Playwright and performer Athena Stevens returns to the Finborough Theatre where she is a Playwright in Residence. Her productions at the Finborough Theatre include writing and performing in Scrounger, winner of the OffWestEnd Award for Best New Play; Schism which transferred to the Park Theatre, was nominated for an Olivier Award and an OffWestEnd Award for Best Female Performance in a Play; and Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels, streamed during lockdown in 28 separate episodes, winner of the OffWestEnd OnComm Award. Other writing includes Reluctant Spirit (BBC Radio 3) and Hello to the Trolls (National Youth Theatre). Acting includes understudying for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Trafalgar Studios), Juliet in Redefining Juliet (Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre) and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (RADA). Film and Television include the feature documentary Day of Small Things (Channel 4), EastEnders (BBC), the short film The Conference (BBC) and three web series for YouTube. In addition to her theatre career, Athena is a neuropsychology student at the Harvard Extension School, where her research focuses on basal ganglia injury and its effects on emotional regulation. She is the co-host of NeuroBlast!, a podcast that makes neuroscience accessible to a broad audience. She also worked as a consultant to the London Underground for seven years. Her autobiography What’s Done Cannot Be Undone will be published by HarperCollins on 5 June 2025 in hardback, e-book, audiobook and trade paperback.

Director and performer Ché Walker recently wrote, acted and directed Burnt Up Love at the Finborough Theatre. Productions at the Finborough Theatre as an actor include Etta Jenks and Venetian Heat; as a director, His Greatness, Etta Jenks, Blue Surge, Fog and Achidi J’s Final Hours; and as director and playwright, Time Is Love/Tiempo Es Amor. Trained at the Webber Douglas Academy. Theatre includes Othello (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse/Shakespeare's Globe) and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare’s Globe), Christmas (Bush Theatre), Tuesday Night Poker (Theatre Row, New York), French Toast (Riverside Studios), 2:22 A Ghost Story (Gielgud Theatre), The Prince (Southwark Playhouse), Intra Muros (Park Theatre), Biloxi Blues (Salisbury Playhouse), Last Sortie (New End Theatre, Hampstead), Pitchfork Disney (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow) and Wait Until Dark (Theatre Royal Plymouth). Film includes Deadmeat, January 2nd, Kiss Kiss, Circus and Beyond Bedlam. Television includes Riches, The Chelsea Detective, Youngers, Holby City, Eastenders, The Office, The Vice, Madsen, Lipstick On Your Collar, Killing Time, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Supply and Demand, Little Napoleons, State of Affairs, The Bill, Between The Lines, Class Act, Soldier Soldier, Casualty, Minder, Rules of Engagement and Dangerfield.

Winner – OffWestEnd Award for New Play
Time Out – Show of the Week
The Stage – Top Five Theatre Shows
★★★★ Four Stars, Time Out, London Living Large, Close-Up Culture, Reviewsgate, The Spy in the Stalls, The Upcoming, A Younger Theatre, London Pub Theatres, Breaking the Fourth Wall, The Londonist.
“A stimulating, challenging evening…terrific.” William Russell, Reviewsgate
“Scrounger does for disability what Fairview does for the white, liberal gaze on race. It is unashamedly provocative; justifiably angry.” Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
“Athena Stevens’s excellent new play…provocative, smart and calls out its liberal audience...and that’s something so little of the theatre that’s on stage is doing right now. Instead of preaching to the converted…it sinks its teeth into the hypocrisies of people who tell themselves they’re doing good without actually doing anything.” Rosemary Waugh, Time Out
“Stevens aims for the jugular with a straight-shooting political touch.” Cindy Marcolina, Broadway World
“An impassioned – and provocative – piece of work…No one is spared from the force of nature that is Stevens…Playwright Athena Stevens is one ballsy individual. She’s not scared of anyone or anything. Attitude and anger course through her veins.” Jeff Prestridge, Close-Up Culture
“We came away richer for seeing Athena's play and, especially, her stunning performance.” David Saxon Jones, London Living Large
“It's all told with humour, warmth and a healthy amount of outrage.” Paul Ewing, The Londonist

Burnt-Up Love – One of The Observer’s Top 10 Productions of 2024. ★★★★ ½ Four ½ stars, London Pub Theatres ★★★★ Four Stars, The Stage, The Observer, LondonTheatre1, The Reviews Hub, Everything Theatre, Plays to See, Morning Star, Squirrp, The Arts Desk, ajhlovestheatre

“Extraordinary.” Susannah Clapp, The Observer

“A highly recommended watch, bordering on exceptional.” John Montgomery, London Pub Theatres

“One of the very finest three-handers I’ve seen for a long time.” Simon Jenner, FringeReview

“Beautiful and moving play. I am SO glad I went.  If you're looking for an evening out I really, really recommend going.” Raye.

Fog – Time Out Show of the Week and Critics' Choice, ★★★★★ Five Stars, WhatsOnStage, ★★★★ Four Stars The Daily Telegraph and Time Out
"Ché Walker’s sizzling and stunning production.” Aleks Sierz, The Stage
"Ché Walker's cleverly heightened production jangles your nerves and twists your heart.” Paul Taylor, The Independent
"Ché Walker's production...is intimate, tender, terrifying” Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
Blue Surge – Time Out Critics' Choice, ★★★★ Four Stars, Time Out, The Times, The Guardian, WhatsOnStage and Evening Standard.

"Powerfully served...by Ché Walker’s direction...An evening of great theatre." Jeremy Kingston, The Times His Greatness – Time Out Critics' Choice – ★★★★ Four Stars The Sunday Times, WhatsOnStage and Time Out

Etta Jenks – "Superbly directed by Ché Walker...an exciting, darkly comic evening." Aleks Sierz, What’s On in London

Achidi J's Final Hours – "Fringe theatre is bristling with creativity and flair but is often overlooked. This seething mass of talent has risen to the surface at the Finborough with this transfixing production. Director Ché Walker creates a wonderfully tragic journey...this production is a triumph for all involved." The Stage

This production contains flashing lights, loud sounds, and strong language.

We want to make productions at the Finborough Theatre accessible to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the limitations of being an unfunded theatre above a pub mean that we are not able to accommodate everyone (although we are actively fundraising to remedy this situation).

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