World premiere of Laura Waldren's darkly comic coming-of-age play about a teenage girl inside a doomsday cult, directed by Elle While and staged by Pentabus.
Birdcatcher has its world premiere at Nottingham Playhouse from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 February 2027, with an 8pm start each night. It's a darkly comic drama by Hull playwright Laura Waldren, and the whole thing runs for 70 minutes.
The story follows a teenage girl navigating life inside a doomsday cult in East Yorkshire — a coming-of-age tale about finding your own voice within an apocalyptic, high-control group. Waldren describes it as a look at the repressive underworld of British religious 'high control groups'. It's not a light watch: the play explores life inside a strict religious community, including coercive control and institutional abuse, and it contains strong language and descriptions of sexual harassment and accidental death. It's recommended for ages 12 and up.
Behind the scenes, the production is staged by Pentabus, the Nation's Rural Theatre, with BAFTA-winning Artistic Director Elle While directing. Lucy Mangan takes the lead as Eliza. The set and costume design are by Amy Jane Cook, lighting by Jessie Addinall, sound by Helen Skiera, and movement direction by Asha Jennings-Grant. This is Waldren's second play with Pentabus, following her 2023 Papatango New Writing Prize-winning Some Demon, which premiered at the Arcola in June 2024 before a sell-out run at Bristol Old Vic. Birdcatcher also won the Papatango Prize and comes out of a wider partnership between Pentabus and Papatango to stage world premieres and help reverse the 64% drop in touring plays since 2019.
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Tickets are £18 for general admission and £15.30 for members, with a non-refundable £2.50 booking fee per order. It runs for three nights, 25–27 February, starting at 8pm each evening.
