The Cockpit

Yes, yes, the June edition of Byline Times' monthly gathering THE LURE OF.. has already happened.

BUT there's an extra special one happening on the 10th anniversary of the EU referendum!

THE LURE OF... INDEPENDENCE
22 June

Join the team behind the independent investigative news outlet Byline Times for an entertaining evening of challenging discussion to help us understand the unprecedented times we are living in – and why they are happening – with those with an inside track.

Byline Times' ongoing series exploring the pervasive “lures” shaping modern life – both in the sense of an attraction (an allure) and of deception (bait). Think of it as a unique way to frame issues that opens up one-of-a-kind conversations.

And if you can't make this one? Why not find a date that works for you later in the year and put it in the diary!

https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/BylineTimes

We welcome back this Persian play - this time with live English audio translation available through headsets.

ANONYMOUS 11780
Written and Directed by Hila Sedighi

16 - 17 June

This eight-episode theatrical work invites the audience to witness fragments of life, memory, and loss through a poetic and narrative structure. Moving between intimate personal moments and collective historical memory, the piece reflects on violence, grief, and the emotional weight carried across generations.

At its core, the work honours the stories of eight individuals who lost their lives during the events of 18 and 19 Dey (8th and 9th of January), offering a contemplative and emotionally charged exploration of loss, identity, resistance, and remembrance.

Through live performance, poetic language, and visual storytelling, Anonymous 11780 creates a space where personal testimony and collective memory intersect.

https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/anonymous_11780

Produced by Mehromah Art Production



Please note: This performance is presented in Farsi (Persian), with live English audio translation available through headsets.

THEATRE IN THE POUND

15 June, 7:00 pm

Our not-for-profit scratch night, designed for artists to try out 10-15 minutes of new work on our stage, with full support from our backstage and tech crew.

For audiences, they're a cheap and fun night out, with the chance to see new work and share your thoughts directly with the performers!

This Month:

MATE By Nuzhat Jabinh

Have you ever talked to a stranger? Have you ever felt your whole world was balancing on just one moment?
Each time this play, based on actual events, is performed the ending is left to chance, as it was in life, only during the play we won't know how it ends until it does.
Oh, and there's a bomb.


RUBY, ROSE, MERLOT By Destiny

A date goes perfectly. When Qay asks the wrong question, time freezes, and Shani is left alone with everything she’s been holding in.
Through a raw, physical monologue, she unravels her insecurities. When the world unfreezes, the date carries on as if nothing has happened - on the surface at least.


THE GRAND PRIX FOR EXCELLENCE IN PERSONAL RELATIONS By Sam John

Mullund Turnback is a maverick within the public relations sphere, tasked with saving a pharmaceutical giant that stands at the heart of a deadly scandal. With each encounter he faces, Mullund’s charming persona steadily crumbles into disarray and an unyielding will to survive no matter the cost. As his guests, the audience become complicit in Mullands transformation: from a legend of previous PR disasters to a man consumed by the company he serves.


THE MASOCHISTS By Eleanor Boes

Ivy is trying to start her adult life when the most interesting person she's ever met reappears. The two young women travel down a path that was never there for them before, with no idea of what lies at the end of it.


THE BREAK-UP By Julian Guassard

We all know the pain of relationship separation. The way it carves a piece of your soul that you'll never get back. And we all know the moment of release and lightness, when we move forward. This piece humorously meditates on the links between loss and human torment, with deeper motions of the human spirit, art, the voice, birdsong, and the struggle of light and dark within the human spirit.


Tickets: £1
These can only be purchased from the bar on the night. Cash or a card is fine.

Can't come this month? These Scratch Nights happen every third Monday of the month. Come along!

https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/theatre_in_the_pound_june_0

TODAY!

Byline Times are back with another of their THE LURE OF.. events. This time? It's all about HOPE.

THE LURE OF... HOPE

8 June

Hosted by Byline Times Editor-in-Chief Hardeep Matharu and Co-Founder Peter Jukes

On the one hand, genuine hope is potent. It endowed us with representative democracy, women’s liberation, the welfare state, and even the weekend. Hope gives ordinary people the courage to organise, resist and imagine something better, even in dark or uncertain times. Without it, political progress of any kind becomes impossible.

But on the other hand, false hope has always been ripe for exploitation. Entire political and media industries now trade in nostalgic fantasies and silver-bullet solutions: the promise that complex social problems can be solved by returning to some mythologised past, punishing the right scapegoat, or placing faith in strongmen.

The need for hope itself is profoundly human. But how do we distinguish between hope that liberates and hope that manipulates?

GUESTS include:
NEAL LAWSON, Political commentator, author and journalist, co-founder of Compass - a progressive campaign group that is working to "remake our country’s political and democratic system, to make it fit for our times"
BEN ANDERSON, Professor of Human Geography at Durham University, and co-author of The Politics of Feeling
ADAM BIENKOV, Editor at Byline Times, based in the House of Commons
JOSIAH MORTIMER, Chief Reporter at Byline Times
JAMES BLOODWORTH, Journalist and author of Lost Boys: Undercover in the Manosphere (2025) and Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain (2018)

https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lure_of_hope

Not free for this one? Join us for THE LURE OF.. INDEPENDENCE on 22 June.

Byline Times' ongoing series here at The Cockpit explores the pervasive “lures” shaping modern life – both in the sense of an attraction (an allure) and of deception (bait). Think of it as a unique way to frame issues that opens up one-of-a-kind conversations in the round. We hope you’ll join us for an interactive, open, and thought-provoking evening – and an opportunity for follow-up chats at the bar afterwards.