Three thought-provoking shows visit the Ustinov Studio this June

The Visiting Company Season returns to the Ustinov Studio this June starting with In The Weeds, a haunting gothic thriller that will keep audiences guessing until the very end. Presented by An Tobar and Mull Theatre and written by Joseph Wilde, In The Weeds appears at the Ustinov Studio on Thursday 9th June. Directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, this Scottish two-hander features an inventive set, with a pool of water that one actor never leaves. 

Japanese marine biologist Kazumi is on a quest to find the sea creature that killed his family. Arriving on a remote Hebridean island he meets Coblaith, a local woman, whose family have lived there for generations. But there's something strange about Cob's obsessive affection for the Lochs and something even stranger about the way the other islanders treat her. Could it be that Coblaith is the mythical creature he has been searching for? Or are humans the real monsters after all? 

Exploring island identity, our troubled relationship with the natural environment and the difficult question of who gets to claim ownership of the land we all live on, this new commission from award-winning playwright Joseph Wilde asks how remote communities can survive the dangers created by the tourism they rely on.

In The Weeds follows Joseph Wilde’s debut play, Cuddles, which he is now adapting into a film for Nicole Kidman’s production company, Blossom Films. 

Writer and performer Katie Arnstein brings her award-winning light comedy, with shade, Sexy Lamp to Bath on Friday 10th June when she makes her Ustinov Studio debut. Audiences can look forward to an empowering evening of story and song, as Katie relives the times she has been treated more like an inanimate object than the person she actually is, in her thoroughly enlightening and critically acclaimed one-woman show. 

Katie Arnstein’s “supremely assured” (The Guardian) Sexy Lamp brilliantly combines comedy, original songs and storytelling to shed a bright light on how ridiculous the industry can be and why she is refusing to stay in the dark. During its run at Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, Sexy Lamp won Show of the Week and Pleasance Pick of VAULT Festival.

Saturday 11th June sees the return of James Rowland to the Ustinov Studio with his big-hearted new show Learning To Fly, presented by Attic Theatre Company.

James tells the hilarious story of his remarkable friendship as a lonely and unhappy teenager, with the scary old lady who lived in the spooky house on his street; and her last wish to get high once before she dies. Recommended for ages 14 and over, Learning To Fly features a captivating mix of theatre, comedy and music in an uplifting performance about connection, no matter the obstacles; about love’s eternal struggle with time and music’s ability to heal.

Learning to Fly, James Rowland’s first show since the acclaimed Songs of Friendship Trilogy in 2020, visits Bath prior to appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.

Tckets for all performances at the Ustinov Studio are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on +44 (0)1225448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov.