Queen’s Theatre announce three new exciting pieces of work.

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are delighted to announce three new pieces of work from Kate Lovell, Sonny Nwachukwu and Britny Virginia,members of the theatre’s Creative Leadership Team 2022/23. 

Eve and Cain and Zero will be going into research and development (R&D) at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch at the end of March, whilst the Centre Stage Scratch Night makes a welcome return after the success of last year’s initial event.

Kate Lovell will be exploring working class disabled stories through research and development on her new two-hander, Zero. 

Zero examines the lives of two young disabled people moving from adolescence into adulthood in the 2020s and trying to find their place in a world that continually shape-shifts before their very eyes. The disparity between the promised land of opportunity pictured online in social media and the reality of the zero hours jobs they inhabit create ruptures and frictions. 

Kate Lovell says, “I’ve been working on ideas for Zero over a number of years. It is informed by my own lived experience of feeling ejected from education into adulthood and feeling rudderless. I worked zero hours jobs whilst managing undiagnosed chronic illness and felt a painful split between the life I had been coached to aim for and the reality of my existence. 

But Zero is not an autobiographical piece. It is about giving voice to the working class disabled experience. It’s about the pressure we put on young people to ‘save the world’ when it’s us who have created the climate crisis. It’s about the dangers that can arise from the difference between the sparkling fakery of online influencers’ lives and the low-paid, low-skill jobs that many in their early twenties find themselves treading water in, often for years. It’s also about friendship and the ways that community can buoy us and ultimately save us from becoming lost at sea.” 

Sonny Nwachukwu with Gateway Arts are developing their brand-new piece Eve and Cain. 

Audiences follow the journey of a mother and son as they transcend through understanding the intersectionalities of being black, gay and disabled in today’s world society. And explore the complexities of trying to understand these aspects of identity. Eve and Cain is an honest dialogue about stammering and offers a rare exploration of communication disabilities. 

“We are very excited to bring Eve and Cain, a choreopoem to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. Our aim for this R&D is to solidify the integrated access, create the set to enhance the world and fully weave the spoken word and movement! We hope you can join us.”Sonny Nwachukwu and Michael Peter Johnson. 

Britny Virginia’s Centre Stage is a polished scratch night celebrating and promoting local deaf, disabled, neurodivergent artists and people living with chronic illnesses in Essex and Outer East London. 

In this instalment, six artists will be commissioned to respond to the stimulus: The Here & Now.  Two visual artists will be commissioned to create live artwork in response to what the other performers present. 

Centre Stage is an unmissable event taking place on Friday 24 March 6pm – 8pm. Book tickets now to secure your seats for just £10 or £8 with concessions. This event is not to be missed as audiences will have time to network and enjoy fantastic artwork from local deaf/disabled and neurodivergent artists. 

Britny Virginia said, “I am super excited to organise another Centre Stage event. After our first launch during the Blueprint Festival, there was a considerable amount of support from the local community, with five generous local businesses donating to the raffle, which had audiences impressed and rallied for more.  

This next Centre Stage will implore artists to create a response to the prompt: The Here & Now. Live artwork will be created during the session as well. It will be a relaxed and fun evening of creativity and community. 

I am very excited to see what amazing work will be presented by the disabled community here in Essex and Outer East London. 

Thanks again to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch for giving us a space to platform and celebrate deaf/disabled and neurodivergent artists.”   

Kate, Sonny and Britny are part of Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s Creative Leadership Team 2022/23. They are supporting leadership in innovation at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, helping the theatre to discover and work with more Deaf and disabled artists from across its wide catchment area. All three are associates at Graeae, the acclaimed and award-winning theatre company championing the best in Deaf and disabled talent.  

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