Putney Arts Theatre upcoming events

The Watsons (21/04/2026)

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:45:00 GMT

The Watsons

By Laura Wade,

Directed by Stuart Watson

Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 April 2026 at 7.45pm with a Saturday m

atinee at 3pm

Putney Arts Theatre - Main Stage

About the play:

What can characters do when their author abandons them?

Nineteen and new in town, Emma Watson has been cast off by her rich aunt and banished back to the family home. Unless she can marry, and quickly, she faces a life of impoverished spinsterhood, dependent on her boorish brother and his ghastly wife.

Fortunately, a ball is being held in town, and she has plenty of suitors to dance with, from debonair but fickle Tom Musgrave to loaded but awkward Lord Osborne. Whose advances should she accept?

But that’s where Jane Austen put down her pen. Two centuries later Emma’s happy ending still hangs in the balance. Who will step in to finish the story?

Laura Wade’s inventive, sparklingly witty play looks under the bonnet of Jane Austen and asks: What happens when the writer loses the plot?

The Watsons premiered at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester in 2018 and transferred to the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2019, earning a handful of five star notices. A West End run was slated to follow in 2020 and the posters were printed, but then the pandemic happened.

It starts as a more-or-less faithful adaptation of the unfinished Jane Austen novel, featuring a cast of characters many of whom are familiar from other Austen stories. The Watson sisters appear to be prototypes of Lizzie and the Bennett girls, there is a caddish Wickham, a Darcy (without the redeeming features), a Lady Catherine de Burgh, and so on.

But about a third of the way through the play Laura Wade’s source material runs out, and she takes the play in an unexpected and brilliantly imaginative new direction as the Regency clashes with the 21^st century and the characters begin to behave in unpredictable and wildly funny ways.

This amateur production of “The Watsons” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

Suitable for audiences aged 11 and above.

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The Harmony Test (12/05/2026)

Tue, 12 May 2026 18:45:00 GMT

The Harmony Test

By Richard Molloy

Directed by Jodi Rilot

Performances: Tuesday 12th May - Saturday 16th May 2026

Putney Arts Theatre - Studio

About the play:

Newlyweds Zoe and Kash are on a mission to have a baby. From sex schedules to dodgy under-the-counter remedies, increasingly desperate antics begin to take over their lives. With every aspect of their schedules, diets and sex lives revolving around conception, relationship cracks seem inevitable. If they do successfully conceive, what will this mean for Kash’s fledgling acting career? If they don’t, how will Zoe get over losing what she feels is her true purpose in life?

Meanwhile, empty-nesters Charlie and Naomi are facing a different matrimonial challenge, and it looks terminal. Charlie is bewildered that his wife does not share his excitement at finally having the house to themselves. Naomi can’t remember what attracted her to Charlie in the first place. Lacking any meaningful connection in her life, she heads to the gym, where she finds "connection" aplenty in the shape of Rocco, a personal trainer 20 years her junior.

Richard Molloy’s darkly funny drama explores the ups and downs, hilarity and awkwardness that accompany the heart-wrenching journey of trying to conceive.

Content warnings:

The play contains themes of IVF, abortion and divorce.

Suitable for audiences above the age of 15.

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Cast:
Zoe - Emily Kate Dixon
Kash - Aaron Thakar

Naomi - Emily Fellows

Charlie - Jerome Kennedy

Rocco - Caleb Clarke

Creatives:

Director - Jodi Rilot

Producer - Frances Bodiam

Stage Manager - Kate Lawrence

Ast Stage Manager - Perry Savill

Set Build & Design - Simon Rilot

Sound Design - Nick Wells

Fight and Movement - Lyndall Brown

Lead Image - Nick Wells

Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (16/06/2026)

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:45:00 GMT

Rosencrantz And Guildenstern are dead

By Tom Stoppard, Directed by Robert Wallis & Will Hunter

Tuesday 16 - Saturday 20 June 19:45 with afternoon matinee at 15:00 on Saturday 20 June.

Putney Arts Theatre - Main Stage

About the play:

Two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet suddenly find themselves at the centre of a story they do not understand and cannot seem to influence.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pass the time flipping coins, trading riddles, and trying to figure out just what is going on with the Prince of Denmark. As they stumble in and out of Shakespeare’s tragedy, they encounter the mysterious Player King and his troupe of Tragedians, actors who embrace blood, death, and rhetoric as all part of the show – which is to say, life.

What begins as a comic rumination on chance and circumstance deepens into a haunting exploration of what it means to exist when your part is already written.

Tom Stoppard’s 1966 breakout is a dazzling blend of existential comedy, verbal acrobatics, and theatrical playfulness that reframes Shakespeare’s play from the wings.

Cast List:

Rosencrantz - Lonje Kalanda

Guildenstern - Rob Ryan

The Player - Eric Petrossian

Hamlet - Nathan Chatelier

Claudius - Ian Cooke

Gertrude - Julia Blyth

Polonius - Edward Ogilvie

Ophelia - Anastasia Babich

Tragedians - Emma Buckley, Eve Newton, Finton McCluskey, Kelsey Norris, Nora Holman, Rebecca Fallon

Crew List:

Co-Directors - Rob Wallis & Will Hunter

Production Managers - Stuart Watson & Veronika Wilson

Stage Manager - Sophie Turnbull

ASMs - Louise Bradshaw (&TBC)

Stage Designer - Lexa Barbulescu

Lighting Designer - TBC

Sound Designer - Owen Thomas James

Costume Designer - Alexa Adam

Movement Director - Lyndall Brown

This amateur production of “Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

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