Five short plays commissioned by Birmingham REP during lockdown as part of a series called Park Bench Plays are to be broadcast on the television channel Sky Arts.
The brainchild of the REP’s artistic director Sean Foley, the plays were filmed in Birmingham on park benches—the most common meeting place during lockdown.
The plays are Patties and Pakoras by Tanika Gupta featuring Delroy Brown and Mina Anwar, Lovely, Loving, Loved by Bryony Lavery, Robin French’s Lockdown Riddim, David Edgar’s Wider Still and Wider and Mrs Williams and Mrs Nice by Janice Connolly. They were directed by the REP's associate director Madeleine Kludje, REP associate artist Danny Alexander and Foley.
Foley said, “this collection of five contrasting but equally entertaining micro-plays takes ordinary, everyday conversations and turns them into extraordinary and timeless pieces of mini-theatre.
“We’re delighted to partner with Sky Arts for the REP’s first broadcast television project to bring some of the UK’s leading writing talent to audiences across the country.”
The Park Bench Plays will be broadcast on Sky Arts on Monday 7 February at 11PM.