MANY MOONS opens at Theatre503

Alice Birch’s debut full-length play, MANY MOONS, has opened at Theatre503, in a production directed by Derek Bond, designed by James Perkins, with a cast that includes Esther Hall.

The play follows a quartet of interweaving lives in Stoke Newington, their interactions leading to intimate tragedies.

This is a meticulously written play, elegantly performed (particularly by Esther Hall), that slowly turns you inside out.
Guardian (Maddy Costa)

Birch's first full length play does not disappoint... Many Moons is undeniably a brave piece, one that commands your attention from the moment its four deceptively simple characters begin talking to its wholly despairing ending.  Birch is a bright young talent to be watched and with the help of Theatre503 she's off to an excellent start.

There are some sterling performances here as well, not least Esther Hall.
Daisy Bowie-Sell (Telegraph)

Alice Birch’s assured debut, astutely directed by Derek Bond.
Time Out (Sam Marlowe)

Alice Birch here signs a fascinating, confrontational and all too human play...  an absolutely incredible script and an extremely talented cast.  Birch’s writing is unendingly compelling, with little reflections and echoes in every character’s words; a natural flow and bounce mixed with a huge amount of polish and thought.

Esther Hall provides an absolutely show stopping performance.

An incredibly tense, dense and tight play that is beautiful, and slightly terrifying.
British Theatre Guide (Peter Lathan)

Alice Birch’s startling debut is an assured piece of writing, a gripping exercise in the control and release of information in which she demonstrates a superb understanding of just what to give away, when to give it away, and what to hold back.  Birch’s writing is poetic and rich with imagery so when she slides in an unsettling detail, which she does often, it’s doubly shocking.  It’s a confident and exciting piece of writing, and as a debut, as a marker of things to come, it’s one to remember.

Esther Hall, as Juniper, has the most winning role and she is quite heart-breaking in it: hopeful, kind, a little ditzy, yet conveying kind of delicate desperation underneath.

Where Bond excels is in the building of tension; this is superbly handled. The play grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go until the end and the audience’s final awkward expelling of breath.

James Perkins set is stylised and elegant with two chairs and a sculptural metal sphere at its centre, the curve of the stage floor suitably askew.
Exeunt (Natasha Tripney)

MANY MOONS plays at Theatre503 until 11th June.

Image: Theatre503