Royal Court Theatre announces That Is Not Who I Am by first-time playwright Dave Davidson

Published on Wed 20 Apr 2022

Dave Davidson’s first play, That Is Not Who I Am, will premiere at the Royal Court Theatre’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs in June 2022. Royal Court Theatre Associate Director Lucy Morrison will direct. The production will run from Friday 10 June 2022 to Saturday 16 July 2022 with press night on Thursday 16 June 2022, 7pm.

When Ollie has his identity stolen on the internet, it’s bad enough. But soon it’s not just his online life collapsing – his real life is being stolen too. Who is the person really doing and saying these awful things? And who can Ollie trust to see the real him when the world sees him as a monster? Did the real him ever exist in the first place?

A slippery new thriller in which nothing is as it seems and nobody is who they are.

Davidson has worked in the security industry for the last 38 years, this is his first play.

 

Commenting on this news, playwright Dennis Kelly said;

“Dave Davidson is quite simply the best playwright that this country has never produced. The fact that this is his first major production is a shocking indictment of the system. His voice genuinely has the capacity to change everything.”

Playwright Simon Stephens added;

“Dave Davidson had been working steadily in the fringes of the London new writing scene when I first met him on a writers’ group. His work always showed striking potential. But the force and brilliance of THAT IS NOT WHO I AM has completely astonished me. It is a play of rare political urgency, savage wit and real compassion and wisdom. It is a play that defines this country as it blinks its way out of the pandemic and into a chilling new world. It is, I think, a startlingly significant piece of work. I am so glad Dave came back to writing.”

 

Please note Davidson is highly security conscious and therefore there will be no images supplied of him or any available throughout the run of the production. Any images or biographies for ‘Dave Davidson’ online are attributed to other individuals with the same name, not this playwright.

Dave is open to interviews but no photos.

Casting to be announced.

Read the full press release here.