News

Autumn 2003

09.11.2023

We are thrilled to have started rehearsals for Pandemonium: Being a Scornful Account of the Activities of Mr Boris Johnson and ‘Others’ during the Pandemic and its Aftermath by Armando Iannucci and Directed by Patrick Marber. Our company of actors, The Pandemonium Players, are Faye Castelow, Paul Chahidi, Debra Gillett, Natasha Jayetileke and Amalia Vitale.

The irony is not lost on us, that as we sit in the rehearsal room with Armando and Patrick cutting, changing, rewriting while on our televisions the Covid Inquiry is playing out in a similar vein. It’s rather alarming.

Performances are selling out very quickly and we’re now playing an extra week up to Saturday 13 January. Find out more or head to sohotheatre.com to buy tickets.

“I wanted to write something furious and energetic about the past three years. Pandemonium is partly about us wanting those in charge to be up to the job, to be heroes, and the anger that started building when the news of the drinks parties began to emerge.  And yes, I wanted to write something funny (don’t forget, we also had Liz Truss!). Laughter is a great release, and my aim is for the audience to have a good time and a good laugh, but I also hope it helps people process the tumultuous and crazy time we went through.”

Armando Iannucci

Lastly, at Wayward this winter we are reading Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I Strongly Believe in Incredible Things by Rob Auton, Atomic Habits by James Clear, In Memoriam by Alice Winn, The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman, Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake and Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson.

Autumn 2022

22.11.2022

We’ve just completed a workshop on Natasha Brown’s award winning debut novel, Assembly. We spent a week working with a stellar group of artists including writer Dipo Baruwa-Etti, director Tinuke Craig, movement director Ingrid Mackinnon and performers Teri Ann Bobb-Baxter, Mimi M Khayisa, Gloria Obianyo and Tanika Yearwood starting to adapt the novel, which was published in 2021 to universal acclaim. Supported by Arts Council England.

“An elegiac examination of a Black woman’s life and an acerbic analysis of Britain’s racial landscape. Brown’s rhythmic, economic prose renders the narrator’s experiences with breathless clarity, especially the steady, gnawing stream of racial and sexual harassment she faces. Assembly is a smart novel that takes risks with the questions it raises.”

The New York Times

And we’ve also just spent some time in a room with Tracy-Ann Oberman, Annabel Arden and others, exploring the life of Licoricia of Winchester – the life of a remarkable Jewish Businesswoman in Medieval England.

And at Wayward this Autumn, we’re reading Oldladyvoice by Elisa Victoria, Days Like These by Brian Bilston, Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, Confessions of a forty-something ###k up by Alexander Potter, Where to now, Blue? by Adrien Stoutenburg and Tyger by SF Said.