Raving, Hampstead Theatre

I sometimes wonder how on earth people as pathetic as you and me are allowed to start a family. It’s far more dangerous than driving a car, and yet there’s not a single test…

Parenting is a heroic and unsung occupation. There are endless debates and discussions, criticisms, judgements – ‘Should your child be eating that? Should your child be saying that? What kind of parent are you?’ Despite the fact that people have been parents for thousands of years, it is still taboo to say, ‘You know what, this is hard, and I don’t fucking like it’.

The debut play from veteran British comic actor Simon Paisley Day walks this taboo out on to the stage where everyone can see it, watch it, and talk about it. Raving opens on the 17th October at the Hampstead theatre.  It tells the tale of Briony and Keith, a couple struggling with parenthood; their friends Ross and Rosy arrange a relaxing, child-free weekend away in Wales that somehow descends into total, terrible chaos.

Director Edward Hall, (who runs the genius all-male Shakespeare company ‘Propeller’ and is the son of Sir Peter), famed for his rigorous approach to language and use of contemporary physical aesthetic, will push the text, action and actors to the limit. Starring BAFTA winning Robert Webb (Peep Show ) and  Tamzin Outhwaite  (you know, that one off Eastenders ), Raving will be a play that parents will talk about furiously at dinner-parties, secretly wondering if  they  are like Briony and Keith. We suggest you go and find out for yourself.

Ticket price: £25 - £32