you stupid

darkness!

By Sam Steiner

Directed by Justin Hopper

Tuesday 17 to Saturday 21 March 2026 at 7.45pm with a Saturday matinee at 3pm

Putney Arts Theatre - Studio

About the play:

In a cramped, crumbling office, four volunteers spend a few hours every Tuesday night on the phone telling strangers that everything is going to be okay. As the outside world disintegrates, they teeter on the edge of their own personal catastrophes. Their hopes and fears become entangled as they try, desperately, to connect with the callers and with each other. Sam Steiner's You Stupid Darkness! is a funny, moving and profound play about the struggle for optimism and community amid the chaos of a world falling apart.

"A work of extraordinary observation and overflowing empathy... a brilliantly realised, unflinchingly truthful mid-apocalyptic comedy." The Stage

 The Guardian

An amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books

Suitable for audiences aged 16 and above. Contains strong language.

Content warnings: 

Production includes loud noise and flashing light.

Includes sexual references and deals with topics of mental health, suicide, drug use & infant mortality.

Cast:
Frances - Katie Kelly
Jon - Sam Moore

Angie - Jessica Wallis

Joey - Matt Rimmington

Creatives:

Director - Justin Hopper

Producer - Barney Hart Dyke

Lighting Designer - Rich Evans

Set Design - Isobel Harrison

Sound Design - Nick Wells

Costume Design - Isobel Harrison