Polka Theatre Announces Cast and Creative Team for Polka Playwriting Award Winning Show Dweeb-A-Mania

Polka Theatre’s Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive Helen Matravers, Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive Lynette Shanbury, and the whole team are pleased to announce the cast and creative team for Dweeb-A-Mania – the winner of the inaugural Polka Playwriting Award, which champions playwriting and the creation of new work for young audiences aged 7-13 years. The show will run in Polka’s Adventure Theatre from Saturday 4 October until Sunday 9 November with a press performance on Friday 10 October at 6pm.

Kemi and Norah are mega-nerds through and through. They think they know a lot about… everything! But when popular boy Bentley refuses to invite them to his wrestling-themed party, they discover, to their horror, that he thinks they are dweebs! It turns out that they have a lot to learn – especially about wrestling. Together, they secretly launch a plan to become champion wrestlers, crash Bentley’s party, and prove to everyone that they are, in fact, extremely cool.

Dweeb-A-Mania is a punchy, powerful new comedy which celebrates being exactly who you want to be. Get ready for flying kicks, body slams and a mind-blowing number of barbecued chickens!

The cast for Dweeb-A-Mania will be Amy Blake (‘Brassic’, Sky TV) and Chidera Ikechukwu (‘Waterloo Road’, BBC) as best friends ‘Norah’ and ‘Kemi’, with Grace Carroll as ‘Lily’, and Wesley Ruthven as ‘Bentley’, both making their professional stage debut.

Written by Sarah Middleton, the show is directed by Hannah Stone (‘Ruby’s Worry’, Mishmash Theatre), with Katie Lias (‘Handbagged’, National Theatre and Queens Theatre Hornchurch UK Tour) as Set and Costume Designer, movement direction from DK Fashola (‘Pig Heart Boy’, Unicorn Theatre) and fight direction from Nora Iso-Kungas. Alongside them are Ellie Isherwood as Composer and Sound Designer and Jane Lalljee (‘Tidy’, Theatr Iolo) as Lighting Designer.

Polka Artistic Director Helen Matravers said: “I am so excited that Dweeb-A-Mania is coming to life at Polka, with this incredible cast and creative team. We are creating work for a pre-teen age group, so often overlooked in the sector, or so limited with their choice of theatre to explore. With this work we have genuinely included young people and their passions in the programming and telling of a totally new story. We enter a world of wrestling and nerdy joy and aren’t holding back in either, expect some high-octane wrestling moves and brain-tickling science to get stuck into. Dweeb-A-Mania is a play where every child is celebrated for their individuality and their creativity. Polka’s Playwriting judging panel laughed out loud – a lot – reading this play and it will entertain and empower in equal measure. I can’t wait for young audiences to sit ringside and find out who reigns champion of the wrestling ring in the end.”

Dweeb-A-Mania has been brought to life through The Polka Playwriting Award where the play was chosen from over 80 submissions. The award is generously funded by The Garek Trust, supported by Cockayne and London Community Foundation and the Award Partner is Methuen Drama, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

Sarah Middleton is a writer/actor from Derby. Her credits include ‘SHEWOLVES’, UK Tour and Southwark Playhouse; ‘Pinocchio’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ for Nottingham Playhouse; ‘The Wishing Stone’ for Separate Doors/Derby Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre; and ‘Wilf Goes Wild’ for MPTheatricals. Shows in development include ‘Chuckers’ (Derby Theatre), ‘Skin & Blister’ and ‘VAMP’. Sarah is also the recipient of a Hosking Houses residency, Peggy Ramsay grant and National Theatre Peter Shaffer commission.