image: @jj.waller
Knife on The Table
Blood In, Blood Out
by Jonathan Brown
our new Bruntwood-longlisted play about knife gangs, love and family.
Top 20% of plays submitted, Verity Bargate Award 2022
“…championed by a number of readers on the reading team, and reached the later stages of the competition, incredibly impressed” Gillian Greer, Literary Manager
TICKETS HERE
Knife on The Table
…combines the high intensity interspersed multilayered verbal dialogue of SU’s The Last Lunch, (Best New Play, New Writing South 2012), the pacey energy reminiscent of Trainspotting mingled with the vibrancy of hip hop beats, touching on the issues surrounding diverse communities, battling with expectations, ambition, poverty, identity, issues of masculinity, and self betterment.
Performances 5th-26th October @ The Cockpit, Marylebone
TICKETS HERE
Longlisted: The Bruntwood Prize 2019
…effective, exciting, and emotional…
“A moving story.…. a fascinating study …. a stirring tragedy.
Jez Davess-Humphrey shone as Flint… faultlessly conveyed an intensely complex character, moving and amusing in equal measure. …The leads had excellent chemistry.
Magdalene Mills … a force to be reckoned with… Nicholas Clarke delivered an excellent performance as Danny. Rowan Armitt-Brewster delivered the most memorable performance of the night for me; his embodiment of the unstable young man’s deterioration was thrilling.
Drummer Fred Hills drove the show; his steady rhythms set the pace and tone of the performance….. original and my favourite of the director’s decisions.
The simple set up is extremely effective.., exciting, and emotional.” A Youngish Perspective
⭐⭐⭐⭐
..a story that certainly deserves to be told.
….heartbreaking, ground shaking … these stories are vital…
…a story that certainly deserves to be told.
…meticulously told to the beat of Fred Hills’ drums…. cleverly shapes the stage, every action unfolds to the mesmerising soundtrack…
..Brown made the right decision…. immaculate attention to detail... cleverly manifested…
…one of the most soul-shattering endings I have ever experienced, and one I’m still thinking about four days later…” Green Room Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐
…. extremely powerful and emotional….
“thought provoking and emotional, this is not a show you want to miss…….a show that is very important today...
We get a feel for the characters instantly, all very realistic representations.
The cast are all brilliant, portraying characters I enjoyed watching…..
Not only do we have a great script, we also have music from drummer Fred Hills throughout. Suspended above the stage, Hills plays music that suits the current mood … a great addition to the show, adding an extra layer that I didn’t know we needed….
…. extremely powerful and emotional….
Knife on the Table really delivered for me, with realistic portrayals and an overall interesting story. I can easily say that Jonathan Brown has certainly achieved creating a show which explores the environmental drivers behind ‘the knife’, rehumanising the young people involved…. with a lot of research clearly going into the writing.” Theatre & Tonic
Sharp, gripping drama….
a uniformly excellent cast ..
“Sharp, gripping drama... a snapshot of the real, flawed, complex human beings behind the headlines. Longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize, Brown’s gripping script crackles with streetwise dialogue punctuated by moments of heart-stopping tenderness.
On Lillian Caccia’s sparse set of grey boxes, neon strips and a scaffold tower upon which sits a shiny metal drum kit, Jez Davess-Humphrey is electrifying as cocky 16-year-old Flint, a lowly “soldier” in his local London gang, dealing in the shadow of Grenfell as Fred Hills’ live percussion underscores the action throughout.
a uniformly excellent cast .… to Brown’s credit …his ‘villains’ are much more than two-dimensional clichés….
Brown certainly ramps up the tension, and the running time flies by.…. brings the complex causes and catastrophic effects of tragedy into sharp focus.” The Stage
Ends 26th Oct 2024
2024 Actors:
Emma Bakare plays Carol Helen Ajayi plays Shania Rowan Armitt-Brewster plays Bragg
Moyosola plays Book Jez Davess-Humphrey plays Flint Magdalene Mills plays Chantal
Nicholas Clarke plays Danny Jonathan Brown plays Angel
Live Music : Fred Hills
Tech Operation : Bernie Ward
Designer: Lillian Caccia
Lighting Design : Jack Hathaway
Stage Manager : Victoria Shannon
Intimacy Coordinator : Hannah Goalstone
Director : Marlie Haco
Assistant Director : Jonathan Brown
Project Manager : Jennifer Long
Dramaturgical and Script Editorial input : Marlie Haco
Language / Script Input : Jez Davess-Humphrey & other members of the cast.
Production shots: @tobymatherphotography.
About the play….
Meet Flint, an excluded teen, starting to deal on the streets, elevate his status with weapon upgrades, and get back into the good books of old childhood sweetheart, Book.
Meet Book, a studious teen, babysitter for Flint’s younger sister, keen to exit the deprivation of her road, study her way to become a surgeon, move to the suburbs, and keep clear of the skanky Flint, who’s def gonna bring her chances… down.
Meet Bragg, street dealer, a boy beyond redemption, egging on young crew member Flint to ever deeper commitment to the fam, to higher value sales, and to proving his colours by not just carrying a shank, but using it… properly.
Meet Shania, pregnant teen, friend to Book, and member of Bragg’s crew. How Shania was initiated into the gang, holds the food, and meets the dealers is nothing to some of what she’s witnessed. Now, she doesn’t sleep.
Meet Chantal, put-upon single mother to Flint and Akasha. She worries about Flint, never sees him, but isn’t about to easily let Flint’s dad back into his life.
Meet Danny, Childline listener, outreach worker, gardener in the suburbs, former dealer, gang member, convict and estranged father to Flint. Danny’s on a journey back to his son. Will he find Flint before Flint loses himself?
Meet Carol, outreach & youth worker and girlfriend to Danny. Carol hears the worst of people’s stories and maybe about to experience the worst excesses of Shania’s baby’s father.
Meet Angel, gangland chief, and Andrew-Tate-esque psycho anti-mentor. He’ll initiate all his boys and girls into the tribe and hold them close with disturbing gratification. Angel’s about to invite Flint round for darjeeling tea, to elevate his sales techniques, and help him with a monsta weapons upgrade.
Knife on The Table is about friendship, loyalty, gang culture, family & knife crime..
Although the project revolves around text, we again wish to include visceral dance, music & physicality.
“…powerful, gripping, touching… “ Giulia Menichelli, writer/performer
“…a powerful performance, with wonderful acting.” Maya Cockburn, artist
“…an outstanding piece of work about gang culture, knife crime, racial divides and moments of childhood shame that you never truly shake off” Brad Glen, actor
The Project has two strands:
(i) Performance: @ The Cockpit in Oct 2024 (TICKETS HERE)
(ii) Community Engagement:
Free Workshops for Young People 31 Aug – 29 Sept @ DanceWest Studios, Fulham
(Workshop Info & Sign up Click Here)
We are:…
- Engaging young people from the area, integrating & partnering local youth groups daily dealing with the issues
- Running a series of free day-long workshops for young people on issues of knife crime, gangs, youth culture.
- Workshopping those participants also in krump- and/or hip hop related dance.
- Including support from youth mentoring projects, YOT’s, county lines professionals & youth groups.
- Culminating by including joint public performances by the participants and the professional performers.
- Creating a legacy of ongoing connection between local dance teachers & young people.
We’re working with Street dance teacher / choreographer Sunanda Biswas , and working with live musician Fred Hills
Our Partners include….
The Antoin Akpom Achievement Foundation,
Academy Achievers,
Out of the Shadows,
Music Relief Foundation,
Regenerate)
…. Consultation advice, workshop-population help, and potential workshop space provision
Brighton Youth Offending Team: Consultants / County Lines issues
Laura Graham Clarke (early additional script consultancy)
Ben Cawley, Nicole Acquah, William Neam, Laura Graham Clarke, Vanessa Cruikshank, Brad Glen,
Claire Johnson
Selected: for the “Pitch Up” Event @ The Place, London, 2019, hosted by Farnham Maltings & House Theatre Org.
Rehearsed Reading: Lewes, Sept 2019.
Rehearsed Reading, Fitzroy House, Lewes.
For those venues feeling very ambitious…
Young, Gifted and Backstage
“Young, Gifted and Backstage” is a second, parallel play, played simultaneously, with the same cast, in an adjacent auditorium, & that features the backstage machinations of the cast from “Knife on The Table“, touching upon the survival of creative arts in the pandemic, BLM issues, cancel culture, the 2020 US elections, creative competition, love & trauma, & an insight into the intense rapport an ensemble develops over time.
Written by Jonathan Brown during the pandemic, “Young, Gifted and Backstage” simultaneously reveals the backstage life of the cast of Knife on The Table , with forays into race identity during the BLM upsurge, middle-class creatives fuelling the drug crisis, tragic misuse of stage prop weapons, cancel culture, battles with our creativity, theatre during covid, alongside love and trauma.
Young, Gifted and Backstage features the same cast as in Knife on The Table but now we see them as the actors, backstage, between scenes of Knife on The Table, and so with different characters. They come back stage excited or annoyed after each scene from Knife on The Table. They squabble, they celebrate, they bitch, they laugh, they worry, they talk about what’s happening on stage, or about the actors who are out there.
Then they disappear again to their next scene in Knife on The Table, to be replaced by the actors who have just been on and a new round begins.
“Young, Gifted and Backstage” received a successful online Zoom rehearsed reading in January 2021 during the pandemic, is in its 6th draft, and was (alongside Knife on The Table) amongst the
Top 20% of plays read for the Verity Bargate Award
“…really excellent, gripped by the whole thing. Well done all of you.” Penny Melville Brown, OBE.
“…I really enjoyed watching your play. The cast are incredible, I didn’t disconnect a minute, very engaging. Thank you.” Nuria Calucho Junca, writer, actor.
“…Thanks for the invite Jonathan. Loved it, More power to you all!” Bill Horrocks.
Meet Vinny, a gay young man (plays Flint in “Knife on The Table“), torn between impressing his impresario father and being taken seriously as “black enough” by his colleagues, especially those that have been getting themselves along to BLM rallies and events. Vinny joins others of his young cast in being terrified of risking being “cancelled”.
Meet Agatha, a young, gifted and black woman (plays Book in “Knife on The Table“), keen to be taken seriously as an actor and writer herself. She is completely self assured, knows her lines perfectly, but… might have a crush on an older member of the ensemble.
Meet Will a keen young actor, (plays Bragg) who likes a surreptitious smoke of da weed. He’s been getting over enthusiastic in the scenes where he plays violent, and the women have been noticing it. Will he hear their feedback? Can he kick old habits?
Meet Nat, (plays Shania) not fully out the closet yet, as far as one of the others in the cast is concerned, but she’s been putting more into the recent BLM movement than into finding work, having half given up on her career. Alongside Will, Book and Vinny, she’s terrified of not being fully PC on stage, facing cancel culture, and together they’ve tried to sanitise the script. Is Nat reliable? Will she bail?
Meet Ira, (plays Chantal) a bitter woman, she’s been in too many soaps to feel she needs to listen to any half-arsed and inexperienced stage directors. She dishes out the directorial and barbed comments left, right and centre, and enjoys what’s in her “water” bottle just that bit too much.
Meet Brad, (plays Danny) another TV soap regular who’s forgotten how to do stage work and is very nervous. He’s happy with the script, but not with how fast and furious the action comes, and with no second takes.
Meet Carol, (plays Carol), She’s fielding barbed comments from Ira, seeming sexual rivalry from a younger colleague, and deep insecurity that she only got the part cos she’s banging the boss.
Meet Tom, (plays Angel) who’s wearing waaaay too many hats, including writer, director, actor, producer and lover. Everyone expects him to be perfect, except perhaps Ira, and mostly he stays calm, keeps all the plates up in the air, and even manages to remember his lines on cue. But when he’s pushed to the brink…. he snaps.