Memoria: Two One-Act Plays at Arches Lane Theatre

Memoria: A Double-Bill of One Act Plays
The Anniversary by Anton Chekhov & The Hut by Iain Prest
30 June – 4 July 2026, 7:30 pm

At Arches Lane Theatre

The Anniversary by Anton Chekhov
As the chairman prepares a grand speech to celebrate the bank’s success, interruptions begin to pile up: a nervous clerk with his meticulously prepared report, a persistent wife demanding justice, and a series of increasingly absurd misunderstandings.

What begins as a formal occasion quickly spirals into chaos. The Anniversary is a sharp, fast-paced farce about pride, bureaucracy, and the fragility of social order. Beneath the comedy lies a satire of status, self-importance, and the desperate need to be heard.

The Hut by Iain Prest
Can a hut be a home? According to Alec: no. That’s why he’s fighting his local council’s attempt to demolish the Scout Hut in his village and turn it into flats. And when Alec’s old friend and first love turns up in the village after 20 years, suddenly Alec is forced to rethink his view of the past.

The Hut explores what it means to be rooted in a place vs being stuck: stuck in a town, a relationship, a job. It’s about learning to walk the line between holding on to memories and freeing ourselves from ideas about who we think we are.

And trees. It’s about trees.