Aren’t we all a work in progress – a kaleidoscope?

Second Skin Theatre presents a double bill exploring the nature of truth, honesty, the dark secrets within us and their impact upon who we are and who we love. Aptly directed by Andy McQuade, the two plays delve into a world of human longing, transgender sexuality, lost love, and the basic need to be held tight.

Stay With Me Til Dawn is an intense and disturbing play. Graham Farrow weaves a black tale of lonely men and missing children, where guilt and innocence become an indistinguishable grey area. The play began as a rehearsed reading as part of the Branching Out 3 season and has since been developed through a collaboration between director and playwright. Redford, a middle-aged man, is accused by gossip and hearsay of being a paedophile. He returns home, once again with a bloodied nose and cut face, to find a boy hiding in his flat. The boy has fled to him from his violent father who had advised him that Redford „liked young boys“ and he now seeks love and understanding from the lonely man. Soon thereafter, the boy’s father arrives to make enquiries about two 10-year old boys who have been missing. He immediately employs force to get his answers: events now begin to twist and turn as the real truth of Redford’s past is revealed. Peter Glover gives an outstanding performance as the sympathetic loner, David Swain and Matthew Haigh convincingly play the son and his abusive father. This production is not for the squeamish.    

Knuckleball by William Whitehurst, the winner of the awards for „Best Drama“ and „Best Production“ at the San Francisco Fringe Festival now arrives for its London premiere. A knuckleball, in baseball terms, is a pitch with an erratic, unpredictable motion. The pitch is thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight to throw the batter off guard and making a strike. In William Whitehurst’s intriguing play the working class bloke Ross proposes to his classy lover Trish right after they had passionate sex. Trish desperately wants to say yes, but cannot. Ross won’t take no for an answer—she must either marry him or explain why she won’t. Trish tells Ross an extraordinary tale about who—and what—she really is. But is she telling the truth? In this emotionally charged production the charismatic Laura Pradelska plays Trish and Bryan Kaplan repeats his role as the confused and touching Ross.

19 January – 7 February 2010, Tue – Fri 7.30 pm, 7.00 Sat and Sun

Tickets: £ 12 / £ 10 (concessions)

BOX OFFICE: 020 7704 6665

The Rosemary Branch, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT