Zero Down

Written by BBC award winning writer, Sarah Hehir, ‘Zero Down’ tells the story of three female care home workers employed on zero hour contracts at a run-down care home. The play was performed last year at The Stables as part of the Hastings Fringe Festival – and is due to move to the Edinburgh Festival later this year, if they can raise the funds with their Kickstarter campaign. Please help spread the word, writes Zelly Restorick.

This all female production presented by Angel On The Corner Theatre Company, takes audiences into the pressure cooker lives of three complex co-workers as they begin their late shift in the basement of Silver Apples Care Home. And so begins a night of dishonesty, aggression and betrayal as underlying tensions between the overworked nurses and their patients erupt.

Zero Down premiered for 5 nights last August at Theatre503, followed by a one-off performance at The Stables Theatre as part of Hastings first ever Fringe Festival. It received 4 star reviews, as well as officially being named the ‘best selling show of the summer season’.

“Very relevant, very thought provoking: Zero Down is brilliantly contentious.”
– Younger Theatre

This year, Zero Down is transferring Scot-side to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to be performed from 3 – 29 August at the prestigious Pleasance Courtyard. Going to Edinburgh is a dream come true for any emerging theatre company, but can be extremely expensive. However, the Angel on the Corner ladies are determined not to let finances stand in there way, so have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help cover some of the costs. (For those of you who might not know, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding tool.)

This is the part where you come in…. Angel on the Corner needs generous souls and theatre enthusiasts to show their support! Make a pledge and/or spread the word! The deadline to raise the money is within the next 3 weeks.

On the ‘Zero Down’ Kickstarter page, you can watch a short video about Angel On The Corner Theatre Company and the project – and how it came into being. Viewers are invited to make pledges/donations – and in return receive gifts from the company depending on how much the person has pledged. Some of the gifts include signed posters, playtexts, tickets to the London preview, a dress rehearsal invitation and a workshop with writer, Sarah Hehir.

The only negative side of this form of fund raising is that if you don’t raise all the money you’ve set as a target, you don’t get anything, which would be devastating for the company and make it very difficult for them to go to Edinburgh.

This could be done by telling a theatre fan friend or family member about the project, sharing the link on social media accounts, and of course, making a pledge (which start at £1.00).

Please follow the Kickstarter link and help these creative and determined ladies reach their goal of performing in Edinburgh!

Zero-hour contracts

Actress, producer and Angel on the Corner Theatre Company founder, Katherine Hurley says “Zero Down was borne out of months of research into the social and psychological impact of precariousness at work, mostly typified in the introduction of zero-hour contracts across most sectors of employment. With a starting point of personal experiences and research, we worked with charity, Housing Justice, to collate testimonies of people who have worked in precarious conditions in various places of work including care homes – the setting for this play.”

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), for the first time in the UK, the number of workers on zero-hours contracts has increased by more than 100,000 over the past 12 months to exceed 800,000.

Facebook Page here and Tweet and Instagram @angelcornertc

 

Founded in 2013 by actresses, Katherine Hurley, Elizabeth Nicholson and Abla George, Angel on the Corner Theatre Company is an exciting and innovative female led theatre company.

 

 

 

Also in: Performance

« Hastleons at 90
The Rudes are back with Macbyrd »