Notnow Collective presents
Pepper and Honey
by Kristina Gavran
World Premiere
**It is with great regret that, due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and following the Government’s updated advice on 16 March, that all of our remaining March and April tour dates of Pepper & Honey have now been cancelled. We have been working with our venue and touring partners to reschedule these dates to further down the line and hope to have further news in due course.
Our team has worked incredibly hard on Pepper & Honey, and the decision to cancel these events has not been taken lightly, particularly as the financial implications on us, as a small theatre company, are considerable.
If you have tickets for Pepper & Honey performances during March and April the venue will be in touch to arrange a refund in due course.**
So, what’s home? As the era of post-Brexit Britain looms large, that question has never been more pertinent… That’s the question Ana, a young Croatian woman, poses as she settles in the UK.
Pepper and Honey is Notnow Collective’s freshest bun in the oven (pun intended!). Funded by Arts Council England, we previewed the work in development at Derby Theatre in March 2019, and then completed a preview tour of the final show to London, Wolverhampton and Leicester in November 2019. Now, we are taking the show far and wide on our further UK tour throughout 2020.
“A beautifully written story. There was not a dry eye in the house by the end” – Reviews Hub ★★★★
“Flows fantastically from one perspective to the next. A story of new beginnings, loss, and the sharing of cultures.” – Reviews Hub ★★★★
“A warm and gentle show, it captures the transient and precarious nature of life as an immigrant in the UK in the current climate” – The Stage ★★★★
“a subtle and charming production … Gavran’s writing is alive with sensuous detail” – British Theatre Guide
“incredibly touching, real and resonating” – A Younger Theatre
Written by a Croatian playwright, Kristina Gavran, and performed by a Croatian actor, Tina Hofman, Pepper and Honey is a poignant, subtle and timely play about the journey of change, cultural differences, trying not to feel like a foreigner in your adopted country and the conflict between upholding the traditions of the ‘old country’ and embracing those of the new.
Ana has been on a journey. Croatian born, she’s arrived in the UK, determined to make it home. As she focuses on life in this new land, she is haunted by the voice of her Grandma- calling for her to stay true to national identity and yearning for Ana to come home. But what is now ‘home’ to Ana? A play of love, loss, culture, heritage and new beginnings…?
The story is told through the process of making paprenjaci (Croatian traditional pepper biscuits). Invented in the Renaissance, paprenjaci are a blend of local ingredients (honey, walnuts and olive oil) and spices from “discovered” continents (clove, cardamom and black pepper). The biscuits are made in front of (and with the help of) the audience, and the spicy-sweet story is woven throughout, using text, physical theatre and baking.
With this show, Notnow Collective are taking work into the rural touring sector for the first time, and are also extending our parent-friendly offer as we pilot a FREE creche alongside the show for older kids, as well as our signature baby-friendly (BYOB) performances.
The Spring 2020 tour was originally planned as follows:
Bilsington Village Hall, Kent, with Applause Rural Touring – 19th March, 7pm
Wortwell Core, Norfolk, with Creative Arts East – 20th March, 7:30pm
Wymondham Library, Norfolk, with Creative Arts East – 21st March, 2pm (BYOB*)
Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre, Chester, with Cheshire Rural Touring Arts – 27th March, 7:30pm
Cuddington and Sandiway Village Hall, Northwich, with Cheshire Rural Touring Arts – 28th March, 7:30pm
Cadeleigh Parish Hall, Cornwall, with Carn to Cove – 23rd April, 7:30pm
Milton Combe Village Hall, Cornwall, with Carn to Cove – 24th April, 7:30pm
Crackington Institute, Cornwall, with Carn to Cove – 25th April, 7:30pm
Square Chapel, Halifax – 7th May, 8pm
The Spring Arts Centre, Havant – 13th May, 2:30pm (BYOB*) and 7:30pm
Hat Factory Arts Centre, Luton – 14th May, 2:30pm (BYOB*) and 7:30pm
The Place, Bedford – 15th May, 1:30pm (BYOB*) and 7:30pm
Shoreham Village Hall, Sevenoaks, Kent – 16th May, evening
*We offer ‘Bring Your Own Baby’ (BYOB) matinees where, alongside our regular audiences, babies are welcome to attend along with their adults: giving local parents/carers of young children an opportunity to go to a grown-up theatre show, without worrying about childcare for once. The Pepper & Honey BYOB performances are open to babes-in-arms (babies that aren’t crawling or walking yet). The performance environment is slightly adapted to make it comfortable for them. If you have any further questions about BYOB, please call the venue’s Box Office.
Pepper and Honey is supported by In Good Company, the Unity Theatre Trust, the Sir Barry Jackson Trust, and by National Lottery funding from Arts Council England.
Creative team:
Written by- Kristina Gavran
Directed by- Tilly Branson
Designed by- Eleanor Field
Performer and Producer- Tina Hofman
Composer- Jovana Backovic
Lighting Designer- James Stokes
Sound Designer- Adam McCready
Projection Designer- David Hately
Movement Director – Kitty Randle
Graphic Design – Fernando / Nerea Perez Rivero
PR- Jo McLeish for The Media Room
Marketing- Claire Bowdler
Producer- Corinne Salisbury
We’ve shown our earliest ideas for this show at Scratch That Itch at Derby Theatre, Pulse Festival’s Scratch Day, York Theatre Royal, Arc Stockton, and as part of Camden People’s Theatre’s No Direction Home Festival .