Good Trouble’s debut professional production, performed at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, as part of Offbeat Festival 2024.

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1892, St. Giles Fair: Alice Breakspear fatally falls from the carousel, but was it really an accident?  And does anyone really care?  It was just ‘some woman’ in an act of tomfoolery after all…

2024: Nina returns to Oxford to clear out her family home following the death of her mother.  Amidst her own troll collections, boxes of unopened happy meal toys and her mother’s stash of takeaway menus, Nina uncovers more to Alice’s story than she could ever have imagined. But just why has her mother kept a box of cuttings about ‘Alice’? Intrigued, Nina plans to investigate. Tess, Nina’s younger sister, just wants the house cleared ASAP.

Is Alice’s story a convenient escape for Nina from the realities of the present, as sibling tensions simmer and old wounds surface, or does unravelling the past offer a key to moving forwards in the present for both sisters?

Inspired by real events from Oxford’s history, a carousel of writers (assembled from the first cohort of Mike Bartlett’s ‘How to Write a Play’ course at the Old Fire Station) collaborate to spin a new yarn using Alice Breakspear’s story as their springboard.

So, grab your popcorn and candy floss and come and join us for all the fun of the fair: it could prove fatal.

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A Good Trouble Production

Directed by Maya Little
Produced by Liz Pagett
Performed by Lucy Brenchley and Vicky Wild
Collaboratively written by Lucy Brenchley, Emily Cracknell, James McDougall, Nick Myles, Liz Pagett, and Ainhoa Santos Goicoechea

Prototype is Oxford’s new regular evening of new writing, upstairs at the Jericho Tavern. Each night features script-in-hand rehearsed readings of new 10-minute plays from some of Oxford's most talented playwrights, and a brand new short play from an established playwright.

Liz and Emily, Good Trouble’s Creative Directors, were both invited to contribute short plays for the inaugural performance.

Liz and Emily hosted the Oxford edition of the National Playwrights’ Flashmob in July 2024, and following its success have established a new monthly meet-up for the Oxfordshire playwriting community to share ideas, provide support, and create collaboratively.

The meet-ups take place on the first Monday of every month at the Chequers, High Street, Oxford.

To join the mailing list for the meet-up, email liz@goodtrouble.org.uk.