Skip to main content

Birkbeck Lecturer has play programmed at the National Theatre

David Eldridge’s latest play, will be part of the Spring-Summer programme, playing on the National’s Dorfman Theatre stage.

David Eldridge sitting in a rehearsal room

David Eldridge, Lecturer in the Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing, will have his latest play, Middle, shown at the National Theatre. A raw, touching and funny portrait of a 21st century marriage, Middle, is the second piece in a trilogy of plays by David that explore love and relationships.  

Middle follows Beginningthe five-star first play in the series, which enjoyed sold-out runs at the National Theatre and in the West-End, before being revived across the world including Dublin, Santiago, Athens, Shanghai, Paris, and Barcelona. 

In a video about the play, David explains that Middle is not a sequel to Beginning, but rather a continued forensic exploration of the themes and nuances that make up modern day relationships. Where the first play featured a real-time depiction of the first hour and forty minutes of a couples relationship, Middle, focuses on the real-time story of a different couple, who, in the middle stages of both their relationship and their lives, have reached a crossroads.  

The play will star Claire Rushbrook, recently seen in the acclaimed film Ali & Ava, and Dan Ryan, who also stars in Birkbeck lecturer Daragh Carville’s hit ITV crime drama, The Bay 

David commented: “I am so thrilled the National Theatre are about to open my new play Middle, the second in a trilogy of plays reflecting upon love and loneliness. I’m very conscious, too, that it is hugely important for students at Birkbeck taking undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Creative Writing to see that their lecturers really are practising their art and craft and really are risking their heart and imagination when they write, too.”

In further exciting news, the National Theatre has already commissioned David to pen the final play in the trilogy, End.   

Middle will play on the Dorfman Theatre stage at the National Theatre from 27 April – 18 June. 

Further Information

More news about: