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property

by Jelena Budimir

New River Studios

2019

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Regeneration? Redevelopment? Gentrification?

Property is a political farce about the London housing crisis, exploring the legacy of successive governments’ lack of vision for housing, and the decimation of council provision. It’s a call to action. It’s set in the fictional borough of Hattenham and was inspired by the regeneration of estates in Hackney and Haringey.

This fast-moving comedy hurls headlong into the housing debate. Hipsters clash with locals, councils find strange bedfellows, and the homeless take over the estate. As house prices rise and rents rocket, is the writing on the wall for what’s left of diverse, patchwork London and its mixed communities? London housing is a farce. And so is this play.

Property was first presented at New River Studios on 16-19 October 2019 funded by the Arts Council. This venue was selected for its location adjacent to Woodberry Down, a council estate that is being redeveloped with a high proportion of new luxury flats. This allowed us access to the local community that have been directly impacted.

 

Through our post-show discussions with housing experts, the actors and writer we provided a safe public forum for the audience to discuss the dilemmas the play presents. Our partners included Shelter, Cardboard Citizens Theatre, Immediate Theatre and John Boughton. 

"Dario Fo on acid...Well done on your show....Amazing achievement to make such a funny play and get such committed performances out of all of them. Well done.”

ADRIAN JACKSON 

Artistic director of Cardboard Citizens

"I very much enjoyed it. I thought the cast performed brilliantly too in what must be a pretty demanding production. It's great that, between us, we're helping make housing such a hot and important topic.”

JOHN BOUGHTON
Author of

Municipal Dream: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing

“….it helped me understand many different aspects of London life. And it was such a joy to watch. The writing was terrific and I loved all the physical comedy.”

AUDIENCE MEMBER

"We all enjoyed it enormously and were inspired by the overall message and loved all the different characters. You certainly had an impressive group of actors. We really liked the comedy as well”

AUDIENCE MEMBER

CAST

CHRISTOPHER ADAMS
LIONEL

 

CHEREEN BUCKLEY
KYLIE

 

DENISE MACK
JEAN

GARETH TEMPEST

BRIAN

 
VIVIANA TAY
LAUREN

 

TEAM

JELENA BUDIMIR

WRITER AND DIRECTOR

LYNNE MCCONWAY

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

SANNA-KARINA AAB

PRODUCER

 

DANNY ATKINSON

SET DESIGNER

MATT CATER

LIGHTING DESIGNER

AIDEN CONNOR

SOUND DESIGNER

AK LIE

COSTUME DESIGNER

ANUSKA ZAREMBA-PIKE

STAGE MANAGER

ESTHER FERNANDEZ

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

LOUISE EGAN

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

MARIE ZSCHOMMLER

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

 

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