World premiere production of Martha Loader’s Bindweed announced

The world premiere production of Martha Loader’s play Bindweed has been announced.

The play delves into the lives of four men convicted of domestic abuse offences who gather each week for a perpetrator program. However, as Jen, the new group facilitator, begins to make headway within the group, the outside world starts to unravel.

The premiere production is presented by the Mercury Theatre, HighTide, and New Wolsey Theatre in association with The Royal Exchange Theatre.

Bindweed will commence its initial run at the Mercury Studio from 13 – 22 June, followed by a tour to the New Wolsey Theatre from 28 – 29 June.

Martha Loader originally developed the piece as part of the Mercury Playwrights scheme, and it received the Judges Award at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2022.

Loader said: “I am delighted that Bindweed is being brought to life by such an incredible team. The play started life on the Mercury Playwrights scheme and then, to my complete shock, won the Judges Award at the Bruntwood Prize 2022. I am so grateful to everyone who has worked on the play’s development. I would like to give particular thanks to Jo at Suffolk Police and Glenn and Brian at Iceni, whose specialist knowledge of these perpetrator groups has been such an important part of this process. I can’t wait to stage Bindweed in my home region next year.”

Clare Slater, HighTide Artistic Director, added: “HighTide is dedicated to supporting East of England playwrights so we couldn’t be prouder to co-produce Martha’s new play, Bindweed. She’s an exceptional talent and her play speaks to one of the biggest questions of our time: “Is change really possible?”

For more information and tickets, visit mercurytheatre.co.uk and wolseytheatre.co.uk