Touring History

Ciphers is inspired, in part, by the “spy in the bag” case from 2010. It’s a play about the kind of people who work in secret intelligence – the kind of people drawn to that kind of work, and their unknowability. But also, about the way we are all, in a way unknowable.  Here are […]

Recently we hosted a 5-day workshop, giving writers an opportunity to learn new techniques for devising theatre. Isabel Quinzaños reports: Over a few days in August, a group of budding writers, performers and directors got together at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford to produce a script about both the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean museums. […]

James Perkins is the set designer for Ciphers. He has previously worked with director Blanche McIntyre on Liar Liar, The One True History of Lizzie Finn, and Dawn King’s previous play Foxfinder. What is the start of the process for designing a play? I read the script a couple of times before I start, and […]

Dawn King was first inspired to write Ciphers by the death of Gareth Williams, the GCHQ-employee who was found dead locked inside a bag in a Pimlico flat. Here she discusses the thoughts – and the play – that the case inspired; and some of her favourite writers.

Kathryn O’Reilly has returned to Out of Joint to give a widely-praised performance as the ferocious, damaged, and very funny Liz Morden in Our Country’s Good. Here she talks about her character, the play’s messages and her own experiences of the power of theatre.  “Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform […]

Fear of Music writer Barney Norris on rewrites, the army, and the strange fame of Andover. In 2008 I was in a play called Through the Leaves by the German writer Franz Xaver Kroetz, in a production directed by Alice Hamilton, the director of Fear Of Music. I hadn’t previously encountered Kroetz, Germany’s most frequently […]

Our Country’s Good cast member John Hollingworth has written this thoughtful piece for us. Recommended. Legacy. Post-Olympics the papers are full of the word and, as we present Our Country’s Good to the national press in Birmingham, so are my thoughts about the play. This is Max’s third production of the play. He originally staged […]

Actors’ Songs We asked actors on twitter whether they listen to music before going on stage, and if so what helps them get in the right mood or headspace. You can find their replies, plus a link to a Spotify playlist, here. It ranges from classical to the Beastie Boys. Replies included: “I once played […]

Our cast have had the rare advantage of being able to spend the final two weeks of rehearsal on the set, on stage at the Octagon Theatre Bolton. Designed by Tim Shortall (who also designed our productions of Top Girls and The Big Fellah, as well as the recent West End La Cage Aux Folles […]

Kathryn O’Reilly takes a break from rehearsals to talk about crime, punishment and the long sea voyage of the First Fleet. Her character, Liz Morden, comes from various prototypes. One is Nancy Turner, a 21-year-old servant who was tried at Worcester in 1785 for stealing clothes to the value of 40 shillings. She was sentenced […]