“It’s extraordinary, isn’t it? That we should find each other.”
The year is 1949, and Roberta Cowell; racing driver, RAF pilot and ‘It’ girl, meets Michael Dillon; a ship’s doctor who pursued Buddhism into the high Himalayas. Together they will change the course of British transgender history. Yet after just three short years, they never speak again.
Separated by time and space, Michael and Roberta meet for one last impossible encounter, to find out if the thing that brought them together was the same thing that broke them apart – The Law of Mayhem.
Joyful, uplifting and full of heart, Award-winning Basingstoke theatre company Proteus, and acclaimed writer Tabby Lamb bring the extraordinary lives of trans-trailblazers Michel Dillon and Roberta Cowell to the stage for the first time.
Using circus as a physical vocabulary, The Law Of Mayhem tells the story of two lives, inextricably entwined, that made their mark in history and forged a path for generations to come.
If it gives real happiness, that is the most that any surgeon or medicine can give.
Sir Harold Gillies CBE
📸Rich Lakos
Moving, motivating, uplifting
- Theatre and Tonic
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NOW BOOKING 2027 TOUR
JUST ANNOUNCED:
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
20-24th April 2027
Now on general sale
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Tabby Lamb
Director: Amber Sinclair-Case
Developed by: Jo Tyabji
Creative Director: Mary Swan
Movement Director: Daniela Essart
Scenographer: Miriam Nabarro
Costume Supervisor: Sam Pine
Lighting Design: Jodie Underwood
Sound Design: Mwen
Production Manager: Nick Ash
Company Stage Manager: Theodor Spiridon
Producer: Nick Sweeting
Additional Credits For Proteus:
Artwork Designer: Rebecca Pitt
Rehearsal Photographer: Chuck Douglas
Concept Trailer: Nathan Mountain
Production Videography: Rob Thrush
National Press & Publicity (2025 Premiere): Lorn at Mobius PR
Marketing Campaign Manager: Mary George
Press & Media Enquiries (2026/27): Milo Turnley PR | [email protected]
Enquiries for 2027 tour: Nick Sweeting | [email protected]
FIRST PREMIERED IN SEPTEMBER 2025
The Law of Mayhem premiered at the Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke in September 2025 to rave reviews.
The original cast included: Kit Green, Pete MacHale, Mos Bain, Oran Longmuir, Milton Lopes
- Fans of new writing/ contemporary theatre: acclaimed contemporary playwright Tabby Lamb, and use of magic realism in the narrative
- Trans+ & LGBTQIA+ audiences: previously untold queer history represented on stage for the first time
- Circus and physical theatre audiences: Using Proteus distinct visual and physical language, including aerial narrative circus
- British History/ heritage: This is an extraordinary piece of previously untold British history and the part that Sir Harold Gillies and Basingstoke (Proteus’ hometown) played in the medical advancement of trans-history
- Academics: Those in particular studying gender studies, history, medicine, sociology and theatre. An academic archive of Trans-history, focusing on documenting the lives of Michael and Roberta will also be a publicly available resource.
- Inter-generational: The story begins in post-war Britain 1949. Roberta Cowell; a racing driver, RAF pilot, and ‘one of the few’ and later ‘It’ girl, meets Michael Dillon; University Rower, a ship’s doctor, published academic author who pursued Buddhism into the high Himalayas. This play will also appeal to older audiences who have lived experience of post-war Britain.
