Birdcatcher

A Pentabus production in association with Papatango Theatre Company and Middle Child Theatre 

Birdcatcher
A new play by Laura Waldren
Directed by Elle While 

Birdcatcher is a darkly comic drama about a teenage girl navigating life inside a doomsday cult. Set in East Yorkshire, the play shines a light on the murky, repressive underworld of religious “high control groups” in the UK – and asks how you find yourself in a world you think is about to end. 

Pentabus is the Nation’s Rural Theatre. This inaugural production is directed by BAFTA winning Artistic Director Elle While (Mother Courage, Richard III Shakespeare’s Globe) and written by rising star and award-winning playwright Laura Waldren, whose first play Some Demon won the 2023 Papatango Prize. 

‘One of British theatre’s unsung treasures’ The Guardian on Pentabus

‘A work that suggests a major talent … one of my plays of the year’  ***** WhatsOnStage on Some Demon

‘An astonishing debut … Ambitious, astute and utterly gripping’  **** The Telegraph on Some Demon

Access
All performances have audio description integrated into the production

Suitable for ages 12+

Content Guidance: This play explores life within a strict religious community, including themes of coercive control and institutional abuse. It contains strong language, descriptions of sexual harassment, and references to accidental death.

As this is a new play, the content guidance will be reviewed and updated throughout the rehearsal process as needed.