by Mark Ravenhill. Directed by Nick Edwards.
Wednesday 16 – Saturday 26 September
At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington
Snapshots of connection in a disconnected world
Fresh from prison, Nick returns to a world that has moved on without him – fast, glossy and emotionally numb. As he searches for connection, a younger generation chases sex, identity and a sense of belonging.
Some Explicit Polaroids explores a world in which everyone and no one is connected. From author of Shopping and F**king Mark Ravenhill, this biting and perceptive play was first performed in 1999 at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, before transferring to the New Ambassadors in London.
Buy Tickets
Wednesday 16 September at 7.30pm
Thursday 17 September at 7.30pm
Friday 18 September at 7.30pm
Saturday 19 September at 3pm
Saturday 19 September at 7.30pm
Tuesday 22 September at 7.30pm
Wednesday 23 September at 7.30pm
Thursday 24 September at 7.30pm
Friday 25 September at 7.30pm
Saturday 26 September at 3pm
Saturday 26 September at 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 14+. Content Advice
Post-show Q&A with Some Explicit Polaroids writer Mark Ravenhill
Join us to see Some Explicit Polaroids on Tuesday 22 September, and stay after the show for a special Q&A session with the play’s author Mark Ravenhill.
Best known for Shopping and F*cking, Ravenhill is one of Britain’s most widely performed playwrights. Mark Ravenhill’s first play Shopping and F*cking was produced by the Royal Court Theatre in 1996. Subsequent plays include Mother Clap’s Mollyhouse and Citizenship (both National Theatre), Ben and Imo (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Cane (Royal Court), Pool No Water (Frantic Assembly) and The Cut (Donmar). All his plays are published by Methuen and have been widely translated and produced internationally.
Cast
Nick : James Stephen Finn
Helen : Rachel Bothamley
Nadia : Lulu Freeman
Victor : Alexander Astaniotis
Tim : Andrew White
Jonathan : Elisha Sessions
Production Team
Director : Nick Edwards
Set Design : Millie Weston, Emma Brown
Costume Design : Lucy Moss, Grace Easterbrook
Lighting Design : Samuel Littley
Sound Design : Stanley Piper
Projection Design : Max Maxwell
Stage Managers : Bella Cavicchi, Lucy Glass
Assistant Directors : Sibila Diaz-Plaja, Athena Spillius
Lighting Operator : Flavia Corina Di Saverio
Intimacy Co-ordinator : Emilia Teglia
 Some Explicit Polaroids is James Stephen Finn‘s fourth performance at the Tower after having acted in Brighton Rock and Julius Caesar earlier this year and in After Life in 2025. James is an actor and musician, trained at Salon Collective and specialising in Meisner Technique and Practical Aesthetics, who has previously performed in theatrical plays, radio plays and art performances. As a musician he composes, records and performs live with Band Of Holy Joy. The band also produce the weekly live radio show Bad Punk on Resonance FM. |
 Rachel Bothamley has been a member of the Tower Theatre since 2015. Her previous on-stage credits include Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet, Susannah in Bedroom Farce, Alice in Mosquitoes, Emina in Old Bridge and Pip in Things I Know to Be True. Off stage, she has worked as Assistant Stage Manager for Much Ado About Nothing and The Fan, Costume Designer for Trainspotting and the Writers’ Room production of Home, and Assistant Director for Kafka’s Dick and Death and the Maiden. In recent years, Rachel has devoted much of her time to supporting the company behind the scenes as a member of the Management Committee, championing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Safeguarding. She is also a familiar face behind the bar. Rachel is delighted to be returning to the stage as Helen in Some Explicit Polaroids and to be working with such a wonderful cast and creative team. By day, she is Head of Engagement and Co-Director of the revolutionary suicide prevention charity Body & Soul. |
 Lulu Freeman made her Tower Theatre debut playing Parsons and Tanya in Jerusalem. Before joining the Tower, she did most of her performing in East Sussex, with credits spanning plays, musicals and the occasional opera at Glyndebourne. Previous roles include Rita in Educating Rita in 2023. Lulu is delighted to be returning to the Tower stage in Some Explicit Polaroids. She writes plays in her spare time, trains with Home Studio London and is also a vinyl DJ, so if anyone has a 50th birthday coming up, see Lulu after the show. |
 Alexander Astaniotis is making his Tower Theatre debut as Victor in Some Explicit Polaroids. Before joining the company, he began acting in a drama society at university where he performed in Othello and A Christmas Carol. Later he signed up to acting workshops in London during his placement year. Alongside acting, Alexander is involved in the London Rebetiko scene, playing bouzouki and guitar and also singing wherever he can find a venue sorry enough to facilitate him and his cronies. |
 This is Andrew White‘s debut performance at the Tower. Previous stage credits include The Three Musketeers and Chariots of Fire with the Oxford Theatre Guild, as well as The Bald Soprano at California State University. When he’s not on stage, Andrew works as a set designer, so if he’s not delivering his lines, he’s probably quietly admiring the scenery. Following a prolonged absence from performing, Andrew is pleased to return to the stage as Tim in this production of Some Explicit Polaroids. He is grateful to the cast and creative team for making his return such an enjoyable experience. |
 Elisha Sessions joined the Tower last year for a staged reading of The Letter. He studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York, appearing in The Inner Workings Of A Man (Off Broadway) and in Class (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) before embarking on a career in media, where he commissioned, produced and presented podcasts for the BBC and others. |
 Nick Edwards previously directed Cock for the Tower Theatre in 2024, as well as Breathing Corpses for KDC Theatre in 2015. He has also acted in a large number of productions for the Tower and other theatre companies, most recently appearing in My Night With Reg this February. Other notable appearances for the Tower include roles in Consent, Sweat, Clybourne Park and London Wall. Nick is thrilled to be directing a play by Mark Ravenhill and remains passionate about championing LGBTQ+ voices and stories on stage. |
 Millie Weston (Set Design) has big dreams of becoming a professional show designer, and the Tower has been instrumental in helping me move towards that goal. They’ve trusted me with designing and building the sets for three productions — one on my own and two in collaboration with my friend Emma Brown. When I started, I had absolutely no idea where to begin. I’d never designed or built a set before, but sometimes the best way to learn is to be thrown in at the deep end! |
 Grace Easterbrook (Costume Design) is a London-based designer working across theatre and short film costume. Formerly working in technical contemporary womenswear roles, their interest in clothes lies in representing subcultures and everyday people through detailed, distinctive visual identities that feel both intentional and authentic. Grace is overjoyed to team up with the Tower’s inimitable Lucy Moss for Some Explicit Polaroids, combining their experience across both styling and fashion. |
 Lucy Moss (Costume Design) is an actor and costumier who’s been with Tower since 2018. Expressing identities through appearance is key for Lucy’s creating looks for a show; characters revealed through costume can be visual cues that tell as much of a story as words and movement. Lucy’s favourite eras are the 50s-90s, and she adores a shoulder pad, a statement sleeve, and a double denim moment. Lucy’s wanted to work with fellow wardrobe maven Grace Easterbrook since she saw Grace’s inspired before/after slip dress for The Bride in Blood Wedding (Tower 2025). |
 Samuel Littley (Lighting Design) is a software engineer who has been moonlighting as a lighting designer for 14 years. He got his start with student drama at Oxford University, with credits including The History Boys, The Producers (Oxford Playhouse), Lord of the Flies (Keble O’Reilly) and TEDx Oxford 2014/2015 (New Theatre). He has been working with the Tower Theatre Company since 2018, with credits including The Canterbury Tales, Breaking the Code, Kensuke’s Kingdom, hang, The Little Prince, Moby Dick (toured to Brighton Open Air Theatre and the Minack Theatre), and Rapunzel. |
 This is (Stage Manager) Bella Cavicchi‘s sixth production working behind-the-scenes at the Tower. With over ten years of stage management experience under her belt, she likes to say that her favourite artistic pursuit is helping others to make their own art. Previous credits at the Tower include Cock, The Mirror Crack’d, Shakespeare in Love, Rapunzel and My Night with Reg. She is delighted to support the brilliant company of Some Explicit Polaroids in bringing the show to life. |
 This is (Stage Manager) Lucy Glass‘s fourth production in stage management at the Tower. Originally from little New Zealand and now based in London, she brings eight years of television and film production experience to her theatre work. Her stage management credits at the Tower include Shakespeare in Love, Rapunzel and My Night with Reg, and she’s looking forward to joining the dream team behind Some Explicit Polaroids./span> |