Nick Makoha - The Dark (Oberon Modern Plays)

The Dark was first performed on 9th November 2018 at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol and from 21st November to 1st December at Ovalhouse, London. Original team includes:

Roy Alexander Weise // Director

Michael Balogun // Actor

Akiya Henry // Actor

Rajha Shakiry // Designer

Neill Brinkworth // Lighting Designer

Duramaney Kamara // Sound Designer

Tanya Stephenson // Production Stage Manager

Jennifer Jackson // Movement Director

Joel Trill // Voice Coach

Lotte Hines // Casting Director

Co-commissioned by Fuel and Ovalhouse, supported by Arts Council England, The Cockayne Trust, The London Community Foundation, The Garrick Charitable Trust, Unity Theatre Trust and Sylvia Waddilove Foundation. Development supported by PULSE Festival, Coombe Farm Studios and as part of Ovalhouses FiRST BiTES series.

The Dark is produced by Fuel. Fuel produces an adventurous, playful and significant programme of work - live, digital, and across art forms for a large and representative audience across the UK and beyond. We collaborate with outstanding artists with fresh perspectives and approaches who seek to explore our place in the world, expose our fears, understand our hopes for the future, create experiences which change us and in turn empower us to make change in the world. Fuel was founded in 2004 and is led by Kate McGrath.

Fuels recent projects include: Barber Shop Chronicles (Inua Ellams), Touching The Void (David Greig), Lock Her Up (Fuel, University of Warwick and various artists), Charlie Ward (Sound&Fury), So Many Reasons (Racheal Ofori), This Restless State (Jesse Fox), The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre and Gimble), Dead Club (Requardt & Rosenberg) and An Evening with An Immigrant (Inua Ellams).

The Fuel team is: Sarah Arden, Sabrina Begum, Hugo Chiarella, Daisy Drury, Grace Duggan, Mimi Findlay, Hattie Gregory, Sylvia Harrison, Stuart Heyes, Greg Howe, Che-Min Hsieh, David Lewis, Ella McCarthy, Kate McGrath, Molly Sharpe, Kirstin Shirling, Ines Tercio, Anna Williams, Sarah Wilson-White and Emilie Wiseman.

Fuels trustees are: Sean Egan, Joe Hallgarten, Lilli Geissendorfer, Sue Hoyle and Shail Thaker.

Fuel is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

One of the most exciting and indispensable producing outfits working in British theatre today. The Guardian

The maverick producing organisation who are prepared to invest in adventurous artists. The Herald

fueltheatre.com

@fueltheatre

#TheDark

Registered Charity No: 1149680

Registered as a company limited by guarantee in England: 7935786

For the past 50 years Ovalhouse has been a home to experimental, radical and overlooked artists seeking to make theatre and performance that speaks to a world beyond the mainstream.

A hotbed of artistic activism in the five decades since we began, Ovalhouse has seen the social and artistic ideals it has aspired to become widely accepted as the model for a better society. We have sheltered social and political movements staffed by the stage and screen stars of the future, whilst pursuing an unerring agenda for positive artistic, political and social change. Ovalhouse stands on a proud history and continues to be a vital home for boundary-pushing art and artists with an eye on the future. With a theatre programme in two spaces we commission, co-produce and programme innovative work by early career and established artists, while our participation department provides a full range of programmes from inclusion projects to youth leadership training to supporting young artists. We invest in exploration and development, providing a space where artists can develop their creative practice, audiences can encounter new work and see the beginnings of new talent, and young people can use the arts to look at their lives, and develop their creativity and skills.

ovalhouse.com

Ovalhouse Staff List

Director

Deborah Bestwick

Executive Producer

Stella Kanu

General Manager

Gary Johnson

Head of Theatre and Artist Development

Owen Calvert-Lyons

Head of Communications and Audience Development

Monique Baptiste-Brown

Development Director

Katie Milton

Operations Manager

Alex Clarke

Technical Manager

Ina Berggren

Finance Manager

Yaw Manu

Buildings Project Manager

Annika Brown

Learning and Participation Manager

Titilola Dawudu

Trusts and Foundations Manager

John Peterson

Demonstrate Project Manager

Elena Molinaro

Finance Assistant

Kwame T B Antwi

Producing Coordinator

Will Bourdillon

Press and Digital Marketing Officer

Sophie London

House Managers

Lily Batikyan

Steph Prior

James York

This is for my wife and children,
who make wherever I am with them home.
And to my mother, thank you for taking the risks you did
to give me the life I have.

A special thanks to Roy Alexander Weise.
You have become more than a director. Your passion is infectious.
I am proud to call you friend, confidant and ally.

First published in 2018 by Oberon Books Ltd

521 Caledonian Road, London N7 9RH

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7607 3637 / Fax: +44 (0) 20 7607 3629

e-mail:

www.oberonbooks.com

Copyright Nick Makoha, 2018

Nick Makoha is hereby identified as author of this play in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The author has asserted his moral rights.

All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before commencement of rehearsal to Nick Makoha, c/o Oberon Books. No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained, and no alterations may be made in the title or the text of the play without the authors prior written consent.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or binding or by any means (print, electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher.