Block’d Off -
The journey so far
Original Resource Pack - January 2021
2019 – In a café next to Angel Station, writer Kieton Saunders-Browne and producer Jake Curran-Pipe started brainstorming the concept of a new play that would highlight working class issues faced in inner cities. What started off as a twist on a Christie-style murder mystery ended up as an examination on class, race and age in London.
Inspired by his life growing up in a Kentish Town block of flats, Kieton started writing BLOCK’D OFF as part of Jake’s end of year project for his MA Creative Producing at Mountview’s Catalyst Festival.
2020 – The unimaginable happened when national lockdown occurred. Jake went back home to Manchester to be with his family and continue his Master’s online. Kieton continued writing BLOCK’D OFF with no idea how it was going to be presented.
After a lot of deliberation, it was decided that Mountview’s Catalyst Festival that year would take place virtually. Meaning what was once a month-long festival of 60 minute plays, was now a week-long festival consisting of pieces of art limited to 15 minutes. Jake and Kieton quickly had to come up with a new idea.
The Allegories – Jake and Kieton came up with the idea to create a 15 minute radio play based in the same ‘theatrical universe’ as BLOCK’D OFF. The Allegories became a story based on a character now in his youth.
Jake and Kieton had to develop the skills to write, produce and edit a radio play within a month. After many long nights working on The Allegories, it finally debuted at Catalyst in the Cloud.
2021 – Jake wrote a successful Arts Council England application (the first one he had ever written) for an R&D week that would develop the existing BLOCK’D OFF script into something that would be programmable for theatres.
During the R&D week, Jake’s theatre company El Gordo Theatre Co and Kieton’s theatre company Wooden Arrow Productions co-facilitated an online space where actors, directors, writers, movement choreographers, sound designer and lighting designers analysed the play and offered their expertise and advice to create it into the product we have today. This culminated in a reading where actor Yanexi Enriquez brilliantly portrayed the 5 characters in BLOCK’D OFF as they try to create a new direction in their lives.
2022 – BLOCK’D OFF has been selected by Pleasance’s Generate Fund for Black, Asian and Global Majority Artists to be supported with a run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. We will be having previews at Streatham Space Project in July and then transferring the show to Pleasance’s London venue in autumn.
This is El Gordo Theatre Co and Wooden Arrow Production’s first full-length collaboration. The opportunity that Pleasance has given the BLOCK’D OFF team to develop ourselves as underrepresented theatre-makers is vital to our career progression. As well as the Generate Fund, we need an additional £2,000 to ensure this opportunity can become a reality.
An important milestone in the careers of many theatre-makers
Kieton is having his world premiere as a professional playwright at the largest theatre festival in the world. Jake is experiencing his first time producing a play for Edinburgh Fringe. The industry connections provided by having the show perform at the Pleasance Courtyard will mean that these two emerging theatre-makers will be able to have their names seen on the world stage.
After so much set back ranging from the lockdowns to lack of financial security, Kieton and Jake finally have the chance to present an important story about working class people based on real life stories in London inspired by Kieton’s block of flats.
We hope that the Edinburgh run will attract venues from across the UK to develop connections for future touring and programming. First stop Edinburgh, next stop the world!
Block’d Off: The Allegories - Early Years
After having feedback from Dramaturgs on the first drafts of the Block’d Off Script, it was apparant that people wanted more of these characters; one in particular was The Mother, who we never get to see in the main script. In Early Years, we peek into a relationship between two people who have lived very different lives, and explore whether the class divide is something that can be overcome. All in a council flat bedroom, reluctantly watching Glee.
Written by
Kieton Saunders-Browne
Directed by Júlia Levai
Produced by Jake Curran-Pipe
Performed by Lousia Binder and Landry Adelard
Contains references to sex, drug use and racism. Strong language.
Block’d Off: The Allegories - Daddy’s Home
In November of 2020, the writer of Block’d Off was able to showcase a shorter version of the next Allegories story at Nothing to Perform’s new writing night. The video below is a 5 minute version of the full 15 minutes that has yet to be released. In Daddy’s Home, The Dealer (SHE) comes home to find her dad has been released from prison, and he has new plans on how to keep their family drug trafficking networks alive through lockdown and the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Written and Directed by
Kieton Saunders-Browne
Performed by Ruth Page and Bruce Panday
