Play name
A Higher Education
By Angela Pressland
Director
Nick Miller
Tel/WhatsApp: 07834 766777
Email nick@slp.london
Playing dates
Wednesday 17th November to Sunday 21st November (matinee Saturday 20th November)
Get-in and Strike
14th November, 22nd November 2027
Venue
In the Bar
Audition
4:00pm Sunday April 11th 2027
About the play
Set over one tense evening in a shabby South London brothel, A Higher Education is a provocative four-character drama about power, sex, responsibility and the consequences of crossing boundaries.
Patrick, a troubled middle-aged teacher, arrives carrying a secret that could destroy his career and possibly his freedom. Eleanor, the hard-bitten brothel madam, quickly realises he is hiding something. But the evening takes an extraordinary turn when Patrick is introduced to Summer, a nineteen-year-old university student working in the sex industry to escape crippling debt — and recognises her as Bethany, one of his former pupils.
With Eleanor’s imposing but vulnerable young bouncer Casio never far away, uncomfortable truths begin to emerge and loyalties constantly shift.
The play is sharp, darkly funny and increasingly explosive, A Higher Education offers four complex, flawed characters and a gripping story that will challenge audiences, provoke debate and leave plenty to argue about in the bar afterwards.
Running time: Approx 1 hour 45 minutes plus interval. We will perform the show in two acts, as written.
Time
June 2007
Location
A dingy flat above a kebab shop (it doesn’t specify that the flat is above a takeaway in the synopsis but I think it adds to the depravity) which acts as a brothel for those who know.
The bedroom is sparsely furnished with a bed, a sideboard or chest of drawers covered lightly in dust, free standing mirror, cheap prints on the wall, and little else.
This has a bearing as it is dismal outside, pouring with rain hence the central character, Patrick, arrives in a sodden raincoat
Style and Genre
Drama
Characters
PATRICK JARVIS
A teacher, mid-forties or thereabouts, quite handsome but world weary, clearly troubled by events leading to his divorce and an incident affecting his personal life. A decent man but broken by circumstance, by an unfulfilled marriage in part blighted by being childless and, as we discover, by temptation.
ELEANOR
Aged between mid-forties and early fifties. Clearly attractive in her day but diminished by her role as the ‘Madam’. Dressed inappropriately for her age.
Strong constitution, but world weary (she’s seen it all) and coping with unplanned motherhood. Like Patrick, a victim of circumstance.
CASIO
Heavily built. Aged between 18-24. Ungainly, badly dressed. Possibly tattooed. The muscle who makes sure the girls come to no harm. Good with his fists but also, as we discover, with his mathematical brain.
SUMMER/BETHANY YATES
Playing age 19. Attractive. Black (there is clear reference to ethnicity as it is a strong part of the plot and to Patrick’s background and downfall).
A sex worker with higher aspirations. A university student who, like many, sees this as a stepping stone but without considering the pitfalls. Clearly intelligent but naive.
Audition pieces
TBC