Critics’ Circle Award-winning writer Philip Ridley’s thrilling, darkly comic plays Tarantula and The Poltergeist return – reimagined by original director Wiebke Green with a new cast and presented together for the first time. After acclaimed premieres at the Arcola in 2022 and earlier this year, these companion pieces now collide in an unforgettable double bill.
Experience either play on its own or both on the same night, uncovering how Ridley’s interwoven themes of family, love and memory reverberate against the backdrop of East London.
TARANTULA
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 care about her happiness at all. And they’re about to change Toni’s life… forever.
This one woman play is a startling exploration of identity, memory, love, and the lengths it takes someone to free themselves from the web of their past.
Praise for Tarantula (January 2025)
★★★★ “Intense and adrenalised” – The Guardian
★★★★ “Unmissable...Ridley's words explode” – Everything Theatre
★★★★ “Theatre at its most powerful” – Theatre Weekly
★★★★ “Compelling...it lingers with you” – The Stage
