When your best friend’s dying there’s not a lot of time to look for the perfect man. Or is that just an excuse?

Mark Lindow, a bright young writer from Hackney and two-times winner of the London Writers Competition, makes his full-length debut with Perfection which opens at the Old Red Lion in Islington on 4th July.

Perfection is a dark romantic comedy about living for today. Meg has cystic fibrosis and, ever since they became friends at school, her best friend Amanda has known that their friendship can’t last forever. As they hit thirty, Meg finally dies, leaving an overwhelming gap in Amanda’s life. But before she died, Meg invited all of Amanda’s ex-boyfriends to her funeral. Amanda is forced to look at her romantic choices over the years and contemplate whether her relentless search for perfection in her partners has destroyed her happiness.

Mark is a founder member of joinedupwriters, a London based writing group for theatre and broadcast media. Their aim is to develop professional, innovative scripts for theatre, TV, radio and film and to promote members’ work both to industry and to the public. This is the first of several co-productions between joinedupwriters and the Old Red Lion where work is selected from the twice yearly joinedupwriters hugely successful sell out Festivals held at the venue. Perfection is the first play for four years that the Old Red Lion have produced.

Mark says “Perfection is about how life is unpredictable. So many people put their desires and ambitions off until tomorrow – forgetting to actually live today. Perfection is a little reminder to live for the moment and enjoy life now.”

For Editors:

The play runs from 4th – 22nd July every Tuesday-Saturday at 8pm and Sundays 9th and 16th July at 6pm. Tickets are £12, concessions are £10.

Tickets are available on 020 7837 7816

Mark Lindow is available for interview or authored pieces. For more information, please contact Helen Devine at the Old Red Lion, 020 7833 3053. . Email: joinedupwriters@hotmail.com for more info.

(from left): In rehearsal; Helen Oakleigh (also director), Matt Prendergast, Sarah Fortune and Dave Blood

Matt Prendergast as Frank and Dave Blood as Eric” />
(from left) Matt Prendergast as Frank and Dave Blood as Eric

(from left): Dave Blood as Eric and Sarah Fortune as Electra

(from left): Matt Prendergast as Simon and Helen Oakleigh as Nadia

The Man by Marie Tournay Hale
Desire for a stranger haunts the owner of a holiday camp. Will a brief encounter change his life forever?

Marie is a founder member of joinedupwriters. She writes plays and monologues and has been a stand-up comedian for five years. Her work has been performed at the Old Red Lion and the Offside Bar.

Calling by Deborah Espect
Scott, elusive, mysterious and dark, is everything David isn’t. David thinks Scott wants Rebecca, the girl he loves. But the truth is, Scott wants a lot more than that – a lot more, from both of them.

Deborah is a published author, and her novel My Self, The Enemy has received great acclaim. She has also had shorter works published in the American publication Suspect Thoughts. Her first piece for joinedupwriters, To Gina, is currently being made into a short film.

The Ladies’ Room by Nikki Albon
When Eva gets stuck in the lavatory she is forced to listen to the sexual desires and petty rivalries of the office she cleans.

Nikki is a founder member of joinedupwriters. Her work has been staged at the Old Red Lion, The Arcola, BAC and at RADA.

Another showcase event will follow in September (details to be announced) and the Spring Festival will culminate in July with the full production of Perfection by Mark Lindow. This piece was selected by Helen Devine, artistic director of the theatre, following its partial staging last July, and will be a joint production between joinedupwriters and the Old Red Lion Theatre.

Tickets cost £5 and are available in advance on 020-7837 7816. Email: joinedupwriters@hotmail.com for more info.

Over one critical day in a disintegrating marriage, Re and Dal dissect their life together with increasingly brutal honesty. An intimate rollercoaster of cruelty, boredom, panic and mercy.

Photos by Chris Caswell

(from left): in rehearsals, director Toria Banks, Lucia McAnespie and Carl Prekopp

(from left): Carl Prekopp as Dal and Lucia McAnespie as Re

(from left): Lucia McAnespie as Re and Carl Prekopp as Dal

Most girls never have to worry about losing their status as daughters. But for fostered children like Imogen and Jemma, the challenge is to become a daughter in the first place, and then to remain one. When the girls find out that a real daughter is coming to stay, this may be their biggest challenge yet. Writer, Alex Viac is a founder member of joinedupwriters. He writes plays and screenplays, his work has been shown at The Hen and Chickens, The Arcola, The Old Red Lion, and he has also staged productions of his work in Lyon, France. This was a complete sell out- days before we opened with no publicity! So many thanks to everyone who continually supports us!

(from left): director Helen Oakleigh, Jules Kingham, Amy Wood and Marian Elizabeth

(from left): Marian Elizabeth as Imogen, Amy Wood as Gemma and Jules Kingham as Bonnie.

• Camden New Journal


• Whats on Stage user review

Following the success of its Spring Festival, which resulted in a BBC commission and a three week critically acclaimed run of their first full production, joinedupwriters, a company committed to the development of new and innovative writing, returns with its latest festival. It will open on Sunday 8th October and run to Monday 4th December and will see nine new pieces of work staged over twelve performances at the Old Red Lion Theatre.

Jonathan Lennie’s 15-minute radio play Webern and Me was performed at the Spring Festival and will be broadcast as part of a series, Classical Assassins, which Jonathan developed through joinedupwriters. The series can be heard on Radio 4 from 6th to 10th November.

Deborah Espect’s To Gina and Mark Brown’s The Empty Chair have been commissioned as short films and are both currently in post-production.

The Spring Festival culminated in joinedupwriters’ first full production, in association with The Old Red Lion Theatre. Mark Lindow’s Perfection was selected from a previous Festival by Helen Devine, Artistic Director of The Old Red Lion Theatre and developed through joinedupwriters.

“Lindow’s dialogue is peppered with wry and acute observations and he is highly skilled at weaving multiple timelines without once losing his audience’s bearings.” –Time Out

The October performances will feature:

The Box by Mark Brown
Keep off the grass. Behave yourself. Don’t look at that. Read this. Learn that. Do as you’re told. Listen to the rules and don’t ask questions. But what happens if I do ask?

Quien Es? by Alan McNaboe
Otto’s ambiguous and frightening message to Victor is the beginning of a purgatorial journey, in which Victor seems to lose his identity, but the figure emerging from the shadows is always the same.

Calling by Deborah Espect
Scott is elusive, mysterious, poetic and seemingly normal- everything David isn’t. David thinks Scott is after Rebecca, the girl he loves more than anything. But Scott wants a lot more, from both of them.

For more information please contact Mark Lindow on 07752 797832 or email events@joinedupwriters.com

The joinedupwriters Fringe Festival takes place at the Old Red Lion Theatre, St John Street, Islington, London

Performance dates and times:
October: Sun 8th, Mon 9th, Sun 15th and Mon 16th. Sun shows 2pm, Mon shows 7.30pm.
November and December dates to be announced
Tickets £7, £5 (concessions). Book in advance on 020 7837 7816

“Smart writing with a deft comic touch that [David] Whitney has the charisma to sustain” – The Stage

“Deborah Espect demonstrates a good ear for laughs and delivers a dark comedy with a killer twist. A well-worked end-piece to a promising curtains-up for the festival” – The Stage

Jonathan Lennie’s 15-minute radio play “Webern and Me” was performed at the Spring Festival and will be broadcast as part of a series, “Classical Assassins”, which Jonathan developed through joinedupwriters. The series can be heard on Radio 4 from 23rd – 27th October

“An original idea that’s been treated with intelligence” – Radio Times Choice of the Day

The November performances will feature:

Bach, Handel and Me by Jonathan Lennie
In the 18th century, John Taylor toured Europe performing his miraculous cataract surgery. However, there were two operations that didn’t go quite to plan.

Waste Disposal by Alex Viac
Boy meets girl. Girl drinks cans. Boy collects cans. Can their relationship ever be any more than this?

A Good Investment by Mark Lindow
Manners cost nothing but they are a good investment, but is that true in today’s paranoid times?

For more information please contact Mark Lindow on 07752 797832 or email joinedupwriters@yahoo.co.uk

The joinedupwriters Fringe Festival takes place at the Old Red Lion Theatre, St John Street, Islington, London

Performance dates and times:
November: Sun 5th, Mon 6th, Sun 12th and Mon 13th. Sun shows 3pm, Mon shows 7.30pm.

The festival will close with a Dark Subversive Christmas Extravaganza on Sun 3rd and Mon 4th of December.

Tickets £7, £5 (concessions). Book in advance on 020 7837 7816

• The Box/Quien Es?/Calling – reviews from The Stage
• Joined up new works to stretch imagination – review from Camden New Journal