LETTERS
'Nice to meet
you. I'm excited about doing this with you.
We don't know
each other, and that's exciting to me.
I had a look at
your Spotlight. You speak French and play flute. I also do both of these
things.'
An unopened
letter, a box of props, and a set of instructions.
From the team who
created the Gate's critically acclaimed production of Dear Elizabeth, Letters
is a funny and often moving reflection on the global situation we find
ourselves in.
In March 2020, as
the UK joined countries around the world in the Covid-19 lockdowns, the Gate
Theatre invited 11 pairs of performers to write letters to each other. Some met for the first time performing Dear Elizabeth, and some are
complete strangers. Letters is the opening of these
correspondence.
Written between
March and August 2020, Letters tells the story of Spring to
Summer; of pandemics and protests; of the personal and the public, and of
people living in isolation reaching out to one another on
paper. At once brilliantly funny, touching and true, Letters is
a candid and compelling celebration of coming together even when we are
physically apart.
Live from their own
homes, each pair of performers will open and read the letters they''ve received
from each other. Neither knows what their letters contains. All they have is a
series of instructions and a surprise box of props to create a show together
by opening up, meeting one another, and exchanging the gift of a poem
Co-Directed by Nina
Bowers, Yasmin Hafesji, Hannah Ringham, Moi Tran, and Gate Artistic Director
Ellen McDougall.
The cast includes
Alex Austin, Isabel Adomakoh Young, Joseph Akubeze, Nadia Albina, Nigel
Barrett, Nina Bowers (also co-directing), Elizabeth Chan, Tim Crouch, Phoebe
Fox, Francesca Henry, Helena Lymbery, Kayla Meikle, Kwame Owusu, Hannah Ringham
(also co-directing), Irfan Shamji, Annie Siddons, Thalissa Teixeira and
Chris Thorpe.
Letters will be live streamed on Zoom from 14
September as part of a series which will run until 6 October with more dates to
be announced shortly.