10 December – 11 January 2025

65 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth… 30 years ago, a movie about dinosaurs ruled the box office… This Festive Period, you are invited to  HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS! Hold On To Your Butts is a must see “shot-for-shot” parody of the greatest dinosaur film of all time. After selling out in New …

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11 December – 14 December 2024

Beckett’s Happy Days is an Absurdist play about Winnie, half buried in earth, talking to herself and taciturn Willie, whilst doing mundane tasks, avoiding thinking of her situation or death. Happy Days, named by, The Independent as one of the 40 best plays of all time, is by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett and first performed …

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8 January – 25 January 2025

“Of course – as you’ve no doubt guessed – there’s a big ‘But Then’ moment heading this way…” It’s a sunny, spring day in East London. On a street corner, two teenagers kiss. One of them is Toni. This is her first kiss. It makes her very happy. But someone is watching. Someone who doesn’t …

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23 January – 22 February 2025

In a crumbling coastal town, a fading comedian is forced to confront his estranged ex-partner – a deranged recluse fixated on their distant heyday—in a tale of guilt, ambition and the ghosts of British show-business. Billy Bash, who gloried in the title of Britain’s Third Most Offensive Comedian, refuses to admit he is in the …

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29 January – 1 March 2025

“What colour eyes you have doesn’t matter to me. Does it have to matter to you? We all love to play don’t we?” The world premiere of a new work by Diane Samuels (author of award-winning Kindertransport). AS LONG AS WE ARE BREATHING is a multi-sensory, mixed media and timely evocation of the true-life story of Miriam Freedman. …

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3 March – 12 April 2025

The Tony-nominated cult classic from the makers of Hairspray makes its all-singing, all-dancing UK-premiere at Arcola Theatre. It’s 1954. Everyone likes Ike, nobody likes communism and Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker is the coolest boy in Baltimore. He’s a bad boy with a good cause – truth, justice and the pursuit of rock and roll. Enter Allison, …

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5 March – 29 March 2025

Dave is the long-suffering husband. Martin is the psychopath who’s been exchanging erotic letters with Dave’s wife from a high-security hospital. When Dave finally gathers up the courage to confront him, Martin proposes a bargain: he will help Dave reignite his marriage if Dave helps convince Martin’s psychiatrist he’s actually made a friend. Dear Martin …

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9 April – 10 May 2025

In bustling St Pancras train station, Georgie, a free spirit, impulsively plants a kiss on the neck of Alex, a reserved 70-year-old woman sitting on a bench. When Georgie unexpectedly reappears at Alex’s shop, the older woman is drawn into her unpredictable world, and her once quiet, orderly existence bursts into chaos and newfound vibrancy. …

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19 May – 24 May 2025

Due to exceptional demand, In Other Words returns to The Arcola for an exclusive one week run. Matthew Seager’s ★★★★★ 4X Moliere Award winning play, seen by over 300,000 people in multiple languages across the globe, examines the power of music, memory and the nature of enduring love.

14 June – 12 July 2025

Twelve childhood friends dare each other to discover themselves in Africa. Their journeys traverse 54 countries, countless boundaries and endless risks. Lives, history and destinies are rewritten forever. Exhilarating, cross-cultural pan-African encounters, brought to life through word, live music, song, and dance.  54.60 Africa is inspired by the travels of its author who accomplished visiting …

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