Islington playwright writes play about Islington

A play set in Islington, by a young Islington playwright, had its world premiere in the borough this month.

Nimby, which stands for Not in My Back Yard, by Lola Stephenson, ran at the Old Red Lion Theatre, in St John Street, Islington, from June 8 to June 25.

It tells the story of a family with very progressive morals, who find out how deep set their convictions are when they are put in an extreme situation.

But Lola, 24, who was born and raised just off City Road, says the story shouldn’t be taken to seriously.

“It’s a comedy that deals with extremes, its not particularly realistic,” she said. “People expect everyone in Islington to think a certain way, and it is almost like that Guardian-reading liberalism is the status quo. We take it for granted that everyone is right-on and that is great, but how concrete are those ideals?

“I am not wanting to preach at anyone, just to shed a light on an interesting topic.”

At one hour and twenty minutes, Nimby is the English and drama graduate’s first full-length play and she says it was the opening was quite stressful.

She said: “I was so nervous before the first night, but I have a really clever and funny cast and the director is really good.

“I knew the play would be at the Old red Lion before I wrote it, so I wanted to provide things that an Islington audience would want to think about.”