Theatre Peckham, South London’s award-winning flagship cultural venue for artistic change and pioneering learning theatre today announces its Autumn/Winter Season and unveils the title of this year’s Christmas Show.

The programme from September 2022 to March 2023 includes the Premiere of two new powerful dramas which bookend the season. In between, sees the 5th edition of Young, Gifted & Black, an annual five week multi-artform festival celebrating Black excellence; a touring show; and writer and actor Geoffrey Aymer reunites with Theatre Peckham’s Artistic Director Suzann McLean to stage the venue’s traditional Christmas show inspired by a classic story with a unique Peckham twist. This family show with music and dance has become a firm festive favourite and the highlight of the season.

In more detail, this September sees Theatre Peckham presenting the premiere of None of The Clocks Work, an urgent play addressing generational trauma from Remove The Blindfold Collective, an organisation which aims to raise awareness on PTSD and to end stigmas around trauma and mental health. This powerful piece, performed by the young company from Bridge The Gap Studios, is part of a community-led intervention aimed at creating large-scale change. Post show panel discussions will also take place in collaboration with the Race Equality Foundation.

October welcomes the 5th edition of Young Gifted & Black a five-week programme unapologetically celebrating Black people from across the globe through a variety of artforms. Curated by Theatre Peckham’s Associate Director Phillippe Cato, it has become the backbone to the autumn season. A total of nine productions will be platformed across five weeks. An announcement with full details of the programme and artists will be revealed in September.

A co-production with Theatre Centre brings For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy playwright Ryan Calais Cameron’s visceral play Human Nurture to this part of South London in November. A continuation of a successful national tour, this beautifully written piece explores race, privilege, allyship and male vulnerability.

This December, Theatre Peckham stages its Christmas show and following on from last year’s hit production, The Wonderful, writer and actor Geoffrey Aymer reunites with Artistic Director Suzann McLean to stage a brand new adaptation of Dickens’ most famous Christmas tale. Scroogelicious will be, in true Theatre Peckham fashion, rooted right in the heart of the local community and the production will foreground its young people from the venue’s Academy, casting them alongside industry professionals.

Looking further ahead into the New Year, February 2023 marks Theatre Peckham’s first major in-house production of the year and sees CEO/AD Suzann McLean back in the directing chair. Sunny Side Up is written by playwright and actor David Alade and was first seen as a Work In Progress at the Peckham Fringe in June 2022. The fully developed version will be Alade’s debut production on the main stage, a four-week run from 13 February to 11 March.

Artistic Director Suzann McLean summing up the season said: “I am so proud that Theatre Peckham is continuing to successfully carve out its own unique identity and to provide a platform for young talent and new work. This season’s programme feels so special and stays true to our community spirit. I hope that the many artists, creatives, our young people and audiences feel that what we are creating together is a truly representative space and that this season’s programme resonates, empowers and feels uplifting.”

Theatre Peckham is an award-winning cultural venue for artistic excellence and social change founded in 1986. Through the power of theatre, they illuminate young voices, provide skills and opportunities, and platform excellent creatives by producing new writing and performance focusing on young, culturally diverse talent.