NHB Modern Plays
4 total works
A play about occupation, revolution and what the future holds for today’s youth.
One step away from disaster, there’s only one thing left to do: start swimming.
First staged by the Young Vic Taking Part department, Start Swimming was also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017.
Ideal for schools, youth theatres and amateur companies to perform, James Fritz's Start Swimming demonstrates an innovative playwright at the top of his craft.
'We'll start with the flea, because that's as good a place as any...'
July 1889, London. A flea bites a rat. A rat spooks a horse. A horse kicks a man. As the chain reaction continues, a boy and his mother find themselves swept up in a national scandal that will reshape both their lives – and the country.
James Fritz's play The Flea is a retelling of the Cleveland Street Scandal that shook England – from the streets of Bermondsey to the halls of Buckingham Palace – and features a flea, a horse, a detective, a queen, a pimp, a god, and Charlie, the telegraph boy who knelt before the Crown.
This anarchic and affecting play was first performed at The Yard Theatre, London, in October 2023, directed by Artistic Director Jay Miller.
'There are few playwrights working in Britain today whose work is as slick and unsettling as James Fritz's' Exeunt
'Fritz's work pairs structural playfulness with emotional intelligence and inky wit... his plays are contained and compassionate, and frequently find reservoirs of humour in places you wouldn't expect' The Stage
