ ★ ★ - Voice Mag
★ ★ ★ ★ - Fringe Explosion
★ ★ ★ ★ - Theatre & Art Reviews

‘hilariously entertaining'
- Mail On Sunday

'quirky, moving and hilarious'
- Indy 100

'this is one comic you have to make the effort to see'
- The Scottish Herald

Sikisa: TWERK IN PROGRESS
From South London, Barbadian citizen Sikisa presents her work-in-party show.

Always the life of the party, Sikisa just wants to make sure that everyone is happy, but how can everyone be happy when the world is not perfect. She explores the brutal but funny truth about herself, her life and how the world really sees her as she remembers an epic house party. Parties are always fun…. Right?

Sikisa was a finalist and won the public’s vote in the 2017 BBC New Comedy Award competition. Since then, Sikisa’s TV appearances include Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club & Sorry I Didn’t Know (ITV), The Dog Ate My Homework (CBBC), Pie And A Pint (Comedy Central) and Period Dramas (BBC 3). Her radio and podcast credits include Evil Genius and Wheel Of Misfortune (BBC Radio 1), and The Leak and Mach Fest (BBC Radio Wales).

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.

Meet Mico. Mico has just lost James, the love of his life, and should really begin grieving. Instead he punches a hole in the universe and travels between parallel worlds to try and get his dead husband back. Join Mico, James and a million other Jameses as they bring you on the wildest ride of your life…in this world at least…

Writer/performer Alan Flanagan (Hollyoaks, Eyes Teeth Soil - Pleasance), performer Brendan O’ Rourke (Game Of Thrones, Incident At Vichy - Finborough Theatre) and director Dan Hutton (Big Guns - Yard Theatre, Associate Director at Barrel Organ) bring a story of love, grief, and trying to find decent sausage rolls in a universe that never invented Gregg’s.

'Alan Flanagan’s story-telling is rich, strange and brutal'
– The Reviews Hub, on Eyes Teeth Soil

'It's hard not to smile when this odyssey comes to its defiant, rocket-fuelled conclusion'
- The Stage, on Bingo

'Please, please, please go see Bingo.'
- A Younger Theatre

'O'Rourke is an absolute genius and performs Joseph K, and indeed the other characters superbly.'
- Everything Theatre, on The Trial

Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity, their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders, for both those suffering and those living alongside them.