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Brief awakenings: White Rose The Musical @MaryleboneTHLDN

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A fascinating and daring act of defiance in Nazi Germany by a group of university students in Munich is given a slightly perplexing rock musical treatment in White Rose, the musical. Something seems amiss in this earnest and occasionally tuneful show. It lags more than it inspires, which is surprising given the tragic and compelling history of the real-life characters the show depicts. Given that young people are increasingly likely to vote for far-right parties across Europe, it’s an opportunity to look at a time when they had a different perspective on the future. Perhaps something has been lost in the translation or the larger space of the Marylebone Theatre where it plays.  The White Rose were a group of university students in Munich who sought to undermine the Third Reich through publication of a series of pamphlets urging passive resistance to the Nazi regime. Over a brief period between June 1942 and February 1943, they distributed their pamphlets across campus using ...

Reminder to get writing: The Adrian Pagan Award 2016


The Adrian Pagan award is back for a third year. If you think you’ve got what it takes to address the state of the nation rather than reading random blogs on the interwebs, then this might be for you.

The King’s Head are looking for directors, producers and creative teams to pitch plays that capture the current mood in an exciting, thought-provoking and entertaining way. Other than that, anything goes - new writing, revivals and musicals... They will take anything that pokes them the right way.

The winning company will receive a full King’s Head production budget to produce their show at the venue.

Applications are open until 31 July. To enter, you need to download an application from the King’s Head website and it by the deadline.


Shortlisted entrants will be invited to pitch to a panel of industry professionals in September.

Adrian Pagan was a stage manager for ten years before his first play, The Backroom, won the Verity Bargate award and was produced by the Bush Theatre. The award was set up following his tragic death at the age of 39. The first winner of the 2014 award was Thomas Pickles’ Dead Party Animals.

The second winner, in 2015, was Kate Lock’s Russian Dolls which recently concluded a run at the King’s Head (5th - 23rd April 2016).

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