Battersea Arts Centre has issued the first production photographs of NINA, the debut play by Caroline Williams, timed to coincide with press night for a world premiere that uses Chekhov’s The Seagull to look at coercion and power in the rehearsal room.
The pictures, taken by Ali Wright, were released on Thursday 8 October 2026, the night the critics see NINA. The production began performances on 6 October and is the opening offer of the venue’s autumn-winter season, which Battersea Arts Centre has framed around experimental work, so the images are the first chance for anyone outside the building to see how the piece has been staged.
Williams, whose directing credits include You Do Not Have to Say Anything and Now is the Time to Say Nothing, wrote the play and directs it jointly with the artist Deborah Pearson, the maker of The Future Show and Inside Bitch. Its premise borrows Chekhov’s ingénue: one actress after another tries out for the part of Nina, under a director whose charm sits uneasily with a menacing streak and whose ruthless methods nonetheless get results. Battersea Arts Centre describes the piece as funny and playful as well as disturbing, and recommends it for audiences aged 16 and over.
Four performers share the title role, a line-up that was announced in September: Maya Bartley O'Dea as NINA 01, Samantha Begeman as NINA 02, Nina Bowers as NINA 03 and Gemma Barnett as NINA 04. Joseph Payne plays TIM and Rowan Polonski plays GORAN. Between them, the photographs show all six members of the company.
Williams has been explicit about how close to home the material is: “Meryl Streep once said ‘women have been speaking the language of men all their lives. Women speak men, but men don’t speak women, they don’t dream in it.’ This play, through the prism of The Seagull, is an attempt to stage my version of that dream. Excluding the more surreal elements, everything that happens in NINA has happened to me or someone I know.”
Pearson, who first encountered the script in draft, said: “I first read a draft of Caroline's play during the pandemic and I thought it was one of the most exciting pieces of new writing that I had encountered in a long time.” She added: “Caroline has written something moving and troubling and true. I'm honoured to help bring it to the stage.”
The producer is Kate Yedigaroff, with dramaturgy by Christopher Brett Bailey. Tomás Palmer designs set and costumes, assisted by associate designer Victoria Maytom; Daniel Denton is responsible for the video design, with Jacob Krumpolc as associate; lighting is by Marty Langthorne; and AJ Turner provides composition and sound design, with Alexander Comana as sound associate. Movement is by Laura Dannequin, casting by Nadine Rennie CDG, and Linzy Na Nakorn is credited for artist wellbeing and as associate director.
NINA runs at Battersea Arts Centre on Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN, until 24 October 2026. Evening performances start at 7.30pm, with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm, and tickets are sold on a Pay What You Can basis, with £16 the suggested price.
