The Royal Shakespeare Company is to bring back its Mischief Festival in The Other Place, Stratford, featuring “two provocative new plays exploring Britain today”.
Nina Segal’s O, Island! is a “funny and furious modern myth about disaster and community, exploring how borders can be changed by people, by nature and by accident”. It will première from Friday 30 September until Saturday 5 November.
Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer by Bea Roberts is a “darkly comic drama which challenges who belongs and who thrives”. Entrenched in her picturesque Devonshire village, Ivy Tiller is preparing to wage a war. Her target: the invasive grey squirrel. Her goal: to oust the invaders and restore red squirrels as the “rightful” inhabitants. It will run from Thursday 6 October until Saturday 5 November.
RSC acting artistic director Erica Whyman said, “it’s a huge privilege to be presenting this irreverent and playful double bill of new plays.
“These inventive and engaging commissions were early casualties of COVID and now seem to speak directly to a world which is navigating new realities, both domestic and political. Both plays focus on Britain’s often overlooked villages and rural communities, with an undercurrent of dark and sometimes wicked humour. They each raise profound questions about how we cope with external shocks and what makes a true community.
“Nina and Bea are hugely exciting talents and I’m so proud that we can at last première this work in our much-missed studio theatre The Other Place.”