‘Love is more than just a game for two’ as thoughtful show comes to The Continental

I Wanna Be Yours by Zia Ahmed Directed by Anna Himali Howard Cast Ragevan Vasan Emily Stott Rachel Merry ©The Other Richard

“Love is more than just a game for two. Especially when there’s an elephant in the room.”

That’s the tagline of a thought provoking play, I Wanna Be Yours, coming to the Continental next week.

The production centres on the budding relationship between Ella (Emily Stott) and Haseeb (Regevan Vasan). It’s about people and playlists, Christmas and Eid, Travelcards and Megabuses, London to Leeds.

But above all else it’s about finding love and holding onto it with everything you’ve got.

The show is produced by Paines Plough, the nationally touring theatre company once dubbed ‘the lifeblood of the UK’s theatre ecosystem’ by The Guardian.

As part of the evening, spoken word performers from the Preston area are invited to close the show and bring a local flavour to the evening.

Ruth Heritage, founder and artistic director of They Eat Culture, says: “We’re delighted to be presenting Zia’s work at The Continental and we’ve got some great local spoken word performers to add a Preston flavour to the event.

“Keep up to date with news about the performance through our social media channels, and if you’d like an opportunity to read your work, send a couple of short spoken performance pieces on the idea of ‘home’ or ‘love’ to info@theyetculture.org. We hope to see you there!’

I Wanna Be Yours is the debut play from London Laureate and Poetry Slam champion Zia Ahmed.

A Paines Plough spokesperson said: “Zia Ahmed has written one of the most exciting debut plays we’ve come across in years.

“We first worked with Zia in 2016 when we commissioned him to write a short play about where he calls home, North West London, for our Come to Where I’m From series. It moved us in such a way that we knew we had to work with Zia again.

“Developed with support from Channel 4’s Playwright Scheme, and created in co-production with Tamasha, I Wanna Be Yours represents the best in new writing touring the country at the moment.”

I Wanna Be Yours comes to The Continental on Tuesday 26th November 2019. Doors open at 7.30 pm for prompt play start.

Tickets are £10 or £7 concessions and are available online from See Tickets & Skiddle, links on social media and the venue’s website, or in person from The Continental’s bar (01772 499 425)