PROFORCA THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES HERE | FOR 2026
A first-of-its-kind supported season of breakout work at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre
This October, Proforca Theatre Company launches Here | For 2026, a financially supported season of new work presented at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town.
Led by Proforca and delivered through its producing base at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre, Here | For offers selected companies financial support, rehearsal support, marketing support, mentorship and a supported performance run. The model is unique in the London fringe theatre scene and marks the first time the Lion & Unicorn Theatre has presented a season of this kind.
Selected from more than 50 applications, the inaugural season brings together critically acclaimed producers and companies making theatrically alive, audience-aware work with genuine future potential.
For Proforca, Here | For represents the next stage in the company’s evolution: not only making and presenting its own work, but creating a genuinely impactful offer for companies with ambition to level up their work beyond the confines of a fringe theatre offering.
The season opens with God Save Us by Codex Theatre from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 October 2026, written and directed by Esalan Gates. Following the critical attention and sell-out audience response to Pop Goes the Dollar, Codex return with a funny, formally bold and genuinely angry new piece about a medieval morality play, a village full of faith, closed-door power, money, belief and who gets kept out of the room.
From Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 October 2026, Pither Productions present Uncle Monty’s Antique Shop, written and created by Nina Atesh and Alexander Wright. From the Offie Award-winning company, in association with Proforca Theatre, this darkly atmospheric horror brings together four psychological shorts in one uncanny setting, where memory, control and violence refuse to stay buried.
The third production in the season is Merder by Free The Peacock, running from Tuesday 20 to Saturday 24 October 2026. Written by Offie Award-winning writer Olivia Thompson and directed by Rory Devlin, MERDER is a new actor-musician folk musical set on the south coast of England in 1804, where a French shipwreck, one surviving stranger and a village gripped by invasion fever collide.
Closing out the season is Proforca Theatre Company with its new flagship production Big Love, running from Tuesday 27 October to Saturday 7 November 2026. Written and directed by David Brady, Big Love is a brand new solo show about belief, desire, avoidance, pop songs, big feelings, 1,001 dancefloors and the people we choose to give it all up for in the end. Part party, part confession, part love letter to all of life’s best bits, it marks Proforca’s first new work since February 2025, following Feel, At Last, Lately and Flashbang.
Tickets for all productions go on sale on Wednesday 1 July 2026, with further details about each production to be revealed as part of the ticket launch. An earlybird offer of 20% off all tickets will be available throughout July using the code Earlybird20.
PRESS NIGHTS
God Save Us
Codex Theatre
Wednesday 7 October 2026 | 7.30pm
Uncle Monty’s Antique Shop
Pither Productions
Wednesday 14 October 2026 | 7.30pm
MERDER
Free The Peacock
Wednesday 21 October 2026 | 7.30pm
Big Love
Proforca Theatre Company
Wednesday 28 October 2026 | 7.30pm
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Season: Here | For 2026
Presented by: Proforca Theatre Company
Venue: Lion & Unicorn Theatre, 42–44 Gaisford Street, Kentish Town, London NW5 2ED
Dates: Tuesday 6 October to Saturday 7 November 2026
Tickets: On sale Wednesday 1 July 2026
Earlybird Offer: 20% off all tickets throughout July with code Earlybird20
Website: www.thelionandunicorntheatre.com
General Enquiries: hello@proforca.co.uk
Press Enquries: Matthew Parker, mail@matthewparker.net
NOTES TO EDITORS
Proforca Theatre Company is an award-winning, critically acclaimed London-based theatre company led by Artistic Director David Brady. The company is the managing company in residence at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre and has produced work including Feel, At Last, Lately, Flashbang and The Shatter Box.
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre is an independent theatre in Kentish Town, London, managed by Proforca Theatre Company.
Here | For 2026 is the first season of its kind at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre. Led by Proforca, the season provides selected companies with financial support, rehearsal support, marketing support, mentorship and a supported performance run. All selected companies were chosen following a rigorous application process, with more than 50 companies applying to be part of the inaugural season.