subVERSE is an evening of New Writing Theatre that presents an ambitious programme reflecting the ongoing global political situation.

At each performance, new playwrights have the opportunity of displaying their work. These new writers demand a visceral response from their audiences and are not afraid to take risks. Their pieces have been described as bold and fresh, and continue to engage people in the discussion of current events.

Having premiered at The Chelsea Theatre in London in November 2004, subVERSE has been bringing a new programme of high quality theatre shorts to Theatre503 every month throughout 2005 & 2006. In 15 months, subVERSE has premiered 103 pieces of new writing by 25 playwrights and poets.

Brief history of subVERSE

In September 2004, Adrian Page and Matthew Hahn came together over a pint or 5 of beer and discussed a shared vision of putting together an evening of high quality and artistic, political and socially conscious theatre. Between the two of them, they contacted family and friends and began to get submissions from playwrights along with commitments from actors and directors to participate in this evening.

In November 2004, subVERSE was presented as an evening of short pieces with a political agenda and as a way of raising the profile of a selected charity.

This established the blueprint for each successive monthly event: the highest quality theatre with a ‘subVERSEive’ bend and a chance for both the artists and audience to become aware of and participate in an area charity.

Along with presenting theatre, subVERSE believes in more than just raging against the machine within the four walls of theatre503. To this end, we have begun a series of forums that follows the performances during which representatives from the selected charity speak about their work and then open up the discussion to the audience for questions.

We have been fortunate enough to host two such forums so far: in March 2005, we hosted the Stop The War Coalition with steering committee member Chris Nineham and George Solomou, a former TA soldier and member of Military Families Against the War, who refused to serve in Iraq. In May, we hosted the London Detainee Support Group, a non-political and non-religious charity that supports asylum-seekers and others detained in the London area.

We continue to reach out to other charities that might be interested in this sort of profile-raising event and always try to be aware of global events that affect our lives and how we, in a very small way, can help effect change in this world.