Drama St Mary’s Students to Make Directing Debuts

As part of their final year assignments, two students on the postgraduate Theatre Directing programme at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, are to direct plays at the Chelsea Theatre later this month. Rodney Pearson is to direct Richard Cameron’s Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down while Margaret Cohen will be directing Stanislaw Witkiewicz’s The Madman and The Nun. Set in South Yorkshire from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down tells the story of three young women as they struggle with the guilt of a tragic event that took place eight years before. It has won the 1990 Independent Theatre Award and the Sunday Times Playwriting Award. The Madman and The Nun tells the story of a decadent poet and drug addict who is held against his will at a mental health institution. Written in 1923, it is considered to be based on the life of author Witkiewicz. Located in South West London, the Chelsea Theatre is defined as ‘a contemporary performance space and community hub which combines artistic excellence and community participation’. Patsy Gilbert, Programme Director for the Drama and Applied Theatre programme at St Mary’s, commented, “Our MA Directing programme has a strong tradition of performing in Central London and we're delighted to be performing at the Chelsea Theatre this year. This event promises to be a highlight in the Drama St Mary's calendar.” The Madman and The Nun will run at the Chelsea Theatre from Friday 13th to Monday 16th June while Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down will follow from Wednesday 18th to Saturday 21st June. For further information and to buy tickets, please visit the Drama St Mary’s website.