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No weird, psychological dramas in York? Foxglove Theatre fill the gap with experimental play Rabbit at Theatre@41

George Green and puppet in Foxglove Theatre’s premiere of Rabbit at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

YORK company Foxglove Theatre have identified a need for weirder, more experimental theatre in the city, focusing on “psychological exploration through innovative visual storytelling”.

Here comes their debut new work, Rabbit, booked into Theatre@41, Monkgate, from Thursday to Saturday with a warning: “This is not a play for children”.

Why? Rabbit contains:

Disturbing content; physical harm/violence (explicit); suffocation; vomiting; flashing lights; jump scares; sudden loud noises; use of haze.

What happens? Rabbit is lost. Rabbit is scared. She will die by the end of the night. Waking up lost in a murky forest, this brave bunny is determined to find her way home to Mumma.

Foxglove Theatre’s poster for psychological drama Rabbit

However, an innocent bunny is not prepared for the trials and tribulations of the real world, where the wind cuts deep, teeth slice flesh, and a mothers hug falls short.

Blending puppetry and visual storytelling effects, Foxglove Theatre’s performance explores the psychological damage that develops from even the smallest mishandlings of our childhood selves.

Focusing on attachment and loss, Rabbit invites this week’s audiences to place their inner child under a magnifying glass and watch it burn.

Vowing to bring impactful, new age, daring theatrical productions to York, Foxglove Theatre made their debut in Summer 2002 at Theatre@41 with Welsh writer Brad Birch’s thriller The Brink: a dark comedy replete with blood, murder and death, sexual imagery and ephebophilia (sexual attraction to post-pubescent adolescents and older teenagers, aged 15 to 19).

Sam Jackson’s Nick comes face to face with Abel Kent’s Mr Boyd, the head teacher, in Foxglove Theatre’s inaugural prodiction, Brad Birch’s psychological thriller The Brink, in 2022

“As young people exploring our creative boundaries in York, we identified a gap in York’s theatre scene, a need for weirder, more experimental performance, and through Rabbit, our first new-work piece, we hope to begin to address this blind spot,” says producer Ione Vaughan.

“This 60-minute production aims to invite our audience into a space for self-reflection, while also refusing to diminish the negative repercussions of allowing poor mental health to fester. Combining modern contemporary theatre technology with the traditional medium of puppetry, we are utilising everything live performance has to offer to provide an impactful and immerse experience for our audience.”

Foxglove Theatre was formed by producers Ione Vaughan and Ivy Magee and director Nathan Butler. “Deciding to dedicate our work to bringing innovative theatre to this brilliant city, we also chose to champion the growth of young creatives like ourselves, offering flexible and malleable opportunities to develop their creative practice while with our company,” says Ione.

“This has been a success with our performer, George Green, as we developed a unique skill to add to their repertoire: puppetry. George learnt a range of puppetry techniques, both those required by the performance and beyond, including training with Leeds puppetry company The Object Project to support their overall development as a performer.”

Foxglove Theatre in Rabbit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday to Saturday, 7.30pm. Recommended age: 16 plus. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

George Green in a scene from Foxglove Theatre’s Rabbit
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Foxglove Theatre’s young blades head for dark side to shake up York’s stage scene

Too much paper work: Sam Jackson as teacher Nick in Foxglove Theatre’s The Brink

NEWLY formed York company Foxglove Theatre aim to “fill the blind spot” of York’s theatre scene by producing thought-provoking, dark and contemporary work.

First up – after an initial February staging circa St Valentine’s Day at University of York DramaSoc – will be their debut at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from June 30 to July 2 with Welsh writer Brad Birch’s The Brink: a comedy replete with blood, murder and death, sexual imagery and ephebophilia (sexual attraction to post-pubescent adolescents and older teenagers, aged 15 to 19).

Formed by producers Ione Vaughan, 21, and Ivy Magee, 20, and director Nathan Butler, 21, Foxglove’s vision is to create and promote thrilling theatre that encourages audiences to engage with live performance as naturally and readily as with their favourite television and streaming platforms.

“Amazing effects and chilling performances are not bound solely to our screens but can be enjoyed to the fullest live on stage as well,” reasons production manager and lighting designer Ivy.

Sam Jackson’s Nick, a school teacher on the brink, is confronted by Abel Kent’s Mr Boyd, the troublesome head teacher who plays with his already fragile sense of reality

“Our company believes in preserving theatre in an age of multi-media, not by binding ourselves to tradition but through adapting the stage alongside the screen.”

Cue The Brink, suitably provocative, dark and contemporary, with unsettling time shifts to boot, premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in June 2016.

History teacher Nick is a normal person, working a normal job, who lives a normal life, but he is stuck in an everlasting cycle of stasis at 27. Caught up in a downward spiral fuelled by dreams and whispers of a bomb buried under the school, he begins to lose control in a play with survival at its heart.

“The Brink is a psychological thriller and dark comedy that’s impossible to summarise in just one word,” says Ivy. “But if I had to: explosive!” 

Sam Jackson’s Nick recounts his recurring nightmare

Why stage The Brink, Nathan? “Thrilling, turbulent, unconventional, it encapsulates everything we want to bring to the York theatre scene,” he says. “It’s an unwavering dive into dark and prominent subject matter, alien to the established York stage.

“So, if you’re a Black Mirror, Love, Death And Robots or simply a psychological thriller fan, this is certainly the play for you. By utilising technology and special effects as additional storytellers, we invite you to celebrate the unique capabilities of contemporary theatre.”

You might expect the burgeoning talents of Foxglove Theatre to want to head to this summer’s Edinburgh Fringe, but Nathan says: “In my mind, I’d rather do it here – York has a good theatre scene – rather than taking the 50,000 steps needed to go to the Edinburgh Fringe. Let’s take one step: let’s play York – and our Crowd Funding goals have been reached and exceeded already.”

Nathan admires the work of Brad Birch, an award-winning playwright and screenwriter with plays such as Missing People, Black Mountain, Gardening For The Unfulfilled and Alienated, as well as The Brink, to his name.

“I saw The Brink when it premiered at the Orange Tree, when I was part of National Theatre Connections, and I fell in love with it. Then I acted in it in 2018 for the In Yer Face Company, when we took it to Leatherhead Festival, and it was my favourite thing I did with them.

Sam Jackson’s Nick confides in Harshavardhini Pareek’s Jo, his fellow teacher

“There’s just something about it: it starts off so accessible, you feel you could be watching a TV show or a film – but on stage – where you’re in that comfortable space, feeling like you could be having popcorn!

“But then there are these little hints that something isn’t right and you start feeling differently about what’s going on as Nick’s mental health deteriorates. You’re thrust into this visceral world where you see someone’s descent in front of you.”

Nathan is using a cast of four featuring Sam Jackson, 21, as Nick; Zoe Freeman, 21, as girlfriend Chloe/Jessica; Harshavardhini Pareek, 20, as teacher Jo, and Abel Kent, 22, as head teacher Mr Boyd/Martin.

“There’s so much competition for Sam; everyone wants him for DramaSoc shows,” says Nathan, “We thought, ‘we’re not going to get him’, but thankfully he said yes. The reason he’s so amazing is that my vision for Nick is that ‘this could go anywhere’, and from the very beginning Sam’s portrayal was amazing.”

Grim reaping: Sam Jackson’s teacher Nick imposes a different form of school cuts in The Brink

Birch’s play will be performed on an end-on set designed by Lily Ball, 21, with costume designs by Emily Youngson, 21, sound design by Kai Tangaki, 22, and stage management by Charlotte Powell, 21.

The running time will be two hours without an interval. No interval, Nathan? “It’s a play that gets faster and faster as it goes on. It’s very accessible, as I say, and by the end you’ll be clinging to your seat, I promise.”

Given the amateur status of the company, no-one is being paid, but the Crowd Funding campaign has covered the production costs. “Our long-term goal is that if this goes well, it will only be the start for Foxglove Theatre – and I just love York!” says Nathan.

Foxglove Theatre in The Brink, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 30 to July 2, 7.30pm. Tickets: £8, general admission; students, £6; Crowd Funding donators, £5. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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