Haunted House Theatre is to take on tour a new verse play about free schools, the Birmingham-based company has announced.
Free for All, written in iambic pentameter, is a play by University of Birmingham PhD student Richard O'Brien. He won the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award in 2006 and 2007 and the 2015 London Book Fair Poetry Prize. He is researching whether poetry can work in the theatre for modern audiences.
O'Brien said, “I'm excited to be staging verse drama on Shakespeare's home turf, the Midlands. For a long time, it would have been unusual to go to the theatre and not hear poetry. Shakespeare is the world's most performed playwright but I think poetry in the theatre is something we've become very suspicious of. Free for All is an attempt to show that verse on stage can speak to people now.”
Director Rebecca Martin expects the play to ruffle a few feathers. “Free schools are one of the most controversial topics of the day. Since the General Election, all parties and voters have been asking tough questions about privilege, including how can education give every child an equal chance?
“Free for All doesn't offer one answer; Richard's characters have very strong opinions on both sides.”
The show tours to Nottingham Contemporary on Wednesday 27 January, Hansom Hall, Leicester on Thursday 28 January and mac birmingham on Friday 29 January.