World premiere lands in Borough
Southwark theatre-goers will see a brand-new work take shape on home turf this autumn, as Southwark Playhouse Borough readies the world premiere of Relative Motion. Produced by Very Rascals Productions and Feuille Dooley Productions, the play runs in the venue’s Little auditorium from 11 November to 5 December. Written by British–South African playwright Stephanie Greenwood and directed by award-winning British–German director Wiebke Green, the production blends romantic comedy with psychological and black comedy to explore the creeping patterns of control that can take hold inside a relationship.
A locally set love story with a darker turn
The story begins with a chance meeting on a London commuter train, where physics undergraduate Sam encounters aspiring novelist Paul. What first appears to be an unexpected romance gathers speed before the balance between the pair starts to bend. As the show moves forward, audiences are led through subtle compromises and shifting power that signpost the emergence of coercive control — a subject rarely addressed with such precision on stage.
Greenwood’s script looks closely at the stories people tell themselves about love, memory and point of view, asking how easily someone can miss the exact moment a relationship changes direction. Its approach makes this premiere a timely addition to Southwark’s thriving theatre scene, inviting local audiences to compare what they think they see with what is happening between two people in private.
Physics meets feelings on stage
Threaded through the drama are references to Isaac Newton’s theories of motion — ideas of momentum, collision, action and reaction that shape the world around us. The play uses those concepts as a lens to look at human behaviour, contrasting the seeming certainty of science with the messiness of emotion. Greenwood has described how the idea first took form during a train journey at a difficult time in her life:
“Relative Motion began as a short story I wrote on a train while I was in the middle of a turbulent relationship. Looking out the window, I was struck by the idea of relative motion: I was still relative to those on the train with me, yet relative to the houses outside we were travelling by at speed. At that moment, my relationship felt like that. Using Newton’s theories of motion became the framework for this story and a nod to the original story I had written in my notebook that morning. The most frightening thing about coercive control is that it slowly erodes your confidence, judgment, and sense of self without you realising. I realised how common these stories are and, crucially, how little we talk about them.”
As the show navigates that territory, it poses questions that feel close to home for many Londoners: how control can creep in unnoticed, how perspective can shift, and how easy it is to lose one’s footing when affection and power get tangled.
What Southwark audiences can expect
- A contemporary story set in familiar London spaces, including a commuter rail setting that will ring true for those travelling in and out of the borough.
- A tonal mix that moves from light, witty romance to darker psychological territory, without losing sight of everyday detail.
- A production team pairing a new British–South African voice in playwriting with an award-winning British–German director.
The creative pairing suggests a tightly calibrated piece that treats difficult subject matter with care, inviting reflection as well as conversation after curtain call. The run in the intimate Little auditorium should bring the audience close to the shifts in mood and power that the writing examines.
Dates and details
| Production | Relative Motion |
|---|---|
| Writer | Stephanie Greenwood |
| Director | Wiebke Green |
| Venue | Southwark Playhouse Borough |
| Auditorium | The Little |
| Run | 11 November – 5 December |
| Producers | Very Rascals Productions; Feuille Dooley Productions |
With its combination of intellectual curiosity and emotional immediacy, this premiere offers a distinctive addition to the season for theatre-lovers in Southwark. It is also likely to prompt wider conversations about the warning signs of coercive control, and the gap that can open up between how life looks from the outside and how it feels when you are living it.
