Winner of both the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and The Writers' Guild award for Best West End Play.

It's a normal Sunday night in Stephen’s London restaurant.  Chef Sweeny and waiter Frankie amuse themselves by indulging fellow waiter Mugsy in his ‘ambitious’ scheme to open a new restaurant in an old disused public toilet.  They are killing time as they wait for the mysterious customer, Ash, to finish his meal and allow them to begin their weekly poker game. 

Tonight's game however will involve much more than cards and chips as each player is forced to engage in much more than the cards on the table.

Experience the strangled, intense, emotions that are unleashed during the turn of the cards in a late night, subterranean, poker game between six men in a London restaurant.  Witness human nature at its most guarded and exposed.  The cards are not the only things that are eventually revealed in this explosive new production by Rawlife Theatre Company.

Hot on the heels of the sell-out success of their critically acclaimed production of of 'Closer' in the Baby Grand, Rawlife invite you back to this hilarious yet tragic examination of masculinity in the twenty first century.  This show is simply un-missable!

Winner of the Evening Standard’s ‘Best Comedy Award’, the Critics' Circle ‘Best Play Award’, and the Olivier Award for ‘Best New Play’, Patrick Marber’s Closer tells the cold, sterile, cruel, empty, un-fulfilling, and darkly funny story of four people, who mate, break up, swap partners, seek revenge on and wilfully hurt each other. It’s a cocktail of sex, loneliness, desire, guilt and revenge. Obituary writer/would-be novelist Dan and a young American stripper Alice strike up an instant connection after a freak accident. Another accident of circumstance causes them to meet with the pleasure-pursuing dermatologist Larry and his divorcée girlfriend Anna, a photographer with whom Dan had earlier shared a flirtation. Closeness is what each of the play's four characters struggle for, but as the story unfolds, these four will betray and be betrayed by each other. Each suffers from some crippling variation of dishonest and frightened self-preservation where they crave notions of love yet are not willing to surrender them themselves to it. The play sold out to critical aclaim and was praised for its high production values, acting and innovatibe use of space..

With themes of mental illness, prostitution, alcoholism and rape, the show took a robust delight in human madness and provoked thought through laughter. We staged the production in the Old Museum Arts Centre in the latter half of the year after a series or workshops. The show was preceded by a ‘doctors and nurses‘ evening of fancy dress and cabaret acts to complement the themes of the main production. The show was followed by workshops in comedic styles of acting, including ‘commedia del arte’

The play was adapted from the Novel and set in a Mental Institution in the West of 1970's Ireland by Rawlife’s co-artistic director Martin McSharry.

This production was staged at The Potthouse with its famous glass dance floors on its 1st and 2nd floors. The “Sugar Room” of the complex looks starkly industrial with its glass, steel, concrete and neon green/yellow lighting.

The cast of 9 were chosen through open auditions over a week long period and the production was rehearsed over a frenetic two week period. McSharry took a major risk in re-writing the iconic character of the Native American (Chief) to that of a disposed Irish Traveller, but it was a risk well worth taking as the play proved to be a huge sell-out success.

TThis production was a fast paced and outrageous comedy where B-Movies, Beach Party Epics and Hitchcock psychological thrillers are given a shotgun marriage. It was a spoof of early '60s surfing movies which dismantles the mystery of the age, while letting us enjoy our nostalgia for it. Innocent, demure and hairy, teenager Chicklet desperately yearns to be part of the Malibu Beach “surf crowd”. Her luck is in when the great Kanaka the undisputed king of the beach agrees to try her out. But the one thing he didn’t bargain for is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities, including an elderly talk show hostess, a male model named Steve and the entire accountancy firm of Edelman and Edelman. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind. This play gleefully defies logic as it subverts clean-cut Hollywood stereotypes. Charles.

The audience stepped from the cobbled stones of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter into the Korova Milkbar and the ultra-violent world of Anthony Burgess’ classic novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’. For 90 minutes they were exposed to the explosive domain of Alex and his rampant, drug fuelled gang of droogs. Staged in the post modern surrounding of the Potthouse night club, the night was a truly memorable theatrical experience.
This 'site-specific' production explored the nature of crime, punishment, rehabilitation and freewill wrapped up in a cocktail of Sex, Religion, Fashion, Politics and Beethoven. In our current post 9/11 climate of State power versus individual freedom this story is closer to reality than ever before.
The Potthouse bar was opened before and after each performance, so the audience could make a night of it!

Performed on dance floor of Belfast’s hippest night-club, this production sold out 2 weeks in advance of opening. The highly relevant themes of family values, marital breakdown and confidence trickstering impacted heavily on the audience. Original music was commissioned and recorded for the show.

The production was highly physical and a local choreographer was employed to assist in choreographing sections. The production was fast paced and hard hitting and achieved critical acclaim.

The production was funded through sponsorship in kind and through Awards for All (Lottery).

Mamet’s classic play focusing on the cut throat business of real estate in the downturn economic climate of 1980’s USA. The production received critical acclaim. It was filmed for broadcast on a local BBC Cultural Television Show ‘First Stop’ The production was funded by Awards for All (Lottery).

"They had a hit last year with their sell out show Nobody Here But Us Chickens and this year they are back abrasive as ever.  The claustrophobia and pressure were well exemplified by the lighting and set that worked harmoniously. Rawlife’s production successfully portrays the most striking themes in Glengarry Glen Ross. Rawlife did not disappoint. The rampant macho and gross alpha male is on show in this production and he’s well worth a look at."

IRISH NEWS

This hilarious comedy by Peter Barnes addressed mental and physical disability and public acceptance of said disability by clever use of comedy. The company worked closely with the physically disabled artistic community in Belfast during the rehearsal. The production was funded by a combination of Awards for All (Lottery) and private sponsorship in kind. The company commissioned local musicians “The Tar Babies” to create original music and perform during the production. The play was performed in a cabaret style setting with a pre-show drinks reception.

"An Eggsceptional piece of work"

Irish New

“This play doesn’t chicken out on disability……… what this play is saying is that we are all the same………. highlights misconceptions that many people hold about disabled people.”

NEWSLETTER

The play was performed in Belfast Circus School with virtually no set apart from white sheets and boxes. The company commissioned local musician Rachel McCabe to compose an original piece of music for the cello and she performed live at each performance. Again this production was funded solely through private sponsorship and sponsorship in kind. The play proved so popular that the company revived the show for the Belfast Festival at Queen’s in October 2001.