current projects
As we search for a permanent base and pursue our goal to become a fully funded organisation, we are delighted to have been given a range of dynamic spaces in which to work in central London, where our volunteers can prove the worth of what we do in finding new audiences for theatre.
topical new writing
PERFORMANCES
RIVERSIDE STUDIOS
Thurs 25 July 14:00
Sat 27 July 15:45
Sun 28 July 18:15
National and international dates TBA
DIAL 1 FOR UK
By Mohit Mathur
With Phil Willmott
Every night in New Delhi he answers panicked calls to the Crypto GB Helpline, all the time fantasising about being British himself, Then a chance conversation one tea break reveals how he might make it all a reality.
What happens next is the subject of Mohit Mathur’s hilarious and poignant one- man- play. High hopes are humbled in Hounslow, amidst the reality of the UK care sector, and our hero forms an unlikely alliance with a lonely pensioner. As the future of each looks increasingly uncertain the play explores how and why hundreds of migrant workers vanish without trace, every year in the UK.
A rare chance to rethink much you’ve assumed about those who hope to live amongst us in a first piece from an exciting new playwright and west end performer, in collaboration with one the UKs most experienced theatre makers.
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"Mathur gave a flawless performance – The witty script was the perfect mix of positivity and comedic value, turning to loneliness and despair. It certainly deserves to go further" GREEN ROOM REVIEWS
classics revisited
​THE WINTER PALACE
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This tale of the darkness of Winter giving way to the optimism of Spring weaves a story of dark Russian magic, daring and romance.
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When a cruel Tzar's 's unchecked jealousy destroys his family, it takes powerful magic to melt his heart and restore harmony .
Or does it?
Freely adapted from a beloved story by William Shakespeare and played out in a beautiful immersive setting that will transport your imagination to a mythical Imperial Russia.
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BRIEF GAY ENCOUNTERS
A poignant new tale of forbidden love set against the backdrop of the 1945 movie masterpiece starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.
When a young doctor finds himself treating the new railway station porter, recently released from National Service in the coal mines, it's a brief encounter that haltingly leads to many more.
But even as post war Britain is persuaded by the radical idea of an NHS other prejudices prove harder to shift. Is keeping a forbidden love secret really the only option?
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SEAGULLS
Anton Chekhov masterpiece is an often poignant, acutely observed comedy, set amongst the eccentric, bohemian household of a famous actress; currently also home to her narcissistic lover, neglected son, his starstruck girlfriend, and a rag bag of hangers on.
Everyone's self-interests, fortunes and futures crash and burn in the crossfire as enemies and allies clash and compromise, fight and almost forgive, during a summer that looks set to define the rest of their lives.
However, amidst the electricity of next summer’s storms, nothing’s quite worked out as expected.
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NEW MUSICALs
A MID-SAMBA NIGHT'S DREAM
In a unique experiment Actors from THE REP led by director Phil Willmott and Samba singers, percussionists and dancers from Paraiso led by Henrique da Silva have devised a big, bold and beautiful mashup of Shakespeare’s classic comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the vibrant rhythms of Samba!
Expect mistaken identities, love potions mix ups and mayhem in an evening of laughter, magic, and irresistible dance moves steeped in the infectious energy of Brazil's carnival culture.
A celebration of love, magic, and dance like never before!
DR JEKYLL'S PLAYLIST.
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A new jukebox musical for audiences all ages.
Our version of the much loved and widely studied Jekyll and Hyde story, of a respectable doctor who parties like a monster, audaciously imagines' him with a contemporary Spotify account of favourite songs, his listening choice at each stage of his adventures brings a funny and poignant perspective to the familiar story that will delight both fans of the original and newcomers to the story.
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Our production relocates the action to a Steam Punk Victorian Kennington.
FESTIVALS
The Rotherhithe dickens festival
Introducing new audiences (and readers) to the work of Charles Dickens, in especially sourced welcoming performance spaces has been one of the great pleasures of recent years
We’re looking to establish a mini-festival in Bermondsey, the setting of some of his most dramatic scenes, where streets, pubs and housing estates are named after his characters yet the meaning of these names have been lost.
We invite our audience to enjoy the fearless theatricality of Dickensian language and storytelling, in the epic tales of everyday humanity overcoming great evil, that are part of our shared local heritage.
Celebrating the power of the written and spoken word.
TALES ON THE RIVERBANK
Throughout our history the River Thames has been the literal backdrop to much of our outdoor summer work the accessibility of which has been a major factor in drawing new audiences to theatre. As we reconfigure what we do in response to the steep decline in UK theatre going returning to these sites is one of our priorities.
the london free theatre season
THE REP AT THE SCOOP
For 15 consecutive summers Phil Willmott and his team staged masterpieces from world and children's literature in free multi-award winning theatre productions to over 450,000 people.
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Since Covid an excellent festival of free summer films, events and music has continued at the Scoop, More London Riverside but theatre has been minimal. We'd like to restore a greater theatre element to the summer festival with new productions of ALICE IN WONDERLAND for all ages and Brecht's MOTHER COURAGE for older audiences.
GREEKS ON THE BEACH
Immediately the Covid lockdowns lifted we took a company of actors down to the Thames Riverbank, staging HAMLET "on the beach" and drawing large crowds to a simple staging designed to draw households out of isolation.
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Looking ahead we'd like to work with the Port of London Authority to identify sites where Londoners and visitors can discover the Thames foreshore by staging pop up productions of Jason and the Argonauts for families and the dark, ancient Greek legend of what happened next in Euripides' masterpiece MEDEA
