'Scrounger' in strictly limited free online run from Finborough Theatre

Directed by Lily McLeish, the video will be available to view free on the Finborough's YouTube channel from 9am on Saturday 1 August until midnight on Monday 3 August 2020, and again from 9am until midnight on Monday 31 August. 

On the streets of Elephant and Castle, everyone likes to make speculations about Scrounger. She needs help, she must not be aware of the complexities of the world, she is sent from the demons to torture her mum… at least according to her Nigerian Uber driver.

Scrounger doesn’t care. A successful online personality, she’s got more power from her bedroom than anyone on the Southwark estates could dream of. She’s educated, she’s ballsy, and with a huge network of online allies, Scrounger is a woman who knows how to make change happen.

That is, until an airline destroys her wheelchair.

Inspired by real events and a lawsuit initiated by Stevens herself, Scrounger drives towards the realities of how Britain is failing its most vulnerable and the extreme cost paid by those seeking justice.

Originally seen as part of Vibrant 2019 – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, Scrounger received its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre in January 2020 where it received rave reviews, was nominated for six OffWestEnd Awards and a London Pub Theatres Standing Ovation Award, and was named one of The Stage’s Top Five Theatre Shows and Time Out’s Show of the Week. The cast are Leigh Quinn and Athena Stevens.

Playwright Athena Stevens returns to the Finborough Theatre where she is a Playwright in Residence, and wrote and performed in the Olivier nominated world premiere of Schism. She is an associate artist at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. She is currently writing the book for a new musical, and is under commission for the National Youth Theatre. She was the first actor in a wheelchair nominated for an OffWestEnd Award for her performance in Schism, as well as appearing at the Barbican Theatre as Juliet last year. Her radio plays include Reluctant Spirit (BBC Radio 3). Stevens is also a spokesperson for the UK’s Women’s Equality Party.