7 February 2016

New play RUN poses questions on gay, Jewish teenagers at London arts festival

RUN, by LJ’s own Aaron Abraham (who writes as Stephen Laughton) has been picked to be published as part of Plays from the Vault: an anthology of the top five plays at London’s Vault festival.

Brought to you by up-and-coming director Oli Rose, RUN opens this week as part of London’s biggest art festival.

The one-man play is filled with school riots, first loves, beached whales, cinema, space and sex, where Yonni (Tom Ross-Williams), an orthodox, Jewish teenager, explores feelings of angst and rebellion. As he sneaks out during the Sabbath, he pulls us into a colourful world that spans the entire universe; a world away from his overbearing mother and distant father, away from the stresses of school and ‘shul’ and ‘shabbat’. Into the arms of Adam; the cheeky, older boy who catches his eye and leads him astray. We see love, life and loss through his eyes.

Yonni is played by rising star Tom Ross-Wiliams, hailed by the Jewish News as one of the their Young, Gifted and Making their Mark alumni.

Aaron’s last play, NINE LIVES explored the consequences of partition on national identity; and was part of the PlayWROUGHT festival at the Arcola Theatre in 2015. His first play MARINA ABRAMOVIC IS STARING AT ME was produced in New York City. Aaron says: “It’s amazing to be included in Plays from the Vault. And I can’t wait to see it at the festival. RUN is a really beautiful and personal play for me, that explores my own feelings of passion, questioning and confusion during that too typical teenage angsty phase. The play also has a really anarchic feel to it, so the Vault feels like a natural home.”

Tickets for RUN are available from vaultfestival.com for £12. Plays from the Vault is available to buy on Thursday 28 January from nickhearnbooks.co.uk and at Vault Festival.

For more information visit run-theplay.net or visit the Facebook or Twitter page: www.facebook.com/runtheplay @run_theplay