The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced the return of the Company’s Mischief Festival featuring two provocative new plays exploring Britain today.

The productions run in The Other Place from Friday 30 September – Saturday 5 November 2022.

Shortlisted for the George Devine Award 2020, Nina Segal’s O, Island! is a funny and furious modern myth about disaster and community - exploring how borders can be changed by people, by nature and by accident.

The production will premiere from Friday 30 September – Saturday 5 November 2022 in The Other Place.

Nina Segal is a playwright and television writer.  Her work has been produced by the Young Vic, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Almeida Theatre, Bush Theatre, Yard Theatre, Gate Theatre and internationally.

The production will be directed by Guy Jones who is currently Literary Associate of the Orange Tree Theatre. Guy was Assistant Director on the RSC’s 2016 productions of Cymbeline, and Always Orange by Fraser Grace, the latter performed as part of the first Mischief festival of new plays premiering in the reopened The Other Place.

Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer by Bea Roberts, is a darkly comic drama directed by Caitlin McLeod which challenges who belongs and who thrives.

Entrenched in her picturesque Devonshire village, Ivy Tiller is preparing to wage a war. Her target: the invasive grey squirrel. Her goal: to oust the invaders and restore the native red squirrels as the ‘rightful’ inhabitants. Galvanised by her important mission, Ivy’s determination swells to uncomfortable heights.

The production will premiere from Thursday 6 October – Saturday 5 November 2022 in The Other Place.

Bea Roberts is a multi-award winning playwright and screenwriter from the West Country. Her debut play, And Then Come The Nightjars, won the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, made her finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and is being adapted into a feature film with Finite Pictures. Further biog details below.

The production is directed by Caitlin McLeod, a freelance theatre director/practitioner who has worked extensively with new and established writers on contemporary plays including Caryl Churchill, David Eldridge, Laurie Nunn and EV Crowe. Further biog details below.

TikTok £10 Tickets are available for both productions and are open to all 14–25-year-olds, with a focus on increasing access to theatre regionally across the country and state school sector.

Developed in consultation with the RSC’s Youth Advisory Board, the creative collaboration delivers unique creative and educational experiences for young people and students, with a specific focus on those communities most in need.

For more information, visit: rsc.org.uk.