Blue Elephant Theatre, Camberwell

Welcome to the waiting room to enter the realm of Transition*. You are the 11,174th player. Only 33 players have made it through Level One this month.

The waiting list to see the Gender Identity Clinic is now 5 years long. Patient for trans people is often an adjective and not a noun, the endurance of suffering without receiving treatment. Yet our systems primarily expect trans people to move through life as a patient – subjects to medical scrutiny and approval. What does a duration of 5 years really mean, and when does patience turn from virtue to verb?

Devised through drawing on lived experiences of interviewed participants and an all-trans team, Patient Is A Verb takes you on a journey navigating the healthcare system in the UK. It melds grim realities with the world of video games, searching for agency in waiting.

Please note this is a script-in-hand work in progress.

An evening of theatre, music, storytelling and comedy, presented by the recent LSBU graduates of South Bank Collective.

Line-up:

•‘This is not for you’ / ‘Silence is the most deafening sound’ by Lilly Eve Kardani-Zadeh

• Borders by Chi and Georgie

A fragmented, non-linear work-in-progress exploring borders - not just in the physical sense.

• Heresy by Billy Rose Davis

Think the Greek Gods were real dicks? Want to see them getting their asses handed to them? By whom you might ask? Well, who else but themselves? In this comedy musical about hubris, power, and temptation, will the Gods of Olympus be able to hold onto their power or will they fall from grace…
The performance will include a few songs from the in-progress show, including “Heresy”, “The Apple”, “Grown-Ass Woman” and more…

• It Takes Courage by Alicia Ellis

Addressing themes of life, obstacle and fulfillment, It Takes Courage is a truthful insight into humanity and the barriers we overcome throughout our lifetime. It Takes Courage is a play under development depicting a collection of stories that all can relate to. Audiences will recognise and learn that they are not alone in what they face, and that there is real fearlessness in unapologetically being you. The segment of It Takes Courage presented serves as the
opening for the play, setting the scene for the themes and stories to come. This will be presented through recorded audio and visual imagery as a gateway into the world of the play

'Misfits' is a collection of stories of people who don’t fit in. Presented by MA Collaborative Theatre Students of Fourth Monkey.

'Misfits' is a celebration of four short pieces of new work, devised and performed by Fourth Monkey’s MA Collaborative Theatre Class of 2022, showcasing their talents as boundary-pushing artists who like to take risks and shake up the status quo.

Presenting:

The Tofana Trials
An immersive courtroom play, inspired by the Spana Prosecutions of 1659, exploring women's relationship to a justice system that often fails them. You have been selected to hear the testimonies and see the evidence before giving your own verdict.
Featuring - Nicola Bohlen, Chloe Hatherley and Lucy Millett

Honour Bound
A solo show exploring honour-based violence and the anti-Blackness often found in South Asian communities.
Featuring – Zahra Jassi

Job Agency
Joe and Stan need to change careers, both are feeling the pressures of age. Expect clowning, poignance and a designated emotions corner. Change is hard. Changing is harder.
Featuring – Steven Poland and Kajo Sartori

Tales of Lethe
Four female historical villains meet in a hotel. The catch: they can’t remember anything. The second catch: only acts of villainy unlock memories. Let drinks flow and blood be shed.
Featuring – Harriet Leaf and Selin Balcıoğlu

With accompanying music from Fourth Monkey Acting Foundation graduate, Ahana Hundal.

About us

We are the MA Collaborative Theatre Students of Fourth Monkey, we make boundary pushing, exciting, contemporary art that shakes up the status quo. We are formed of 8 artists, our backgrounds vary; we are made up of a dancer, a comedian, a hairdresser, and everything in between. One thing we have in common is that we like to make bold work together.

Website: https://fourthmonkey.co.uk/

"Have you ever felt so sad you thought you’d never be happy again?”

Charles, Billie and Alex live in the same house but they never see each other. Charles’ wife of 50 years has passed away. Billie is reeling from heartbreak. Alex’s dad recently took his own life, and now he’s facing his own depression.

Gaia Fay Lambert’s moving debut play is a series of interweaving monologues. It blends poetry with theatre as its three characters attempt to articulate universal experiences of loneliness, loss and longing. The Blue House looks to provide the audience with hope, healing and solidarity after some of the most turbulent and lonely years in living memory.

With previous work described as “spectacular” and “boundlessly imaginative”, Helikon Theatre Company bring their bold and innovative style to the intimate space at the Blue Elephant, in an intense evening of theatre crafted by a collective of exciting new artists.

Past praise for Helikon Theatre Company

“Helikon’s modernisation is spectacular”
Mark Aspen Reviews

“This radical portrayal of A Winter’s Tale was refreshing, dynamic and most of all well performed.”
Theatrebox

“beautifully presented, addictive and compelling to watch, it strips the theatre to a cavernous space and offers it a place to breathe [...] I urge you to go and see this production, I leave the theatre rebounding and reeling with ideas, an inspiring undertaking.”
TheatreFullStop

“Boundlessly imaginative, visually poetic, joyfully queer, anarchically playful with the text, somebody give this team space”
Naomi Kuyck-Cohen, Theatre & Performance Designer

CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: 25 June, 8pm
Captioned by Stagetext

Join us on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd to meet our incoming programming team for this coming year and say goodbye for now to co-Artistic Directors, Niamh and Jo!

Blue Elephant’s ethos of supporting bold new work and early career artists remains at the heart of our programming, which will soon be looked after by Guillaume and Alice.

After a quiet few months, we can’t wait to be looking to the future more and invite you to come meet us and see if working at the Blue Elephant is for you. Our usual agreements include a 50/50 box office split, bespoke marketing, fundraising and creative support and some free rehearsal space. We champion early career and independent artists, particularly from under-represented backgrounds, and new work. We will rarely programme productions of established scripts or work that has already had significant runs in London.

If you’d like to find out more about us, join us on Zoom on Thursday 21st April from 10.30am – 11.30am or come along to the Blue Elephant from 6.15pm on Friday 22nd April.