Trigger Warning: Contains themes of sexual assault and abuse. Fifteen years ago, Ray and Una had a relationship when he was 40 and she was 12. Now, years later, she's found him again.

Feelings of rage, denial, fear, shame and desire are battled out between them as the past is relived. The remnants of childhood abuse and its consequences are carefully laid out and examined, as Harrower questions the nature and limits of love in this Olivier award winning play.

Online performance

Suffragette are proud to present ‘Agency’, a New Play by Tom Murray. Agency is an absurdist farce about the exploitative nature of modern real estate and disaster capitalism.

The two thieves crucified with Christ, now turned letting agents, Gestas Jones and Dismas Smith, find themselves running an estate agency. In an allegorical retelling of Genesis, they innocently obey the surreal and contradictory rules of their trade, as set by the enigmatic Landlord: They must not, under any circumstances, answer the phones... until one day a hole appears in the roof and they begin to wonder what lies on the end of the line. Meanwhile, the tenants have grown ever conscious of their exploitation. They bay for blood... but is it too late to put things right?

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

Some of Durham's most talented freshers make their debut at the Assembly Rooms Theatre.

Tone Deaf Theatre Company presents their annual Freshers' Showcase, where a troupe of first years take to the stage with a variety of songs from musical theatre.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

Summer is an addict. She's always been an addict. She has a new obsession and as she watches herself in her memories, she questions who is to blame and just how sick she has to become to stop pretending.

“Sometimes I just wish I could float away into my dreams and live there... I don’t want to feel trapped anymore, I don’t want to feel empty”. Through the eyes of a girl at 15 and a woman at 25, 'Hostage' written by Francesca Haydon-White, is a fresh exploration of friendship, health and addiction.

A show not to be missed."

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

DUCT's annual Classical Acting Showcase presents to you some of the best acting talent in Durham, performing an innovative set of monologues from a variety of classical plays.

Every year, DUCT present a series of classical monologues performed by finalists selected from the accomplished pool of talent in DST. This is a fantastic introduction to the range and ability we have on offer at Durham, showcasing students' capacity for both classical and innovative theatre. Our finalists choose their own pieces to perform for a panel of guest judges from the industry. The panel will then decide on this year's Classical Acting Showcase winner!

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

Compiling over 800 pages of letters between poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, Sarah Ruhl maps their complex relationship and reveals the beauty and chaos that comes from words on a page.

“Asking you is the ‘might have been’ for me, the one towering change, the other life that might have been had. But I am sure it is the will of the heavens that all is as it is.” Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell were two of America’s most brilliant poets. Throughout their lifetime, they wrote over 800 pages of letters to eachother, spanning decades, continents, political eras and tumultuous periods in their own lives. Their connection was messy and profound, platonic yet romantic, intense and intangible. A love that resists easy definition. These are their words – 400 letters, compiled and compressed by award-winning playwright, Sarah Ruhl.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

A woman falls down an internet rabbit hole about women who fall in love with inmates on Death Row, and learns for herself how easy it is for obsessions to begin.

A playwright is looking for an idea. During her research, she falls into an internet rabbit hole about women who fall in love with convicts on Death Row. Before she knows it, she has a pen pal called Jonny who is awaiting execution for murder. Their letters are heartfelt and, finding herself going to intense lengths to sustain their relationship, she starts to understand how those women in Netflix documentaries became so obsessed with serial killers. The Road to Huntsville is a sharp and speculative one-woman show about what can happen when you just can't stop thinking about someone.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

When Timofeev uses a time machine to send his apartment block superintendent Ivan back to the time of Ivan the Terrible, they discover an uncanny resemblance. They accidentally swap places and when the time machine breaks, they get stranded…

Can Timofeev fix the time machine before the Soviet police arrest Ivan the Terrible? Can superintendent Ivan masquerade as Tsar for long enough not to get beheaded as an impostor? Only time will tell!

Online Performance

A poignant tale of growing up, growing old and growing (or not) wise. Following the stories of grandmothers, mothers and daughters, we see how it takes generations to learn about the true value of real feeling.

Using a kaleidoscopic time structure, Keatley’s play is a heart wrenching, bittersweet story about love, jealousy, and the price of freedom. Spanning over a period of over eighty years, the play examines the lives of four generations of women from one family. Set in Manchester, Oldham and London, the story explores how Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Roise must make difficult choices as they confront the most significant moments of their lives, all set against the backdrop of the chaotic and ever-changing twentieth century.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

What brings Britain together more than anything else? Absolutely, undoubtably, resoundingly, it is cake. See through windows into various locked-down households, from bustling kitchens to drama-filled dining rooms. 

‘Sugar-Coated’ is a fun and friendly show about how baking has an impact in our different family settings, especially when you are forced together.

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre

Peter Newberg: 60s tv star, recording artist, playboy. But that was a long time ago, and now Peter rides out his days smoking and drinking in his run-down California apartment. Until Liz arrives, asking questions he doesn't want to answer.

Peter's carefully constrructed veneer of stability and stagnation is pierced by this young reporter and her questions that are too close to the truth, and threaten to tear down Peter’s poorly constructed self image forever.

Online Performance

Are we becoming machines? Are machines becoming too much like us? Or is there another possibility? Foundations is a play about technology, perspective, and love, involving physical theatre and puppetry.

"A factory above. A factory below. And between them, the unused foundations of a whole neighbourhood, rotting in the ground like concrete graves.

Meet MJ, an ordinary warehouse worker from the world above. Now meet Pins, an ordinary worker from the factory below, except that she’s a robot, and has never known what we think of as human.

They’re about to meet, and set a spark that could unravel worlds. If you listen closely, you might be able to start hearing the pounding from under the floor. And if you listen closer, you might notice that it begins to sound a lot like your heartbeat."

Staged in the Assembly Room Theatre

Scratch night showcasing some of Durham's best new student writing, with a mix of short plays and comedy sketches

Buttered Toast is back with not one, but TWO scratch nights in a single evening! That's right, two for the price of one. The first half of the evening will feature a handful of monologues and one-act dramas, written by some of Durham's best up and coming writing talent, fully rehearsed and performed by a troupe of actors. Afterwards, these actors will perform a series of comedy sketches, script-in-hand, as a fun way to round off the evening. Come along for a fun night of experimentation – maybe you’ll get a glimpse of the next Fleabag!

Staged in the Assembly Rooms Theatre