Between the Lines

Between the Lines is a passionate play about the war to end all wars. A keeper of the graves in an old war cemetery is compelled to unravel a 100 year mystery.

Written and performed by Simon de Deney, Artistic Director of New Company. Directed by Doctor Who actor and writer David Banks. Music by David Banks. It features the poems of Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, Richard Adlington, Siegfried Sassoon and others.

Audience reactions to Between the Lines

“Evocative and haunting, distilled and poignant but ultimately uplifting. A honed and crafted clever piece of theatre made all the more intense by the space.” – A. Irvine
“de Deney’s latest performance combines poetry and virtuoso storytelling to create a poignant revisiting of the themes of war, love and loss.” – M. Teusink
“I really enjoyed last night, your performance was captivating, you played all your characters so believe ably, both male and female, loved the humour and the emotional end left me with a tear in my eye.” – J. McKay
“Spellbinding and emotionally challenging. WW1 is recreated in 3D. Poetry from the depths of the trenches. WW1 recreated past present and future. A must for all of us and essential for our children to witness first hand the horrors of war.” – A. Jacobson
“I just had to write to congratulate you on what you’ve created. They say that one of the marks of a good play is how much people talk about it afterwards. Peter and I on our way to the airport at 5 am were discussing WW1 and found ourselves moved to tears again by some of the moments in your play. The way it brought “The Great War” down from its historical heights and cliches to the voices of suffering people was so poignant. the idea of choosing a single grave from a cemetery so you can feel it was such a rich one and really representative of what you’ve done so well. We are coming back for more!” – L. Kingstone
“de Deney’s piece is a powerful story, delivered in a masterful way. It’s insightful, it’s sad, and at times it’s even funny.” – M. Carandini
“Great story. Thought-provoking and moving – what more do you want from an evening out?” – S. Williams
“Came in exhausted after a day’s work, went out renewed with vigour and passion. Reminded of Peter Brooks “The Empty Space”, returned to what theatre really is – you only need the actor. How did he do that? The magic of acting. There was magic in this performance and you could see the first world war cemetery and the half dozen characters who had a role in the story. Gripped from the very beginning by this original conception which uses the poetry of the day to paint the social context.” C. Denning
“Your central character vividly evokes life in the trenches and you tell his story with humour and horror. I was gripped.” – Rachel, Hackney
“A rich, moving performance, deeply impressive in its variety.” – T. Osborn
“I thought that Simon de Deney’s solo show was a tour de force. Cleverly interweaving WW1 and modern characters, poetry and moving reminiscences, this little gem packed a powerful emotional punch for me. I still can’t quite come to terms with the fact that he was responsible for all of it. Everything.” – J. Clinch
“I just want to say it was an honour to have watched your show. I was made to laugh , cry, reminisce. The play was a real roller coaster of emotion which came through the poetry. I feel you took everyone with you on the very believable journey through Joe’s life and left us all wanting more.” – P. Pearce
“I’m amazed by the sheer courage to get up and do something like that, but double congratulations for writing something so moving and beautiful and thought provoking.” – P. Kingstone

Two Bites From the Big Apple

SCOTCH AND WATER by Brett C. Leonard and PONIES by Mike Batistick

Scotch and Water and Ponies make a powerful double bill. High octane, darkly funny, they take an angry and compassionate look at the modern American dream. Fuelled by booze and betting, addicted to hope, the characters square up to events with a combustible mix of courage and despair.

Directed by: SIMON de DENEY.

Set Designer: Kate Klinger; Costume Designer: Belle Mundy; Lighting: Alex Watson; Sound: Matt Downing. Assistant Director: Anouka Brook

Cast: Laura Brook, Glenn Conroy, Eddie Daniels, Ann-Marguerite Devlina, Simon Holmes, Kit Jackson, Trevor Long, Mitchell Mullen, Jimmy Roussounis and Mike Sarne

Scotch and Water clips

Reviews for Scotch and Water by Brett C. Leonard and Ponies by Mike Batistick

The Guardian

“…this American double-bill about New York’s seedy sub-culture… teaches us a vital lesson: we no longer expect drama to offer neat resolutions.

[In] Mike Batistick’s Ponies Simon Holmes gives a fine performance as the bustling Croatian chancer.

[In Scotch and Water] Leonard captures well the slow descent from morning brightness, into afternoon torpor. Mike Sarne is very convincing as a maudlin, brown-suited boozer and Laura Brook, as the owner, touchingly suggests the pathos of fading beauty.

Simon de Deney’s production is atmospherically desolate… effective puncturing of the American Dream.” – Michael Billington, Friday 6 August, 2004

TIME OUT (Critic’s Choice)

“Mike Batistick’s sharp-as-a-flick-knife play…

Universally punchy performances make this a funny, compelling watch…

Simon de Deney’s beautifully paced production… squeezes fresh comedy from the consequences of a gunman bursting into the alcoholic gloom.

A bracingly irreverent, emotionally gripping evening.”

Rachel Halliburton

Tuesday 10 August, 2004

THE INDEPENDENT (Top 5 plays)

“…this sharp double bill of one-act dramas about those parts of New York that the American Dream has overlooked.

Both settings come across with a disconcerting immediacy in Simon de Deney’s atmospheric, well-acted productions. You can almost smell the reek of frantic hope in the seedy Off-Track betting-shop in Ponies,

Wonderfully played by Simon Holmes with a hunted, manic drive that manages to seem both monstrous and pathetic, Drazen is a Croatian nobody who longs to be a big-shot wheeler-dealer. …the silent, hard-tippling oldster (compellingly played by Mike Sarne).”

Paul Taylor

Thursday 12 August, 2004

Broken Voices

Eight newly commissioned short plays inspired by the passions, absurdities, exhilaration and despair of elections around the world.

In January 2005 New Company commissioned eight of the world’s most exciting new writers to create short plays inspired by elections in their countries. From highly charged, black farce to clinical, magical realism, the plays explore, in one evening, some of the extraordinary stories and dilemma that elections breed.

“an astonishingly bold idea from a young, unsubsidised company; and, under the joint direction of Simon de Deney and Anouke Brook, the show is buoyantly performed at the Actors’ Centre by a five-strong cast in which Emma Buckley and Grant Gillespie shine. “An excellent piece from the Ukraine’s Natalya Vorozhbit charts the excitements of the recent orange revolution “

— Michael Billington, Guardian

“…refreshingly oblique and imaginative…“ — Sam Marlowe, The Times

“Here’s a particularly ambitious project for a young fringe company, all the more to be admired for the extent of its success. Acting, by Emma Buckley, Kyla Davis, Grant Gillespie, Gracy Goldman and Anthony Lewis and direction, by Simon de Deney and Anouke Brook, are excellent throughout.” — Gerald Berkowitz, London Theatre Guide

Late Fragment

“You’re actually suggesting that God blew up two buildings in order to save us from bankruptcy?”

Matthew escapes from the World Trade Centre attacks to offers of cake from his wife and cheese baskets from a grateful nation. The media want him to be a hero, his wife wants him to pay the mortgage. But something strange is happening to Matthew’s body. And nobody wants to understand.

Francine Volpe’s Late Fragment is a dark, comic exploration of the personal aftershocks of one of the defining events of the twenty-first century.

Russian Snapshots

New Company’s last season, RUSSIAN SNAPSHOTS at The Troubadour comprised four new plays, charting Russia’s history in the twentieth century: ‘A Cloud in Trousers’by Ed O’Regan, ‘Madame Zoyka’ by Bulgakov, ‘Blood So Cheap’ by Clare Booker and ‘Music Lessons’ by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.

The season sold out and won two local Arts Council awards for Special Achievement and New Creative Work. It featured the late Sir Michael Horden’s only fringe appearance.

American Psyche

In July 2003, New Company staged a season of readings, ‘American Psyche’ of four new American plays at London’s Arts Theatre. They were chosen on the basis of being inspired in some way by the events of September 11, 2001.

The four plays were ‘A Taste of Rain’ by P Seth Bauer, ‘Ponies’ by Mike Batistick, ‘Sweetness’ by Gary Sunshine and ‘Late Fragment’ by Francine Volpe.

past productions