Adding to a season which includes the Papatango New Writing Prize winning show The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights, Christmas offering Dracapella, and Adam Riches’ Jimmy, which has had three extra performances added by popular demand, Park Theatre has announced a host of new shows. They include Isley Lynn’s Edinburgh hit Jobsworth, a story of friendship and loss in Kindling, a double bill of a dark comedy and a psychodramedy, the return of youth theatre group Company Three, and an evening with Mike McCartney, hosted by Adam Hills.
The shows are on sale on Park Theatre’s new website, which includes more transparent pricing information: whilst each show has standard Park Theatre pricing, ticket buyers will be given the option of topping up with a donation via a novel interactive slider, bringing the true cost of their ticket closer to what it costs Park Theatre to put on each show. Park Theatre is a registered charity that receives no regular funding, and is dedicated to keeping prices low to make theatre accessible to all whilst taking bold strides to encourage donations from those who can afford to pay more.
In This City (3 – 6 Sept), 11 teenagers from Company Three tell autobiographical stories. In a play about the importance of community, belonging, friendship and togetherness. This City traces the city we live in through the eyes of our teenagers. But the unpredictable, ever-changing seasons mean London can also feel isolating and unwelcoming. And for many, their ability to call it home is conditional, whether that’s praying Rashford, Sancho and Saka score the penalty in the England semi-finals, not being stereotyped, or being scared to walk home alone.
Performing in a double bill (9 – 20 Sept), (God Save My) Northern Soul is a dark comedy about love, loss and Northern soul music. After her Mum’s sudden death, Nicole is shoved headfirst into the world of adulthood whilst still clinging on to the end of her teenage years and desperately trying to lose her virginity. A mixed raced only child from Wigan, she’s spent the last few years floating through college, postponed university and working at River Island. Now she’s inherited a house, a BMW and a sandwich shop. The show is paired with Vermin, in which a fast-burning love sees Billy and Rachel marry, nest, and prepare for the future. But something is scratching beneath the floorboards. As their dream home is invaded by rats, the world they’ve built begins to disintegrate – exposing the rotten foundations beneath. Vermin is a pitch-black psychodramedy about what we bury, what claws its way back, and what remains when we’re picked clean to the bone.
An Afternoon with Mike McCartney, hosted by Adam Hills (19 Sept) is a warm and witty telling of a life of one of the UK’s most celebrated artists – photographer, musical comedian and brother of Sir Paul McCartney, Mike McCartney. This Park Theatre fundraiser is accompanied by the boss host of The Last Leg, Adam Hills. Mike looks back on a life that has seen him top the charts with The Scaffold (whose songs “Lily The Pink” and “Thank U Very Much” are now national treasures), and become a celebrated photographer with international exhibitions. Along the way he’ll swap jokes with the Queen, have his lyrics sung by The Queen Mother and her children, launch the careers of Ridley Scott and Stephen Frears, and end up at The White House with Stevie Wonder.
In Kindling (22 Oct – 15 Nov) five perimenopausal women embark on their friend Mei’s final wish; scattering her ashes in the redwood forest of Wales. If only they knew each other – let alone liked one another. Connected only by their shared grief, what begins as an opportunity to bond, quickly descends into chaos. Lost, without shelter or signal, drenched by a sudden storm, surrounded by strange noises and Celtic beasts, and fuelled only by soggy baguettes, warm wine, forgotten HRT and 90’s club classics; unspoken rivalries and secrets, old and new, soon come to the surface. Kindling is a story of friendship, loss, resentment and ultimately hope.
Finally Jobsworth (19 Nov – 6 Dec) is the Edinburgh hit comedy about capitalism by Isley Lynn. Bea is secretly working three full-time jobs. All at the same time. And she’s still financially f*cked. Between looking after luxury flats to dogsitting the world’s ugliest pooch, she’s neck-deep in employers and it’s only a matter of time until someone finds out she’s breaking all her contracts. Armed with nothing but her smarmiest boss’ dirty secret, can Bea get herself out of the red and into the black (and into the fit intern’s bed)? Or will the plates she’s been spinning come crashing down around her and her dysfunctional family?
Park Theatre presents exceptional theatre in the heart of Finsbury Park, boasting two world-class performance spaces: Park200 for predominantly larger scale productions by established talent, and Park90, a flexible studio space, for emerging artists. In 11 years, it has enjoyed 10 West End transfers (including Rose starring Maureen Lipman, The Boys in the Band starring Mark Gatiss, Pressure starring David Haig and The Life I Lead starring Miles Jupp), two National Theatre transfers, 14 national tours, seven Olivier Award nominations, has won multiple OffWestEnd Offie Awards, and a Theatre of the Year award from The Stage as well as their inaugural Campaign of the Year award in 2025 for their work reaching underserved audiences with Canadian/ Korean comedy drama Kim’s Convenience.
