The rest of his species was declared extinct.
His location is a closely guarded secret.
He is the last of his kind.

Vespertilio is a new play about love, loneliness, lies and bats. The story of one man’s obsession and the charming young runaway he meets in the dark.

Exploring ideas of conservation and isolation, and tackling the issue of loneliness within the LGBTQ+ community, VESPERTILIO ​was inspired by the true story of the real last Greater Mouse-Eared bat living in Britain, created after a piece published by Patrick Barkham in The Guardian caught the eye of our writer. The play was given a feature article in the Guardian the week before we opened. Read it here.

We’re working with the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) to gain a better understanding of conversation efforts and plights of bats living in Britain. We’re also using information provided by the BCT in our marketing campaign to promote awareness and encourage education and conversation.

Reviews:

“Lucy Jane Atkinson’s nifty production… is such a pleasure, right down to Verity Johnson’s tiny but just-so design touches, and a canny use of light and dark. Both actors are brilliant.” Lyn Gardner, StageDoor

★★★★★ “One of the highlights of VAULT Festival so far… Vespertilio is the real deal, and it could easily transfer.”… Read More

What are the ethics of mass destruction?

It’s 1953 and Albert Einstein is slowly driving himself insane as he struggles to solve the unanswerable question: “Did I do the right thing?”

When a family friend, newly released from a Chinese POW camp, comes to visit, a warm reunion soon becomes an explosive collision of opposing beliefs on the subject of evil, the winning of wars, and the construction of the world’s first weapon of mass destruction – the atomic bomb.

“Why do you think I’ve been locked in this room? I’ve been grieving for a wife, a sister, three hundred thousand Japanese civilians, the presence of a universe gone mad, and the absence of a theory to explain it.”

Written by james Graham

Starring Andrew McDonald and Edward Boon

Produced by Fight and Hope

 … Read More

“You don’t know where you’re going, till you know where you came from.”

Radio tells the story of Charlie Fairbanks, a young man born slap bang in the middle of things. The simplicity of the storytelling places international events within a very personal framework. Charlie’s coming of age parallels that of America; with the childish idealism of the 1950s, shattered by Kennedy’s assassination, leading to the difficult adolescence of the Vietnam War. Radio is a play about the tragic, funny and impossible dreams we sell ourselves, managing at once to be both entertaining and terrifically moving.

In the intimate surroundings of a studio theatre, with nothing but a wooden chair and some creative storytelling, Radio takes you to the moon and back.

Written by Al Smith

Starring Benedict Chambers

Produced by Fight and Hope

“Do you remember how you told me that dreams aren’t weightless things. You said they have a mass, as small as you like, but a mass nonetheless. You saw it in me.”