Conversion (2024)
A new historical comedy-drama about the unbelievably ‘true’ story of St. Augustine of Canterbury and his seemingly doomed quest to convert the people of Britain to Christianity. With its array of vibrant characters and thought-provoking commentary on belief, corruption, and hope, Conversion will be landing on Britain’s shores and captivating locals as part of the Summer season at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre in Camden.
Augustine may be the Vatican’s greatest preacher but will it be enough for him to wrangle the wild pagans of Britain into salvation? Seemingly surrounded by the confused and deluded, Augustine embarks on a crusade to uncover the truth behind the corruption that prevents the the Britons from seeing the light and the completion of his quest. With the help of Esma, a simple villager and seemingly the only positive candidate for conversion, Augustine interrogates the highs and lows of British medieval society to find the truth and rid the land of false beliefs. But will he achieve his mission and return to Rome a hero or will Britain’s inclement environment and hostile natives prove too much for the Pope’s chosen son?
Duration: ~90 minutes
PERFORMANCES
15th, 16th, and 17th July, 2024 @ The Lion & Unicorn Theatre, Camden
REVIEWS
* * * *
"...fast and funny, boldly reimagining an unfamiliar period of English history."
"Benjamin Sumrie is magnificent both as the craven Computans and as the King. [...] He reminds you of Matthew Mcfadyen in Succession, his facial features betraying the effort he's making to formulate even the simplest thought."
"Tilly Woof is fabulous as the Queen..."
"...the real humour has depth, rooted in serious ideas about what is, in effect, political vision."
"The superlative David Allen steals the show in the role of Augustine, his demeanour shifting from gravitas to laugh-out-loud humour in the flick of an eyebrow."
"Francesca Maria Izzo [...] does a stellar job..."
"Wry and topical, Conversion is a delightfully light-hearted take on weighty subjects."
Ian Foster, There Ought To Be Clowns
"...through its collection of interestingly drawn characters, the play emerges as a dramatically heftier piece..."
"The large crucifix of George Bennett's set design is undeniably impactful..."
"...full of potential for further, more dramatic exploration."
Abi Assock, The Deskbound Dramatic
"The cast's performances are fun, with clear characterisation from everyone throughout."
"[David Allen and Francesca Maria Izzo] have great energy."
"[Carolyn McCallion and Ross Stephenson]...nail the contrasting energies of their respective serious and silly characters."
"[Tilly Woof and Benjamin Sumrie] balance each other perfectly..."
CREW
GEORGE BENNETT
Production Design
George is a North Devon born, London-based theatre maker whose practice encompasses design, writing, directing, devised making and performance. Having graduated from the BA Theatre Design course at Wimbledon College of Arts in 2022, he has since designed for a eclectic range of projects, from German touring theatre, to devised Brechtian ensemble work to naturalistic new writing. George also co-founded jarfrog in 2021, a performance company through which he collaboratively makes work for stage. He is really looking forward to getting stuck into the design process for Conversion and helping to bring this fantastic play to life!
NIALL ROWLEY
Lighting Design
Niall is a lighting technician and designer based in South East London. Having finished university with a Music Technology degree, he continued working within the creative and theatrical world. Over the past few years, Niall has worked on lighting designs in theatres across London, finally landing as in-house tech at Brixton House Theatre. He has a passion for working on creative projects and is looking forward to bringing light to the stage for the Precarious Theatre company this July.
JOSHUA WARD
Original Music
Joshua Ward is a London-based composer and producer whose collaborative work spans live performance, theatre, film and radio. His music, “at turns propulsive, tender and unnerving”, makes reference to an array of industrial textures, uncanny worlds and musical memories. His work has been exhibited across Bristol, Manchester and London with organisations such as The Brunswick Club, Creative Youth Network, Noods Radio, Royal Exchange Theatre, Rung Magazine, Studio Stendhal and Hero Magazine. This is Joshua’s second production with Precarious Theatre.
CAST
ROSS STEPHENSON
'LEAX' / 'THE BISHOP'
Ross Stephenson trained at Italia Conti Drama School where he received a BA Honours in Acting. He recently appeared in You Won’t Help Me at The Other Palace Theatre. Ross is also a writer having recently published his first play Artorigus: The Downfall of a King which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. He is very excited to now be working with Precarious Theatre and is really looking forward to playing the role of 'The Bishop'.
TILLY WOOF
'THE QUEEN'
Tilly is a trained theatrical performer, having just graduated last October. Some of her recent theatre work includes: Education, Education, Education (2023), Scenes From a World That Has No Night (2023), The Other Side (2023), Britannicus (2022), and Mind The Gap! (2022). She has also worked on multiple features over the years, alongside a BBC Radio Mini Series back in 2020. Tilly is also set to work on a new devised piece of theatre this summer. Having just completed a short stint of filming with FabUK Productions, she is excited to be back on stage.
CAROLYN MCCALLION
'THE POPE' / 'AMICE'
Carolyn is an actor and creative living in London. She trained at ALRA North on the Postgraduate course in Acting. Represented by Opaque Artists, she has been involved in various theatre and film productions and has performed at The Lowry in Manchester and Baron Court Theatre. She is also excited to have just been cast in a feature film scheduled to shoot this year. After recently being involved in the Women's Soliloquy Festival of New Writing with Londinium Theatre, she won the Certificate of Excellence for the Soliloquy Form. She is excited to be in her first production with Precarious Theatre and has loved being able to collaborate with the team.
BENJAMIN SUMRIE
'COMPUTANS' / 'THE KING'
Theatre is Benjamin’s great love; he’s excited to work on a clever comedy with Precarious Theatre with such a lovely group of talented people! Credits include The Addams Family: The Musical! (Paradise @ St. Augustine), 20 Minutes of Action (Pleasance Courtyard) both at The Edinburgh Fringe, Four Play (Mountview), You Won’t Help Me (The Other Palace), This Side of The House (The Space Triplex, Edinburgh Fringe), various short film work and working with The National Youth Theatre.