The Arcola Theatre is one of London's great theatrical success stories. What follows is a series of previews of the theatre's main productions through February. The place is a bustling hive of creative activity of all sorts and well worth visiting, particularly as it's just down the road. For full information, prices and timings visit www.arcolatheatre.com. 

The previews are edited versions of what appears on the Arcola website. We are currently looking for a theatre critic who will provide original and insightful previews and reviews of this fine theatre's output and productions.  Contact us if you are interested.

Arcola Theatre

27 Arcola Street

London E8

020 7503 1646

www.arcolatheatre.com

DOORWAY 

24 January - 28 February 2010

Starting time: 6:00PM

STUDIO 3

A one act play devised by the company.

 In Turkish and English._Ala-Turka'nın yarattı_ı tek perdelik oyun_Türkçe ve ngilizce dilinde sahnelecek.

How many doors have you been through today? Or yesterday, last week, month, last year, all your life? How many doors have you hopelessly waited to open for you? How many door steps have been worn down under your feet? Which key holes have you spied through and how many keys have you lost?

Ala-Turka wants to knock on a few doors for you; to see what is visible through the doorway...

Ala Turka is Arcola Theatre's Turkish and Kurdish speaking theatre group. Established in 2001, it is directed by Serdar Bilis and meets at Arcola Theatre every Sunday from 1pm to 5pm. To find out more visit www.arcolatheatre.com/alaturka.

KNIVES IN HENS

2 February - 27 February 2010

Starting time: 8.15pm

STUDIO 2

Passionate and lyrical, the play maps a mythic journey from ignorance and innocence to knowledge and power. His world is there, in front of my eyes. All I must do is push names into what is there, the same as when I push my knife into the stomach of a hen. Knives in Hens was David Harrower's first play and established him as one of Scotland's foremost living writers. Since its debut in 1995, it has been staged in over 70 productions in more than 20 languages.

Other plays included the acclaimed Blackbird (Olivier Award, Best New Play 2007), Kill the Old Torture Their Young (Traverse Theatre), Presence (Royal Court Theatre) and Dark Earth (Traverse). Director Serdar Bilis makes a welcome return from Liverpool Playhouse to the Arcola where he directed Moliere's Tartuffe and Ostrovsky's Familiy Affair; both Time Out Critics' Choice.

HELDENPLATZ 

10 February - 6 March 2010

Starting time: 8:00PM

STUDIO 1

By Thomas Bernhard. Translated by Meredith Oakes and Andrea Tierney

 'absolutely everything is decided by party politics here - you simply can't be narrow-minded enough if you want to get to the highest positions!'. Austria, 1988. For the Schuster family - intellectual, Jewish, Viennese to the core - the country remains as uninhabitable as it was when they fled in 1938. Forty years on from World War II, irrational hatred, neurosis and decadence still reign. Bernhard explores the shared isolation of people who have lost their bearings along with most of their illusions. Condemned in his homeland when it was first released, the play delves deep into Austria's historic alliance, exposing the right-wing sensibilities of some of the country's most prominent citizens.  Heldenplatz is the last play from one of the most individual, innovatory and challenging voices from contemporary post-War Europe. This rare opportunity to see Bernhard's work in Britain is created by directors Annie Castledine and Annabel Arden, with a leading cast of familiar faces from stage and screen. _