What's on in London: Charlie & Striptease
A double-bill of political satire.
Written by Sławomir Mrożek in the 1960s and 1970s - when Poland was formally part of the Soviet Union - Charlie & Striptease is a double-bill of political satire.
Blending absurdity with biting social commentary, Mrożek draws back the curtain on the machinery of a paranoid political system, exposing the fear and suspicion that thrive beneath it.
In Charlie, an optician is drawn into a disturbing encounter when an old man and his grandson arrive intent on killing a man named Charlie. How would you know Charlie if you saw him? And why is he being hunted?
In Striptease, two strangers find themselves unexpectedly in a strange room, dictated to by a mysterious “hand” which requires them to divest items of clothing.
Orsolya Nagy, a Hungarian national living in London, was inspired to produce the plays whilst developing a PHD research project on Eastern European absurdist theatre, which led to successful pilot performances of Striptease at Birmingham Theatre Festival 2025.
"These plays, written in the 1960’s, are so relevant today as they explore state authorised oppression and victimisation of the individual – but they are tear-jerkingly funny!" explains producer and actor, Rowland D. Hill. "Even in translation, Mrozek’s wit and humour remain peerless, giving us riotous comedy that is also thought provoking in a time when authoritarianism is on the rise across the western world and innocent citizens can be shot on the streets of America by legalised state militia."
"The Theatre of the Absurd in East-Central Europe carried a critical political statement and reflected on the absurdity of life in the communist era..." says Orsolya Nagy. "Living in London but originally coming from an ex-communist country, I am very interested to see what happens when these plays are out of context, staged in the 21st century in the UK. Can these plays deliver the experience of the absurd that is relatable today? I believe so and my aim as a director is to take the audience on this emotional, strange journey where they recognise the absurdity of our current times and can laugh at it."
The cast for this production is Rowland D. Hill, Simon Brandon, Kenneth Michaels, and Orsolya Nagy.
Charlie & Striptease will run at the Golden Goose Theatre from 21 April until 9 May
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