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PLAYS FROM ACROSS A DIVIDED EUROPE

PRESENTED BY ART TRANSLATED
Political plays telling stories from across contemporary Europe appear for the first time on the London stage.

Europe is a continent divided, but with more in common than we know. Through a week of rehearsed readings, Art Translated sheds light on a series of plays from across the continent – spanning work translated from Ukrainian, Italian, French, Greek and German, showcasing established as well as emerging translators. Reflecting the diverse cultural heritages of their home nations, these pieces, exhilaratingly varied in form and style, are placed in conversation with one another.

At stake are some of the key political and social questions of our time: experiences of conflict, of nationalist fervour, the lure of right-wing extremism, love in an aging society, feminism, our sense of community, the threat of a global pandemic and the social role of art. Together, these stories reveal that many of the dilemmas of the modern era are universally experienced.

All plays at Plays From Across a Divided Europe will be presented as staged readings.

25-30 JUL
7:45PM (TUE-SAT) 4PM (SUN)
£8 STANDARD
£6 CONCESSION
£25 FESTIVAL PASS

See all the plays by purchasing a Festival Pass.

The Festival Pass allows you access to all six readings in Plays From Across A Divided Europe. To secure your spot, please arrive at Box Office at least 15 minutes ahead of each event start time otherwise the space may be released.

PLAYS FROM ACROSS A DIVIDED EUROPE

PRESENTED BY ART TRANSLATED
Political plays telling stories from across contemporary Europe appear for the first time on the London stage.

Europe is a continent divided, but with more in common than we know. Through a week of rehearsed readings, Art Translated sheds light on a series of plays from across the continent – spanning work translated from Ukrainian, Italian, French, Greek and German, showcasing established as well as emerging translators. Reflecting the diverse cultural heritages of their home nations, these pieces, exhilaratingly varied in form and style, are placed in conversation with one another.

At stake are some of the key political and social questions of our time: experiences of conflict, of nationalist fervour, the lure of right-wing extremism, love in an aging society, feminism, our sense of community, the threat of a global pandemic and the social role of art. Together, these stories reveal that many of the dilemmas of the modern era are universally experienced.

All plays at Plays From Across a Divided Europe will be presented as staged readings.

25-30 JUL
7:45PM (TUE-SAT) 4PM (SUN)
£8 STANDARD
£6 CONCESSION
£25 FESTIVAL PASS

See all the plays by purchasing a Festival Pass.

The Festival Pass allows you access to all six readings in Plays From Across A Divided Europe. To secure your spot, please arrive at Box Office at least 15 minutes ahead of each event start time otherwise the space may be released.

WOMENHOUSE (LES FEMMES DE LA MAISON)

25 JUL

BY PAULINE SALES
TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH BY LÉA DES GARETS

Three artists, three eras, one house. The artists are all women, the owner of the house is a man. After his wife leaves him, Joris opens the doors to a house which will host generations of women. Léa des Garets’ translation of Pauline Sales’ Womenhouse paints a picture of the evolution of women’s place in society from the perspective of female creativity. 

Content Warning: Sexual abuse, sexism, homophobia

ALARMS (ALLARMI)

26 JUL

BY EMANUELE ALDROVANDI
TRANSLATED FROM ITALIAN BY MARCO YOUNG

A group of terrorists is planning an attack. Their aim? Kill the President of the European Commission, broadcast it all online, and start a revolution. Taking its cue from the growing rise of far-right movements across Europe, Allarmi offers a subjective exploration of the thin line that separates revolutionary heroes and mythomaniacs. 

Content Warning: Racist language, violence

DANCEFLOOR MEMORIES

27 JUL

BY LUCIE DEPAUW
TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH BY DANIEL EMERY

Lyon, France, 1991. Marguerite is a carer for Pierre, her husband of fifty years, whose memory is being robbed by Alzheimer’s. Increasingly alone, and looking for life outside their home, Marguerite begins attending dance classes at her local community centre. Dancefloor Memories is a story of love and loss at the twilight of existence, told in the form of a lyrical dance. 

Content Warning: Discussion of death/dying and discussion of suicide

ENDLESS VIEW (ENDLOSE AUSSICHT)

28 JUL

BY THERESIA WALSER
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN BY NEIL BLACKADDER
Translation sponsored by Goethe-Institut

Jona’s sister gave her the present of a 10-day Caribbean cruise, but thanks to a worldwide pandemic, she has been confined to her windowless cabin and has been for a while. Is it two weeks now? Three? Any sense of time dissolves in these exotic waters. Jona has become an inmate in a luxury jail where everyone must get used to their new, monstrous normality. But the food is slowly running out. And Jona doesn’t know if, should she ever make it back home, she’ll still have a job…

CLOSED SKY (ЗАКРИТЕ НЕБО)

29 JUL

BY NEDA NEZHDANA
TRANSLATED FROM UKRANIAN BY JOHN FARNDON

In the midst of war, four women wake up in a pitch dark cellar, with no idea how they got there or how they will get out – or even if they want to. Based on true stories of horrors inflicted on women in the war in Ukraine, Closed Sky is Ukrainian playwright Neda Nejdana’s remarkable and ultimately uplifting response to the Russian airstrike on the Mariupol theatre which killed 600 people, written in Summer 2022 — within 7 weeks of the atrocity. 

STRONG KNEES (Ασκήσεις Για Γερά Γόνατα)

30 JUL

BY ANDREAS FLOURAKIS
TRANSLATED FROM GREEK BY EMMANUELA LIA

The owner of a small company, in the middle of the financial crisis and under pressure from her Neo-Nazi, teenage son, announces she’ll make one of her two employees redundant – a young woman who’s already crushing her dreams in order to survive and a man at breaking point supporting his wife and young child.

Content Warning:  Sexual Harassment, abuse of power, suicide, xenophobia

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Concessions

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Content Warnings
Age Recommendation

14+

Duration

1h30m