Coming Autumn 2026…
Flock originally toured nationally, including a four-week run at the Soho Theatre.
Now it's coming home to Lewisham.
Robbie is 17. His sister Cel is 20. They've grown up in and out of the care system, different placements, different addresses, always finding their way back to each other. Cel wants to go to university. Robbie wants them to finally live together in one place. Neither of those things seems too much to ask.
What follows is Robbie’s journey back through every place he's lived, every moment they shared, every argument and tender exchange, trying to understand how they got here, and whether any of it was his fault.
Lin Coghlan's play is a portrait of grief, love and resilience told through the eyes of a young man who sees the world through the behaviour of birds: free, loyal, and pecking the shit out of each other. It is sad, funny, honest and, in the end, full of hope.
Flock is set in Lewisham, rooted in Lewisham, and made with and for the people of Lewisham. There are 461 children in the borough without a family home. This play is not about statistics. It's about what that actually feels like.
Cast & Creatives
Robbie — Joseph Clark
Cel — Tabitha Detroit
Miko — Romeo Mika
Mrs Bosely — Alice Selwyn
Written by Lin Coghlan
Directed — Jim Pope
Executive Producer — Rhian Davies
Set Designer — Angelica Rush
Lighting Designer — Alex Wardle
Sound Designer — Jules Maxwell
Producer — Chris Elwell
Programme Manager, Education — Nina Graveney-Edwards
Performance Dates
The Jack Studio Theatre, Brockley Road, Lewisham
Tuesday 29 September – Saturday 3 October 2026 at 7.30 pm
Saturday 3 October matinee at 3.00pm
What else is happening?
Walk the Story
A self-guided walk through the streets of Lewisham that puts location at the heart of the story and takes you deeper into the world of Miko, Robbie's friend who is quietly facing his own crisis on the edges of care.
Community Tour
We're bringing Flock to community spaces across Lewisham, so the play comes to the people as much as the people come to the play.
Flock:
Finding Formation
A conference for care-experienced young people, practitioners and policy makers. Co-created with young people who have expertise by experience, this isn't a conference where the people with lived experience sit in the audience. They're at the table, shaping it. The work itself will be living proof of what it looks like to work alongside potential rather than manage need.
Digital Workshop
Experience Flock from home with our digital drama workshop. Explore the story, characters and themes through a series of creative activities designed to give you a taste of a Playing ON drama workshop wherever you are.
Interested?
Whether you want to come to a performance, take the audio walk, attend the conference, or find out how to bring Flock to your organisation or community, get in touch or sign up using the form below.
FLOCK 2024
Inspired by the resilience of young people in the care system, this beautifully written new play by multi award-winning writer Lin Coghlan (The Forsyte Saga Parts 1&2, Park Theatre; The Table, Cardboard Citizens) toured across the country to Oxford, Derby, Bath and Salford, and needed with a 4 week run at the Soho Theatre in October 2024.
Through extensive research and workshopping, the show was shaped by those with lived experiences of growing up in care to create a multi-layered story. Those who have experienced care have been historically underrepresented, and misrepresented, in the nation's cultural output. Flock explored the people behind the systems, the moments of joy, and the complexities of belonging.
This version of the production was developed over three years and alongside Playing ON’s ten week programme ‘Raising the Roof’, which used a combination of online and face to face contact for care experienced young people, culminating in a public performance event. Flock’s authenticity was made possible by the involvement of participants via this programme and at every stage of its development.