Support Broken Lad at Arcola Theatre this Autumn!

Never has making new plays been so challenging. Never has your support meant more.

I am raising a target of £10,000 for a brand-new play this Autumn. Help me bring this compelling and funny drama to life.

About Broken Lad

Phil’s reluctant about his comeback gig. Josh dreams of the celeb status that has passed his father by.

Above a pub in North London, Phil waits to go on stage. As he laments his dwindling stand-up comedy career, his son Josh arrives believing that his dad harbours a damaging secret. With the gig hour nearing, past misdemeanours catch up with the family. Tonight, Phil’s career might not be the only thing in tatters.

Comic and moving, Broken Lad by Robin Hooper, is both a rough and subtle examination of masculinity in distress. 

This is the first new play the Arcola Theatre will produce since the pandemic began. It will be performed in Arcola’s spectacular new outside space, a beautiful covered auditorium and bar. Designed by multi-award-winning Jon Bausor (London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony), there could be no better setting for the play's world premiere.

Take a glimpse inside London's newest theatre venue:

How you can help

This has been such a difficult time for theatres and artists and so any support you can offer is crucial. I need to raise a target of £10,000 in the form of charitable donations to the Arcola Theatre to help make it viable for Arcola Theatre to stage this new work, ensuring that everyone is properly paid and that ticket prices remain low. All money donated would go directly to supporting artists - five actors, the author, a stage manager and a talented creative team.

£500 will pay one actor’s wages for one week. I would be immensely grateful if you were able to enter a donation. Including Gift Aid, will increase your donation by 25% making your support go further.

Who's involved?

The superb cast features actors familiar with audiences of stage and screen. Click on the image below to discover more about the company.

Robin Hooper is a writer and actor. In the 1980s and 1990s he was Literary Manager for both Paines Plough and the Royal Court Theatre which were instrumental in launching the careers of some of Britain’s foremost playwrights and directors. His previous plays include The Move (one of the first NT Platforms to tour), Astonish Me (RSC and Almeida Theatre then Home Theatre off-Broadway), Queer Fish (BAC), Free From Sorrow (Tristan Bates), Not the Love I Cry For (Arcola Theatre), Love Your Soldiers (Commission for Sheffield Crucible Studio) and Foul Pages (Hope Theatre). As an actor his television and film credits include the role of Malcolm in The Office, The Terence Davis Trilogy, Prick up Your Ears, The Children Act, Riot at the Rite, Lucan, Mrs Biggs and Quacks. Theatre includes seasons at the Liverpool Everyman and Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre, The Cherry Orchard (Arcola Theatre) and Dear Brutus (Southwark Playhouse).

Richard Speir is a theatre director and producer. He has been at Arcola Theatre since 2014 where he has worked on new plays and classics, musicals and opera. Previous new plays at Arcola Theatre include Spun by Rabiah Hussain (2018) and Gentlemen by Matt Parvin (2020). Elsewhere, Richard directed the world premiere of Byron: Angel & Outcast starring Simon Russell-Beale at Cadogan Hall, followed by a tour to Kazakhstan starring Sam Crane. He is also Associate Director to Lucy Bailey on Witness for the Prosecution at London's County Hall.

Arcola Theatre is one of London's most respected Off-West End venues. Arcola commissions and premieres exciting, original works alongside rare gems of world drama and bold new productions of classics. Since 2000, its socially-engaged, international programme has championed diversity, challenged the status quo and developed some of Britain's leading writers and artists. Ticket prices are some of the most affordable in London. Its pioneering environmental initiatives are award-winning, and aims to make Arcola the world’s first carbon-neutral theatre.

Many thanks for your support.

Broken Lad runs at the Arcola Theatre 13 October – 6 November 2021. See you there!

Richard Speir