SUPPORT: blue bottles by Periphery Theatre

Hi, I’m Tom Sparrow and I’ve got a play on! Earlier this year, myself and a friend from university, Megan Basnett, set up Periphery Theatre: A new writing theatre company aiming to get as many people an early career theatre credit as we could. White Cobra have been incredibly kind to let us tell you all about it now so here we go!

First off, a bit about the company. Meg and I worked together on a play I wrote for my dissertation before it was rudely interrupted by a worldwide historic event and decided we would love to work together again in the future. We made Periphery Theatre in January to do just that. Most of the team come from our time at the University of Reading and we have been so happy to keep a good working relationship with our old department and have been working with them on our rehearsals the last couple of weeks. We hope to use the company to provide opportunities to new creatives from all areas of the UK and across all ages!

We have been lucky enough to be programmed in the current season at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre, in Kentish Town, this November with an original play, written by myself, called blue bottles. The play is an absurd tragicomedy following the seemingly banal conversation of two rather peculiar characters… and just to let you know, they’re flies… they’re both flies. The play follows the first chat between these flies as they discover that maybe they have more in common than they previously thought. It explores themes of loneliness and friendship in a way you wouldn’t expect, and we know, they’re flies, but sometimes flies can be surprisingly human…

We have had an incredible time putting this show together during both online and live rehearsals and have an amazing team behind it. As the flies, we have the brilliant Beth Noonan-Roberts and Hannah Harquart who bring such electric energy and passion that you won’t be able to look away. Our directors, Ross Peters and Alice Robb (also our designer) have managed to make sense of the gibberish I write and have turned the play into something captivating and beautiful, with the help from our talented technical operator and lighting designer, Bethan Amey. And finally, Myself and Megan are the producers making sure forms are signed and bookings booked to the best of our ability.

If you would like to watch the show at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre, then tickets are available on their website or through our socials (Twitter: @PeripheryStage / Instagram: @peripherytheatre). The show is on from the 4th - 7th November 2021. If you can’t make it to the show but still want to support us, then please consider donating to our Greenlit Crowdfunding Page.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we hope to see you at the show!