A Brighton theatre will celebrate the opening of its tenth season with a special production of a play originally written by its late founder.
Brighton Open Air Theatre, or BOAT, will host a three-night run of a brand-new production of Adrian Bunting’s play Kemble’s Riot.
It will the first time the extended and original version has ever been performed on stage.
BOAT was the brainchild of Adrian Bunting. He was a well-known figure in Brighton’s arts and theatrical scene over several decades.
Sadly in 2013 he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and he died aged only 47.
However, in the final weeks of his life he bequeathed his life savings and his dream to open an open-air theatre in the city to a group of friends.
It was an idea he had nurtured for some time and had even identified the ideal site: the defunct bowling green in Dyke Road Park.
What followed were Herculean efforts including a fundraising campaign, that included a comedy show at the Dome, and much work from the trustees, and countless volunteers.
Almost to the day of Adrian’s death, BOAT opened with a gala in May 2015. The first theatrical performance was Romeo and Juliet given by the Globe’s travelling company.
The tenth season will open with a full-cast production of Kemble’s Riot, in association with Brighton Little Theatre.
The play tells the story of actor-manager John Philip Kemble and the aftermath of a fire that destroyed the Covent Garden Theatre on Drury Lane in London.
The theatre was not insured but this didn’t deter Kemble from rebuilding a lavish replacement paid for an increase in ticket prices.
And so began the Old Price, or OP, riots of 1809 in protest at the sixpence ticket prices. For 66 consecutive nights persistent protestors disturbed every performance by waving banners and placards, singing, dancing, racing around the pit and staging mock fights.
In Kemble’s Riot, the audience plays the part of the rioting crowd and you are encouraged to pick your side, swap sides in the theatre and make some noise as Kemble, his sister Sarah Siddons, and other stars of the Georgian Drury Lane theatreland, such as Dorothy Jordan, struggle to make sense of the mayhem.
Adrian’s friend and local author Peter Chrisp says that the audience is central to Kemble’s Riot.
He said: “Adrian Bunting used to say: ‘Theatre’s not film, I want the audience to be part of the show.’
“He showed what he meant with his brilliant Kemble’s Riot, in which we the audience get to play the rioters.
“This will be the fifth production of the play, but the first one with a complete cast, as Adrian originally wrote it. So it’s a world premiere in the beautiful theatre that Adrian created. I’m taking a banner along!”
Kemble’s Riot won the Best Play prize at the Brighton Festival in 2011 and rave reviews at Edinburgh the following year. In 2013 won the ‘Overall Excellence Award’ at The New York Fringe Festival.
To join the riot visit the Brighton Open Air Theatre website.
The play runs from 3 to 5 May 2024. Including a Saturday matinee.
