"PlayThings"; A Festival of Staged Readings from Nine New Directors

Nine playful directors are proud to be showcasing their work at the Albany in Deptford this February. Trained by some of the most pioneering theatre practitioners in the industry, they will be offering a smorgasbord of short plays by established playwrights and new writers. The Festival will comprise of three staged readings each night and will run from the 2nd until the 4th of February. Come to all nine to experience the debonair and the dingy, the absurd and the uplifting, the fantastical and the thought-provoking - all vying for your admiration.

The Festival is the culmination of the Director Traineeship run by multi-award winning Stonecrabs Theatre Company. Established in order to equip emerging directors with the artistic and practical skills necessary to develop their talents, the programme is unique in offering instruction, workshops and a mentoring framework to its participants entirely free of charge. Undaunted by severe recent funding cuts, the scheme has continued into its seventh consecutive year. Past graduates have gone on to found successful independent companies and to direct at venues including the Royal Court, the Donmar and the Almeida.

“Without this course I would not be where I am today.”

Bola Agbaje, Director and Olivier Award-winning playwright – 2006 graduate


“I implement the tools I gained from my tuition with StoneCrabs daily and I am proud to say it is where my roots and love for theatre direction was nurtured and still continues to be to this day.”

Natasha Nixon, Staff Director at the National Theatre – 2008 graduate