CANNED GOODS will premiere in London at the Southwark Playhouse. The play will be in previews starting January 16th and will run until February 8, 2025. Opening Night is January 20, 2025.
The critically acclaimed US production of CANNED GOODS is making its highly anticipated London debut at Southwark Playhouse this January. Bringing to stage a gripping story of hidden history, this thrilling production is set in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II. Canned Goods will explore the chilling and intense story of deception, power, and survival on the eve of a Nazi invasion.
The production is set on the border between Germany and Poland, where the shadow of fascism looms. Adolf Hitler’s plan to stage a violent Polish attack on a German-speaking radio station — a false flag operation to justify a Nazi invasion — sets the stage for an intense narrative. German farmer Franciszek Honiok finds himself imprisoned in a cell alongside two other prisoners from Dachau: a Jewish philosopher and a German janitor. As the mission looms closer and tensions rise, the three men must confront the terrifying unknown of a plan much bigger than themselves.
Erik Kahn is dedicated in bringing gripping, real-world stories to the stage, offering audiences fresh perspectives on pivotal historical events. This tense thriller was debuted in the US earlier this year and has received rave reviews. The production will delve deep into the disturbing manipulation of truth, propaganda, and the dangers of ‘fake news’ — themes that resonate prominently in today’s society.
DIRECTOR CHARLOTTE COHN
Charlotte Cohn is a NY-based director, producer and actor who most recently starred in This Is Not A Time of Peace (New Light Theater) by Deb Margolin. Her directing highlights include Canned Goods (ATG), Church & State (Berkshire Theatre Group), The Whole Shebang and Baltimore in Black and White (The Cell Theatre, NYC) and Best Friends (Jazz at Lincoln Center). She has appeared on Broadway in La Boheme, directed by Baz Luhrmann and Coram Boy, directed by Melly Still. Her producing credits include Here Lies Love (Broadway), Without You (starring Anthony Rapp) and Handle with Care and Church and State by Jason Odell Williams. Ms. Cohn is an Ovation Award Winner and a Bay Area Critics’ Circle Award nominee. Her musical The Sound, based on her father’s true story of escaping from Denmark to Sweden in WWII, will be presented at The Museum of Jewish Heritage in November 2024.
CAST
Dan Parr – SS Major Naujocks
Dan’s recent theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Sheffield Theatres & UK Tour); Lava (Soho Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Leeds Playhoues); Around the World in 80 Days (Leeds Playhouse); Hamlet (Leeds Playhouse); and The Big Corner (Bolton Octagon).
Recent film and TV credits include: Doctors (BBC); Silent Witness (BBC); 2.0 Lucy (Shopfloor Films) and The Musketeers.
Charlie Archer – Birnbaum
Charlie’s recent theatre credits include: The Tempest / Pericles; The Last Nativity (Iris Theatre); Hay Fever (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh); A Mad World My Masters (RSC/ETT); and Indigo (Pleasance Theatre).
Recent film and TV credits include: The Day of the Jackal (SKY); Babs (BBC); Crazyhead (E4/Netflix); and Mission Impossible (Paramount Pictures).
Rowan Polonski – Kruger
Rowan Polonski trained at Rose Bruford College, representing them at the Sam Wanamaker Festival 2013 and at the Carleton Hobbs Radio Awards 2013.
On screen he has appeared in the Doctor Who Christmas Specialand the feature films Kingsman: Secret Service, the new Tomb Raider and Good Omens, the TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s and Neil Gaiman’s bestseller. Most recently Rowan leads in the features Custom and Triumph of the Heart, guest leads in the most recent series of Father Brown, and has just completed photography on a major retuning series for Netflix.
His theatre credits include: The Comedy of Errors (RSC/Barbican Theatre); The Hypocrite (RSC); Another Country (Trafalgar Studios); Desert Rats (Arts Theatre, West End); The Acedian Pirates (Theatre503); Cockamamy (The Hope Theatre Islington); Shakespeare in Love (Theatre Royal Bath); and The Omission of the Family Coleman (Theatre Royal Bath). He recently led in Double Featureat the Hampstead Theatre, directed by Jonathan Kent.
Tom Wells – Honiok
Tom’s TV credits include: Waterloo Road (BBC); Murder in the Car Park (Channel 4); Eastenders (BBC); Bancroft (Tall Story Pictures); and Doctors (BBC).
His film credits include: 6 Underground (Skydance Media); Cult; Habit (Habit Films); and Betsy and Leonard (Iron Box Films).
Joe Mallalieu – Guard / Heydrich / Muller
Joe Mallalieu trained at The Academy of Live & Recorded Arts.
His recent theatre credits include: Rum (Underbelly Cowgate) and The Band of Gold (Kay Mellor Productions).
Film and TV credits include: I Hate You (Channel 4); Endeavour (ITV); Glaciers (BFI); and Coronation Street (ITV).
Daniel Mellor – Swing
Danny Mellor is an actor, writer & sometimes stand-up comedian born and raised in South Yorkshire. He studied Drama at The University Of Hull and Acting at the Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama, graduating in 2014. He is passionate about art that is historical and political.
In 2024 he finished touring the UK with iconic play, The Full Monty. Danny then spent the summer touring the south-west of England with Miracle Theatre in their regency farce, Love Riot.
Autumn 2024 saw Danny touring his critically acclaimed one-man play set during the miners’ strike, Undermined. The show has gone from strength to strength since first touring in 2015, with its first inception in 2014.
Danny has written two other shows: Yorkshire Kernel (2022) and Suffer Fools Gladly (2020).
Theatre credits include: The Full Monty (Mark Goucher Productions), Love Riot (Miracle Theatre), Some Tiny Plays About How F**ked We Are (Middle Child), Undermined (Red Ladder Theatre Company), Blister (Paines Plough), After The Accident (Cube Theatre), On Behalf Of The People (The Melting Shop), Bomb Happy (Everwitch Theatre Company), Suffer Fools Gladly (Badapple Theatre Company), Yorkshire Kernel (Badapple Theatre Company), The Snow Dancer (Badapple Theatre Company), The Ratcatcher (Dead Earnest).
TV Credits: Da Vinci’s Demons (Starz), Happy Valley (BBC), Coronation Street (ITV), The Full Monty (Disney+/FX).
A staged reading of CANNED GOODS, directed by Charlotte Cohn, took place at Ripley-Grier Studios, 305 W. 38th St., Studio 304, New York City, on September 19 with two performance at 10:30 am and 2 pm, and September 20 with one performance at 11 am.
2024 American Theater Group Production
Lianne Schoenswiesner, Spotlights Photography
The first staged production of CANNED GOODS was produced by the American Theater Group and ran from May 9-12, 2024, at the Hamilton Stage, 360 Hamilton Street, Rahway NJ and then from May 16-19 at the Sieminski Theater, 8000 Fellowship Road, Basking Ridge, NJ. For information regarding the production, contact Jim Vagias at 732-238-9982 or vagias@comcast.net.
Hamilton Stage
360 Hamilton Street
Rahway NJ
Preview Performances: Thursday, May 9th and Friday, May 10th.
Official Opening Night: Sat. May 11th.
Sieminski Theater
8000 Fellowship Road
Basking Ridge, NJ
The creative team for the planned developmental productions of CANNED GOODS, led by Charlotte Cohn, includes: Set Designer – Yi Hsuan Ma; Costume Designer – Saawan Tiwari; Lighting Designer – Doug Macur; Sound Designer – Robert Gonyo; Stage Manager – Natalie Jones; Ass’t Stage Manager – Kayla Justen’s; Technical Director – Ben Merrick; and Production Manager – Katharine Murphy.