Against All Odds

Tickets Free

production information

The Almeida Theatre in partnership with Arsenal in the Community and Islington Borough Council present Against All Odds, a summer-long writing and performance project written by Charlotte Josephine and the project participants and directed by Beth Shouler.

A team of playwrights and directors have been working with 80 young people and adults involved in Arsenal in the Community's programmes, to create theatre in response to Christopher Shinn’s Against through a series of workshops which will be performed on the set of the play by professional actors and community performers who helped shape the work. Participants will be involved in all aspects of the performance day including, backstage and front of house.

The creative team includes director Alex Brown, writer Emma Dennis-Edwards, director Paul Edwards, writer Charlotte Josephine, poet Deanna Rodger and director Beth Shouler.

Against All Odds is supported by The Arsenal Foundation and is performed in conjunction with Islington Borough Council’s Crossing the Threshold project, a pilot 12 month initiative engaging Islington council estate residents in a range of high quality arts activities.

Dates & Tickets

Fri 25 Aug
5pm

Tickets are free and can be booked in advance.

Alex Austin

Previous Biography Slide Next Biography Slide

For the Almeida: My City; Encourage the Others; Telling Tales.

Theatre includes: Primetime; Yen; Pigeons (Royal Court); Fury (Soho Theatre); Barbarians (Young Vic); Skriker (Royal Exchange Manchester); Henry V; Nutcracker; The Man with the Incredibly Smelly Foot; How to think the Unthinkable (Unicorn); Idomeneus (Gate).

Television includes: Liar; Humans 2; Sherlock; The Interceptor; The Musketeers; New Tricks; Holby City; Misfits.

Film includes: A Moving Image; The Hooligan Factory; Legacy; The World’s End; Christmas Candle; The Sweeney; Undefeated.

Radio includes: Tales Of The City; The Life And Loves Of A She Devil; Homefront; Moby Dick; Hombre; The 33; Tender Is The Night; The Long Goodbye; The Great Gatsby; Revolutionary Road.

Zainab Hasan

Previous Biography Slide Next Biography Slide

For the Almeida: Boy.

Theatre includes: The Tempest; Henry IV (Donmar Warehouse / St Ann’s Warehouse, New York); Catalina (Ovalhouse Theatre); Coram (National Theatre Studio); The Class (National Youth Theatre); Tory Boyz; Prince of Denmark; Romeo and Juliet (National Youth Theatre / Ambassador’s Theatre); Red Riding Hood (Latitude Festival); Chimera (Wildworks); On The Dole (Lyric Theatre); Othello (Brockley Jack Theatre); Romeo and Juliet; D (Oval House Theatre); Nine Rooms (Old Vic Tunnels); Totally Over You (Tricycle Theatre).

Training: National Youth Theatre Repertory Company and Queen Mary University of London.

Charlotte Josephine

Writer

Previous Biography Slide Next Biography Slide

Charlotte Josephine is a writer and actress whose plays include Bitch Boxer (Soho Young Writers Award 2012), Blue (Bolton Octagon’s Octagon Prize) and Blush (The Stage Edinburgh Award).

Charlotte is under commission to Boundless Theatre. She recently won the inaugural BBC Screenplay First Award and is currently developing a script with BBC Films. In March 2017 she was named on the BBC New Talent Hotlist. Charlotte is co-artistic director of Snuff Box theatre.

Beth Shouler

Director

Previous Biography Slide Next Biography Slide

Beth Shouler is a director and writer from the East Midlands. She was Staff Director at Theatre Royal Plymouth and Young Company Director for the Tricycle Theatre and Lakeside Arts Centre.

As director for the Almeida: Bait, Stacked.

She has been an assistant director for Nottingham Playhouse and Lakeside Arts Centre. She cofounded Plymouth Fringe Festival, The Party Somewhere Else Collective, and Junk Shop Theatre. Most recently she was part of the Royal Court Writers’ Group and is currently a Breakthrough Artist at Curve. She has directed several productions including: Big Sister Little Brother, The Crossing (Spark Arts); Plunge, Are You There? (Theatre West); Brexit: The Write Club Response (Nottingham Playhouse); The Dissidents, The Endless Night, Gargantua (The Tricycle); Hardworking People (Junk Shop); Love and Information, Epiphany, Ailie and the Alien, Girls Like That, Platform 13 and Pronoun (Theatre Royal Plymouth).

Cast & Creatives

Cast includes
Alex Austin
Zainab Hasan

Writer Charlotte Josephine and Against All Odds participants
Director Beth Shouler