Nottingham Playhouse will this week be presenting five “lost” plays by well-known writers and five newly-commissioned sketches and songs by local writers in The Lost Plays Revue.
Part of the Playhouse’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the event will also mark the official naming of the Neville Studio in memory of former artistic director John Neville.
In 2011, a short sketch called Umbrellas which was written by Harold Pinter for You, Me and the Gatepost, a 1960 revue at the old Nottingham Playhouse, was discovered at the British Library. The sketch, which was performed only once, had been left unperformed for half a century.
Umbrellas was not alone. Many more “lost plays” from early 1960s revues were discovered, including works by writers such as N F Simpson, Shelagh Delaney, Emrys Bryson and John Mortimer.
The Lost Plays Revue will present these short plays alongside a set of newly-commissioned sketches and songs written by local writers including Michella Vacciana, Michael Eaton, Mufaro Makubika, Michael Pinchbeck, Stephen Lowe, Andy Barrett, Deborah Stevenson, Amanda Whittington and Nick Wood.
The Lost Plays Revue will be staged from Thursday until Saturday.