First Last Dance (A Riverside R&D Sharing)

Two people meet for a drink the night before a criminal trial that will change both their lives forever. First Last Dance is a new play about trust, sacrifice and why we’re so obsessed with romance when the world is on fire. The script was written on the Jerwood HighTide writers group and shortlisted for the 2026 VCA Playwriting Prize. This work in progress sharing is supported by the Peter Shaffer Foundation and Riverside Studios.

Creatives:

Aisling Towl is is a playwright and poet from South London. She is an alumnus of the Royal Court playwrights’ group and the Jerwood HighTide writers group, and has had work staged at venues including King's Head Theatre, Soho Theatre and Cambridge Guildhall. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridpoint Prize, nominated for the Pushcart Prize and published in journals including Basket Magazine, And Other Poems and The Seaford Review. She was the 2024-25 Peter Shaffer Playwright in Residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, and is a 2026 Hawthornden Fellow.

Harry Tennison is a theatre director and dramaturg from Harlow in Essex, now based in South London. Credits include: HighTide Rising (Soho Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre), The Beautiful Future is Coming (Jermyn Street Theatre), I Know I Know I Know (Southwark Playhouse), Robin Hood (The Maltings, Ely), Sleeping Beauty (The Grange, Hartford). He was previously a part of Mercury Theatre’s Directors Scheme. He co-runs new writing company DONOTALIGHT, a new theatre company interested in new writing about living in the world today. Their work is grounded in formal inventiveness and telling political stories through a personal lens.

Folu Odimayo is a choreographer, performer and movement director whose practice focuses on finding articulation and poetry through movement. As a dancer, he has worked for a variety of companies and artists such as Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City, Holly Blakey, Bullyache amongst others. Experience as a choreographer stretches across music videos for artists such as Pem, Autoheart, Harvey Causon, gallery works at the Serpentine, as well as his own film work which has been featured on Director’s Notes and commissioned by Sadler’s Wells Theatre. 

Cast:

Rosie Dwyer (F1: The Movie, The Beautiful Future is Coming, Sex Education)

Simon Lennon (G'wed, Death in Paradise, Bridgerton)