A double-bill of bold Soviet political satire is set to be held in Oval’s Golden Goose Theatre, writes Maya Sgaravato-Grant…
The plays Charlie and Striptease, written by award-winning Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek in the 1960s and 1970s, will be performed from Tuesday 21 April.
Combining comedy with unsettling drama through Mrozek’s characteristic blend of absurdity and biting social commentary, the shows seek to expose the fear and suspicion which drive paranoid political systems.
The first of the two plays, Charlie, depicts the experience of an optician who encounters a grandfather and grandson intent on killing a man with the aforementioned name, while in Striptease two strangers find themselves in a room where a mysterious ‘hand’ orders them to progressively remove pieces of clothing.
Producer and actor Rowland D. Hill stated that the shows were still ‘so relevant’ to the present day. He said: “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”
Fellow producer and director Orsolya Nagy was inspired to take up Mrozek’s work while working on a research project on Eastern European absurdist theatre for her PhD. This led to pilot performances of Striptease at Birmingham Theatre Festival in 2025. She said: “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.
“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.”
Golden Goose Theatre, 146 Camberwell New Rd, London SE5 0RR from Tuesday 21st April to Saturday 9th May 2026
Tickets £18 (concessions £15) from 22 April; preview tickets £12. Tickets will include a £1 booking fee
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Booking and full details: https://www.goldengoosetheatre.co.uk/whatson/charlie-and-striptease
