Fri 12-Sat 20 Jan 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 14)
Private Lives
by Noel Coward
directed by Stevie Hughes PREVIEW > REVIEW
Coward’s snappy, glamorous comedy about a couple who can’t live with or without each other gets the season off to a sparkling start. Slick, witty, ingenious dialogue coupled with volatile and fractious relationships ensure an evening of laughter and, hopefully, not too many tears.
Wed 24-Sun 28 January 2018 at 7.45pm
Bad Jews
by Joshua Harmon directed by Julie Binysh PREVIEW > REVIEW
A feuding Jewish family create scenes of hilarity whilst raising questions about Jewish identity in the modern world. Greatly acclaimed during its West End run in 2015 at The Arts Theatre following accolades in New York. Prepare yourself to engage in the combat and laugh a great deal.
Fri 9-Sat 17 Feb 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 11)
Female Transport
by Steve Gooch directed by Tony Jenner PREVIEW > REVIEW
Set in the hard times of 1807, on a convict ship, the drama focuses on six women who are transported over a six-month period to the work camps of Australia. Within a regime of brutality, relationships disintegrate and hearts harden but the women are determined to retain their dignity and fighting spirit. Harsh, funny, compelling.
Fri 9-Sat 17 Mar 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 11)
Proof
by David Auburn directed by Colleen Batson PREVIEW >REVIEW
A Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner (2001) this intriguing play, part thriller, part family drama, part love story, is witty, poignant and elegantly constructed and explores the very close relationship between madness and mathematical genius. You will be jolted by the twists and turns in the plot, moved by the emotional turmoil and delighted by the humour streaked through the play.
Wed 21-Sun 25 Mar 2018 at 7.45pm
Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones directed by Piers Newman PREVIEW > REVIEW
A tragicomedy about a small rural town in Ireland where many of the townsfolk are extras in a Hollywood Film. The cast of two men perform all 15 characters (men and women) switching gender and voice with swift dexterity and the bare minimum of costume changes. Winner of two Olivier Awards, BLT is thrilled to have secured the performing rights for this play.
Fri 13-Sat 21 Apr 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 15)
The Wicked Lady . PREVIEW > REVIEW
by Bryony Lavery
Directed by Jessica-Ann Jenner
Bad girls always have more fun and the wicked Lady Skelton is no exception – forced into a respectable marriage, trapped in a life of boredom and monotony, she rebels with passion leading to betrayal and murder. This 16th century epic with a cast of thousands is bursting at the seams with gaggles of greedy Skelton relations, comic yokels, riding…and flying!
The Wicked Lady will be BLT’s entry for the 2017 Bromley Theatre Guild and Kent Drama Association Full Length Play Festivals.
Fri 11-Sat 19 May 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 13)
Honeymoon Suite. PREVIEW > REVIEW
by Richard Bean
Directed by Jane Lobb
Written for the Royal Court in 2002 the play is laced throughout with Bean’s comic genius whilst exploring gritty and moving themes. A honeymoon suite in Bridlington. Eddie and Irene begin married life with great excitement, but the future may have other ideas. Combining outrageous comedy with laugh-out-loud lines and beguiling tenderness.
Wed 23- Sun 27 May 2018 at 7.45pm
The Wasp . PREVIEW > REVIEW
by Morgan Lloyd Malcom
Directed by Richard Stewart
This new play was first staged at Hampstead in 2015 and received great acclaim on transferring to the Trafalgar Studios. A two-hander, it is sprung like a bear trap. Just when you feel you have a sense of the two characters (both women) the writing shifts….and the rules keep changing. Rug pull after rug pull creates a palpable air of tension with some gasp-inducing moments.
Fri 8-Sat 16 Jun 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 10)
Rabbit Hole. PREVIEW > REVIEW
by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Andy Solts
Rabbit Hole won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007, was nominated for several Tony Awards and acclaimed at Hampstead in 2016. The play explores the devastation of a family coming to terms with the accidental death of their child. With humour, empathy and compassion this is a compelling piece of theatre that is totally engaging, darkly funny and boldly explores a subject no family would want to face.
Wed 20-Sun 24 Jun 2018 at 7:45pm
Snake In The Grass . PREVIEW > REVIEW
by Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Nikki Packham
A dilapidated tennis court. A reunion between two sisters brought together by their father’s death. A sudden appearance is made by the father’s blackmailing former nurse, who makes a shocking claim.
A vivid portrait of badly damaged siblings played out against the background sound of sinister twangs from the tennis court.
Fri 6-Sat 14 Jul 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 8) and at Hever Castle 27th/28th July
Pygmalion
by Bernard Shaw • PREVIEW > REVIEW
Directed by Pauline Armour
This classic comedy – on which the musical My Fair Lady was based – will also be the production BLT takes to Hever Castle in 2018. The famous story of the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from flower girl to lady at the hands of Professor Henry Higgins needs no further introduction. Shaw’s masterpiece has certainly stood the test of time.
Sunday 22nd – Tuesday 24th July 2018 at 7.45pm
(Our Youth Theatre Show)
A Triple Bill: Us and Them by David Campton, A Handbag by Anthony Horowitz, The Cagebirds by David Campton
Directed by Pauline Armour and Jessica Ann Jenner PREVIEW > REVIEW
Three stand alone one act plays: different though strangely similar. Absurdism meets realism, detailed characters combine with grand ideas, comedy meets darkness.
Fri 14-Sat 22 Sep 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 16)
Entertaining Angels
by Richard Everett • PREVIEW > REVIEW
Directed by Michael Darbon
Grace, a recently widowed vicar’s wife, is about to be turfed out of the vicarage by the incoming vicar – who happens to be a woman. When her sister returns from years abroad, skeletons fall from the cupboard and long hidden secrets are revealed. Ghosts need laying to rest – and one of them is ambling around the garden chatting with Grace! Funny, touching and thought provoking.
Wed 26-Sun 30 Sep 2018 at 7.45pm
Double Dystopia (Two one act plays)
Edgar and Annabel
by Sam Holcroft •
Directed by Jane Lobb PREVIEW > REVIEW
Edgar and Annabel was performed at the National Theatre in 2011. A comedy thriller that not only amuses and intrigues but also has great political resonance. Expect an engrossing hour in a police state where surveillance is the norm. Tension, humour, subterfuge and karaoke!
Joseph K
by Tom Basden •
Directed by Patrick Neylan PREVIEW > REVIEW
A modern adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial. To his surprise Joseph K is arrested. As he tries to find out how to defend himself and what his crime is, he comes up against a nightmare of bureaucracy. Kafka’s 1920s dystopian tale of the individual’s impotence before the power of the state is made chillingly but comically relevant for the ‘Computer Says No’ generation.
Fri 12-Sat 20 Oct 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 14)
King Charles III
by Mike Bartlett • PREVIEW > REVIEW
Directed by Pauline Armour
Winner of a host of Olivier and Tony Awards in 2015. Queen Elizabeth 11 has died. After a lifetime of waiting, her son ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule? Mike Bartlett’s controversial ‘future history’ play explores the people beneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous royal family.
Fri 9-Sat 17 Nov 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 11)
Gaslight
by Patrick Hamilton •
Directed by Colleen Batson PREVIEW > REVIEW
A domineering husband, Mr Manningham, bullies his acquiescent, gentle young wife Bella in the hope of convincing her that she’s mad, so that she can be consigned to an asylum, leaving him conveniently free to…? Perfect for a dark November evening, this classic psychological thriller set in Victorian London is tense, chillingly atmospheric and thrillingly contemporary.
Wed 21-Sun 25 Nov 2018 at 7.45pm
Blink
By Phil Porter •
Directed by Andrew Newbon PREVIEW > REVIEW
Blink won a Fringe First Award at Edinburgh before transferring to great acclaim at the Soho Theatre in London. It is the tale of Jonah, Sophie and a fox called Scruffilitis. A dysfunctional, voyeuristic and darkly funny love story, that transforms themes of loneliness and grief into something tender and lovable.
Fri 7-Sat 15 Dec 2018 at 7.45pm (not Sun 9)
The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare •
Directed by Hilary Cordery PREVIEW > REVIEW
A deliciously raucous comedy of mistaken identity which, surprisingly, has never previously been performed at BLT. One of Shakespeare’s earliest and shortest works, it provides countless opportunities for physical comedy, inventive slapstick, music, mischief and mayhem – what better way to close the BLT 2018 season and prepare for the festivities of Christmas?