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DRIFTWOOD

04 Jun – 04 Jul 2026

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The Royal Shakespeare Company in association with Kiln Theatre presents

Driftwood

by Martina Laird

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‘dis is my home. My whole life. My history here. And de only future I go have is here.’

Heat is rising in colonial Trinidad. While support for political independence is growing, a downtown Port of Spain gentlemen’s club is about to be entangled in a custody battle of its own.

ALMA promises guests a welcome escape from the bustle of the capital. Owned by Englishman Mansion, governed by Pearl and coveted by her beguiling daughter Ruby – each with their own business plan in mind.

An unexpected stranger – Diamond – carries in a rum delivery, bringing with him a familial revelation and a pursuit for wealth. His deal with a corrupt US Marine imperils ALMA, and all who call it home. One wrong move and everything could shatter, but who will play the right game?

The first play from Martina Laird, directed by Chichester Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Justin Audibert, Driftwood is a high-stakes drama of power, passion and danger.

Important Information

Suitable for ages 14+. For content advice, click here.

Special Performances

Post show Q&A and Supporters’ Evening: Fri 19 Jun, 7.30pm
Alcohol Free Performance: Tue 30 Jun, 7.30pm

Access Performances

Captioned Performances: Thu 2 Jul, 7.30pm
Touch Tour: Thu 25 Jun, 6pm
Audio Described Performance: Thu 25 Jun, 7.30pm
Relaxed Performance: Sat 27 Jun, 2.30pm

Click here for Access information. If you have any questions about any of our services or need assistance in arranging your visit please get in touch: 020 7328 1000 or Access@KilnTheatre.com.

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Ticket Prices

£15 – £40

Dates

04 Jun – 04 Jul 2026

Select a performance

‘The sounds and sights of Trinidad are ever-present in this new, ambitious play’

- What'sOnStage

‘Tense, funny, heartbreaking and thoroughly immersive’

- Midland's What's On

‘Sizzles with dark gothic secrets’

- Stratford Herald

‘A vivid journey to jazzy Trinidad’

- The Times

‘Wonderfully vibrant characters full of depth and spark’

- Financial TImes

Rehearsal photos by Marc Brenner

Production photos by Marc Brenner

Cast

Shane David-Joseph

Seldom

Ziggy Heath

Tom

Martins Imhangbe

Diamond

Roger Ringrose

Mansion

Ellen Thomas

Pearl

Cat White

Ruby

Creative Team

Martina Laird

Writer
Martina Laird

Writer

Martina Laird is an award-winning actor, writer, and director with an extensive career across stage and screen.

Her theatre credits include Cymbeline, All’s Well That Ends Well, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); The New Real, Coriolanus, The White Devil, Three Hours After Marriage, Troilus and Cressida (Royal Shakespeare Company), Meetings (Orange Tree Theatre); Animal Kingdom (Hampstead Theatre); King Hedley II, Bad Blood Blues (Stratford East); Shebeen (Nottingham Playhouse); Julius Caesar/Henry IV/The Tempest, Othello (Donmar Warehouse); The House That Will Not Stand, Three Sisters (Kiln Theatre); Moon On A Rainbow Shawl (Talawa Theatre/National Theatre); Hopelessly Devoted (Birmingham Rep); All The Little Things We Crushed (Almeida Theatre); Mules (Young Vic); The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder (National Theatre); Arabian Nights (West End/World Tour); Breath Boom (Royal Court); Hyacinth Blue (Lyric Theatre); Inheritance (Live Theatre); Venetian Heat (Finsborough Theatre); Hungry Ghosts (The Tabard Theatre).

Television includes Dreaming Whilst Black, Casualty, Shakespeare and Hathaway, EastEnders, Doctors, My Family, Jonathan Creek, Missing (BBC); The Department (Paramount); The Count of Monte Cristo (France Televisions/RAI); Sense and Sensibility, Pinch of Portugal (Hallmark); Dreamland (Sky Atlantic); Coronation Street, The Bay, Jericho (ITV); Shameless, London’s Burning (Channel 4); Little Big Mouth (Pagoda Films).

Film includes The Last Dance (Soul Rebel Productions), Shrike (Mudstreet Productions), 10 Swords & The Moon, The Little Mermaid (Disney); Boxing Day; Summerland (Shoebox Films); Deadmeat; For-get-me-not (Quicksilver Films); Blitz (Lionsgate).

Directing includes Under The Table (Talawa); The Night Woman (The Other Palace); Fly Me To The Moon (Interchange Studios); Sunshine (Southwark Playhouse); Associate director credits include Get Up Stand Up (Playful Productions).

Justin Audibert

Director
Justin Audibert

Director

Justin Audibert has been Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre since July 2023. His Chichester productions include Redlands in the Festival Theatre, and The Caretaker and Hamlet in the Minerva Theatre.

Previously, he was Artistic Director of the Unicorn Theatre where he directed The Three Billy Goats Gruff (also at the Minerva Theatre), Pinocchio, Marvin’s Binoculars, The Canterville Ghost, Anansi The Spider, Aesop’s Fables, Beowulf and My Mother Medea.

For the Royal Shakespeare Company he has directed The Box of Delights, The Taming of the Shrew (also broadcast live to cinemas internationally), Snow in Midsummer and The Jew of Malta. Other recent theatre directing credits include: Macbeth and The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre); Snow in Midsummer (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Box of Delights (Wilton’s Music Hall); The Cardinal (Southwark Playhouse); The Jumper Factory (Young Vic Prison Project); How (Not) to Live in Suburbia and Wingman (Soho Theatre); The Man with The Hammer (Plymouth Theatre Royal); Unscorched (Finborough Theatre); and Gruesome Playground Injuries (Gate Theatre).

His productions of Macbeth and The Winter’s Tale, both adapted by him for young audiences, are part of the National Theatre Collection; and he wrote and presented the two BBC Live Lessons on Shakespeare for the RSC. For Unicorn Online, his work included Marvin’s Binoculars, Anansi The Spider Re-spun and Philip Pullman’s Hansel and Gretel. He directed the short film Joseph Knight for the National Theatre of Scotland and BBC Scotland.

In 2012 he was the recipient of the Leverhulme Award for Emerging Directors from the National Theatre Studio. He is a trustee of Invisible Flock and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.