The Funfair

Double Olivier Award-winner Simon Stephens relocates the play from the 1929 Oktoberfest to North West England and draws striking parallels with the political tensions and social uncertainties of early 21st century Great Britain.

Originally set one night during the Oktoberfest in 1929, Stephens’ adaptation draws clear parallels between the political tensions of the period, around the time of the Wall Street Crash and its global implications, to today’s social uncertainties, yet still finds plenty of dry humour in the bright lights of a busy funfair. And with a General Election, regarded as the most important and hard-to-predict in a generation, just around the corner, The Funfair could not be timelier.

Complete with freak-show, live band, and a big dipper, The Funfair tells the dark and humorous story of Cash and Caroline, two young lovers, whose agonising break-up is played out against the backdrop of economic and social hardship.

Directed by Walter Meierjohann.