It follows immediately in the wake of the U.K's next General Election, widely anticipated to take place on May 6. The season, to be directed by Indhu Rubasingham with associate director Amy Hodge, will feature the world premieres of plays by Bola Agbaje, Moira Buffini, Zinnie Harris, Sam Holcroft, Marie Jones, Lucy Kirkwood, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Sue Townsend and Joy Wilkinson, as well as verbatim monologues, edited by Gillian Slovo from interviews that she has conducted with politicians including Oona King, Edwina Currie, Clare Short, Ann Widdecombe, Chloe Smith, Jacqui Smith and Baronesses Pauline Neville-Jones and Shirley Williams. In addition the season will include plays by young playwrights Lydia Adetunji, Abbie Spallen and David Watson. The season will run through July 17.
Designs are by Rosa Maggiora, lighting is by Matthew Eagland and sound by Tom Lishman. The season is produced by the Tricycle's artistic director Nicolas Kent. Full casting will be announced shortly.
In a press statement, Rubasingham commented, "In 2010 women make up 19 percent of MPs. Post election, how much will have changed? It is 92 years since women were first permitted to stand for Parliament and currently Britain has the smallest percentage of women in government of all European counties. Women are often referred to as a minority in political terms, but in fact constitute 52 percent of the population in this country. Women, Power and Politics will raise questions about the complexity of women and political power in Great Britain."
The season will be presented in two parts - one entitled Then, examining the historical aspects of women and politics; the other entitled Now, with a more contemporary focus. The two parts will be performed on alternate evenings, with an opportunity to see both parts on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The plays in Then are Rebecca Lenkiewicz's The Lioness, Marie Jones' The Milliner and her Weaver, Moira Buffini's Battle of the Bags and Lucy Kirkwood's Bloody Wimmin. The plays in Now are Joy Wilkinson's Acting Leader, Bola Agbaje's Playing the Game, Zinnie Harris' The Panel, Sam Holcroft's Pink and Sue Townsend's You, Me and Wii. In association with the National Theatre Studio, the Tricycle will also present three curtain raisers, written by emerging playwrights Lydia Adetunji, Abbie Spallen and David Watson, that will be performed in the theatre on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning at 6:45 PM.
Running parallel to the theatre’s focus on women in British politics, the Tricycle Cinema will screen a long weekend of international documentaries with discussions, debates and Q & A’s celebrating politicised women and the grassroots campaigns that have united them in their struggles for change globally. And in the Tricycle Gallery, there will be an exhibition tracing the narratives of grass-roots activism from the Suffragettes to the present day.
To book tickets, contact the box office on 020 7328 1000, or visit www.tricycle.co.uk.
