Paul Kalburgi: We'll Always Have Paris
Beginning this week at the White Bear Theatre is a staging of 'We'll Always Have Paris', a new play by experienced playwright and screenwriter Paul Kalburgi.

The play is about grief and starting again, and focuses on Ginny, who is trying to get over losing her fiancé. And that might sound sad, but this play also has all the characteristics of a romantic comedy and a cinematic style, and to me, that all adds up to something interesting and special.

I spoke to Paul to find out more about the play, and about the writer himself.

London's Gate Theatre to close
London's Gate Theatre company last week announced it will cease operations next month, bringing to an end "nearly fifty years of championing international artists, radical storytelling and new ways of imagining theatre". The company wrote on social media, "We've adapted, changed how we work and kept making ambitious theatre", but "living hand-to-mouth means there's just no way for us to continue – and so we've reached the end".

Theatre sector calls for tax relief reforms to help protect regional touring
The UK theatre sector last week called on the Chancellor Of The Exchequer to use his autumn budget statement next month to extend existing tax relief schemes to help "keep theatre touring on the road, protect live performance venues and ensure more people can enjoy world-class performance in the communities where they live". In a statement, trade body UK Theatre said that theatre producers are being "forced to cut towns and venues from tour routes" because rising costs have made adding extra dates to theatre tours commercially unviable.

Shows to see in London this week - including performances from people we first discovered at the Edinburgh Festival.

FESTIVAL STUFF

Big Dreams Festival | Polka Theatre | 19-20 Sep
Yay, that festival stuff keeps coming – so obviously I am delighted and some of you, I am sure, will be delighted by this mini fest for mini people. It's a celebration of early years theatre, with events suitable for the tiniest of tots as well as for older children, up to the age of around eight. I am very taken by the idea of MC Grammar, but there's other stuff too, check it all here.

Fort | The Cockpit | 18 Sep
A return visit now to the Tête à Tête opera festival over at The Cockpit, and this particular event spoke to me because it's set at an Iron Age hill fort and I am a veritable sucker for anything with any connection to ancient things. This is a new opera, adapted from a play of the same name (which we also tipped one time) by Tabitha Hayward. Find out more here.

Unfortunately | Shoreditch Town Hall | 22-26 Sep (pictured)
And finally, a show that isn't actually on as part of a festival, but is by a company that we very much associate with festivals because of their frequent work up at the old edfringe. In 'Unfortunately', ThisEgg present something that's part theatre, part fashion show, and which – through costume, movement and text – explores our relationship to money. Click here.

SHORT STOPS

Sufficient Merit | Canal Cafe Theatre | 16 + 18-20 Sep
"When three struggling actors learn that their beloved theatre venue is under dual threat from government funding cuts and a looming data centre developer, they must convince their mercurial landlord that they have 'sufficient merit' to remain in the building". A comical take on being an artist during late stage capitalism. Can they keep the dream alive? Info here.

IHOPEIWILL | The Place | 22 Sep (pictured)
Over to The Place now for an alluring piece of work from interdisciplinary female collective threeiscompany that combines physical performance with visual installation and sound design. It's a piece that asks what kind of world we want to leave behind us and looks at our collective responsibility to future generations. For more information see the venue website here.

Getting Rekt | Union Theatre | 21-24 Sep
"Rek has big dreams, big chat and absolutely no idea what he's doing. He's 25, 'pretty much from Croydon bruv', and fully committed to the image: grime producer, party boy, ladies' man, future legend". But is that who he really is? This one man play, written and performed by Jamie Nowski, blends grime, classical music, spoken word and storytelling. Click here.

LONGER RUNS

Table 17 | Kiln Theatre | 17 Sep-24 Oct
Finally, some nice long runs to get your teeth into. Starting over at the Kiln Theatre with 'Table 17', a comedy about Jade and Dallas, long-split exes who meet for dinner to hash things out: after all these years, can they move past the baggage and give their relationship a second chance? I'm intrigued to find out. Head to the venue website here to find out more.

A Small And Quiet Light | Orange Tree Theatre | 21 Sep-24 Oct (pictured)
I'm always massively in awe of anyone who gets involved in war, obviously, and I especially get a bit wobbly when I think of how I would have handled being a secret agent in France in WW2. This play is based on the life of Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, the first female radio operator to be sent over there, and who ultimately sacrificed herself for the war effort. Details here.

Griefcase | The Hope Theatre | 22 Sep-3 Oct
As you might expect from the title, this final pick is a show about grief, but it also explores how memories mutate, and how belongings have emotional weight. It focuses on the experiences of G, who returns to his late mother's flat to clean it, and finds it full of traces of who they used to be, and thought they might become. Read more about it here.

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