An old style black and white photo of the Face of Mark Thomas, a man with an unshaven face and shaved head staring seriously into the camera, stuck on a pale green brick wall. Next to it is another black and white photo of him as a boy also pinned to the wall.

Mark Thomas in character on stage turning back towards the camera with his face looking forward but side on to the camera, with the audience blurred in the background. He is wearing a white shirt and looks calm.

Mark Thomas in character on stage with his right arm up high and his left arm pointing forward, his mouth is open and his expression is alert and surprised. He is wearing a white shirt with black writing on it that says "Champion"

England & Son

Theatre and Physical Theatre • Theatre

United Kingdom • Australian Premiere

'Any nation that devours another will one day devour itself.' This is a one-man play written for multi-award winning Mark Thomas by award-winning playwright Ed Edwards (The Political History of Smack and Crack). With some deep, dark laughs – & some deep, dark love – England & Son emerges from characters in Mark’s childhood & Ed's lived experience in jail. Prepare to be taken on a kaleidoscopic odyssey where disaster capitalism, empire, stolen youth & stolen wealth merge into the simple tale of a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him. EDFRINGE FIRST WINNER

★★★★★ "A must see." The Recs

★★★★★ "Searing." Fest

★★★★★ "humorous and deeply moving." North West End UK

★★★★ "absolute recommendation" British Theatre Guide

★★★★ "a twisting, 360 degree portrait" The Telegraph

Presented by: Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award '23 in association with HOME Manchester and Tin Cat Entertainment

Holden Street operates all year round with two resident theatre companies and has been a part of both the Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe festival landscapes since we opened in 2002.
With our multi-award-winning Adelaide Fringe Festival programs, we have built a reputation as the 'Home of Theatre' in Adelaide.
OUR purpose is to advance culture by producing and presenting professional theatre productions, to engage in related activities, to promote and encourage participation in theatre, to generate employment for theatre practitioners in South Australia and to promote fellowship among the arts community.

Holden Street is a registered Charity.

Reviews & Fringefeed Reacts

...(the) story of one man’s life, and the people and politics that shaped him. It’s heart-breaking, incendiary, and brilliant. - Mark Wickett, Stage Whispers
It's much food for thought, and it’s the stuff of compelling theatre. England & Son is a triumph. - Kym Clayton, The Barefoot Review
England & Son is urgent theatre, as lucid as it is dreadful to countenance. But stare at it we must…darkly funny, grimly prophetic… - Murray Bramwell, InReview (InDaily)
Thomas grabs the audience by the throat and doesn’t let go. Electrifying... Brilliant... a superb piece of dramatic theatre. - Brian Godfrey, Glam Adelaide

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