CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR BOY, A NEW PLAY BY LEO BUTLER, DIRECTED BY SACHA WARES AT THE ALMEIDA THEATRE

Transcription

1 PRESS RELEASE CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR BOY, A NEW PLAY BY LEO BUTLER, DIRECTED BY SACHA WARES AT THE ALMEIDA THEATRE 5 April 28 May Press Night 12 April The Almeida Theatre announces the cast for the world premiere of Boy, a new play by Leo Butler, directed by Sacha Wares. The cast is Mohammad Amiri, Osman Baig, Ruby Bridle, Emilio Doorgasingh, Terina Drayton, Aeran Fitzgerald, Frankie Fox, Ellie Mai Gallagher, Bayleigh Gray, Zainab Hasan, Duramaney Kamara, Asiatu Koroma, Wendy Kweh, Lev Litvinov, Georgie Lord, Angel Loren, Teann McDonnell, Eugenie-Alexia Mulumba, Sarah Niles, Demi Papaminas, Imogen Roberts, Abdul Salis, Morgane Tapia, Peter Temple and Matthew Wellard. Boy will run at the Almeida Theatre from 5 April until 28 May, with a Press Night on 12 April. A boy. At a bus stop. Easily missed. Master of observation, Leo Butler casts a sharp eye over contemporary London and picks out someone for us to follow. Someone easily missed amongst the crowd. Following last year's ground breaking production of Game, the innovative director-designer team Sacha Wares and Miriam Buether return to the Almeida to bring this ambitious exploration of austerity era London to life. They are joined by an award-winning creative team and an exciting company of young actors, as well as supernumeraries recruited from the borough of Islington. For many of the cast Boy will mark their stage debut. Written by Leo Butler, who has quietly established himself as one of the UK s most talented political playwrights, Boy is an important new play about coming of age in twenty first century London. For Boy, Sacha Wares is joined by a formidable creative team, including two powerhouse contemporary designers, Miriam Buether for set design (Game, Wild Swans, Sucker Punch, My Child, Generations), and Ultz for costume (Jerusalem, Hobson s Choice, Fallout, Pied Piper), who will be collaborating with each other for the first time. Further creative credits include movement by Leon Baugh, lighting by Jack Knowles and sound by Gareth Fry. Ruby Bridle s previous credits include Gypsy for Chichester Festival Theatre and Matilda for the RSC; Emilio Doorgasingh s previous credits include Dara at the National Theatre and The Kite Runner for Nottingham Playhouse; Zainab Hasan previously performed on the Almeida Stage in ICU, written, produced and performed by Young Friends of the Almeida in 2013 as part of Almeida Projects. Her other credits include Henry V for the Donmar Warehouse and at St Ann s Warehouse,

2 New York. Wendy Kweh s credits include Chimerica for the Almeida in the West End and You for Me For You at the Royal Court; Georgie Lord s credits include Tipping the Velvet at the Lyric, Hammersmith; Sarah Niles credits include Catastrophe (Channel 4), The Crucible at the Old Vic and Table for the National Theatre; Demi Papaminas credits include Emil and the Detectives at the National Theatre; Abdul Salis credits includes Paines Plough s Roundabout season, Love, Actually, War Horse for the National Theatre in the West End and Don Juan in Soho for the Donmar Warehouse; Peter Temple s credits include The Sisterhood at Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; Matthew Wellard s credits include The Miser for Watermill Theatre, Newbury. PARTNERSHIP WITH ARSENAL IN THE COMMUNITY Alongside the production, the Almeida is partnering with Arsenal in the Community on a complementary outreach programme funded by the Arsenal Foundation to further engage with young people in the London borough of Islington. The project will see the partners work together to reach young people who haven t previously been involved in theatre, encouraging them to create and share their stories and experiences. Four professional playwrights will work with 40 young people recruited through Arsenal in the Community networks over the course of 6 weeks to encourage them to develop ideas for short plays and monologues responding to the themes in Boy. The resulting plays will then be presented by professional directors and actors on the set of Boy in the Almeida Theatre, giving young people a voice. Young people will also be invited to participate in a panel discussion led by young people for young people interrogating questions determined by the participants themselves to explore their views on the world they live in. The Almeida has commissioned Todd MacDonald, a filmmaker for media production company Illuminations, to produce films of the work created through this partnership. Films of the short plays and monologues developed and written by young people being mentored by professional playwrights will be performed by project participants and actors for release online. A further film will document the entire project and celebrate the partnership between Arsenal and the Almeida. Leo Butler s playwriting credits include Alison! A Rock Opera at the Royal Court, King s Head Theatre and the Spread Eagle Theatre, Could You Please Close The Door Please at the FIND Festival and Schaubuhne, Berlin, Sixty-Nine at The Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival, Juicy Fruits at Paines Plough, Traverse Theatre and Royal Exchange, Come to Where I m From at Paines Plough and Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, The Early Bird at the Queen s Theatre, Belfast and Finborough Theatre, I ll Be The Devil which was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Tricycle Theatre, Heroes which toured for the National Theatre, Devotion at the Theatre Centre and Do It!, Airbag, Faces in The Crowd, Lucky Dog, Redundant and Made of Stone at the Royal Court Theatre. Leo s screen credits include Jerusalem the Golden and Self Made. Leo Butler won the George Devine Award in 2001 for Redundant and was the Writer s Tutor for the Royal Court s Young Writers programme from Leo has had plays performed in countries across the world, including South Africa, Hungary, Russia, the United States, Brazil and Australia. Sacha Wares is Associate Director at the Young Vic and was previously Associate Director of the Royal Court from Her other previous director credits include Wild Swans and Generations at the Young Vic, Sucker Punch, My Child and Credible Witness at the Royal Court, Random at the Royal Court and UK Tour, Trade at the Swan Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Soho Theatre, Platform at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London, A Number for the Theatre Project, Tokyo, Guantanamo: Honour Bound to Defend Freedom at the Tricycle Theatre,

3 Ambassador s Theatre and Lafayette Theater, New York, Bintou at the Arcola Theatre, Six Degrees of Separation at the Sheffield Crucible and Pera Palas at the Gate Theatre. NOTES TO EDITORS INFORMATION ON ALMEIDA PARTICIPATION We are committed to ensuring that every child and young person, whatever their circumstances, has the opportunity to access our unique theatre and the activity it has to offer. We offer a high quality and innovative programme for, by and with young people, aged Our participation team works primarily with the young people of Islington and its surrounding boroughs. Islington is a complex, culturally diverse, socially and economically deprived inner city borough. It has the second highest level of child poverty in London, where 15,000 children live in families where nobody works. In all, we aim to work with over 3,000 young people a year in structured programmes to inspire, challenge and engage them as audience members, participants and theatre makers; creating opportunities that work to increase confidence, communication and team-work. We want to ensure that we are reaching everyone not just those who are already keen and committed, and that our work is accessible for a diverse range of young people. ARSENAL IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE ARSENAL FOUNDATION: Arsenal in the Community was established in 1985, when Arsenal became one the first clubs in the UK to set up a dedicated community team. Through the diverse programmes that have developed over time such as social inclusion, employability, education and sport initiatives, Arsenal in the Community has made a real, positive impact on the lives of over a million young people in its community. The Arsenal Foundation was launched in May 2012 and uses the Arsenal name to change lives through the projects and causes it supports. The Arsenal Foundation goes from strength to strength, expanding its local impact through a global partnership with Save the Children. Most recently, The Arsenal Foundation has worked with the charity to fund two football pitches in refugee camps in Iraq for displaced young people, giving them a safe place to play. The Arsenal Foundation works hand in hand with Arsenal in the Community to inspire and support young people in its local community. BOY RELAXED PERFORMANCE Wednesday 11 May 2.30pm A Relaxed Performance is specifically designed to welcome people who will benefit from a more relaxed performance environment, including people with an Autism Spectrum Condition, sensory and communication disorders, or a learning disability. People have the freedom to come and go as necessary and a chill-out area is provided for those who need a quiet space. There is a relaxed attitude to noise and movement and some small changes made to light and sound effects. For more information please contact access@almeida.co.uk or call the Box Office on ALMEIDA QUESTIONS Dramatising Poverty - Thursday 12 May at 6 pm Does modern drama have a responsibility to put stories of disadvantage on stage and screen? Is there a danger of cultural voyeurism? To discuss, Boy playwright Leo Butler will be joined by Selina Todd (author of The People: The

4 Rise and Fall of the Working Class, fellow and vice principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford) and BAFTA and Evening Standard Award-winning playwright, Roy Williams (Sucker Punch, Days of Significance). Answers Back: Young People s Panel - Thursday 5 May at 6 pm This panel for young people will explore ideas raised in our production of Boy. CURRENTLY AT THE ALMEIDA THEATRE UNCLE VANYA BY ANTON CHEKOV A NEW VERSION CREATED BY ROBERT ICKE UNTIL 26 MARCH 2016 Jessica Brown Findlay (Sonya), Vanessa Kirby (Elena), Richard Lumsden (Telegin), Hilton McRae (Serebryakov), Tobias Menzies (Astrov), Ann Queensberry (Nanny), Paul Rhys (Vanya) and Susan Wooldridge (Maria) in Chekhov s Uncle Vanya, a new version created by and directed by Associate Director, Robert Icke, at the Almeida Theatre. Running until 26 March 2016, Uncle Vanya is Icke s next production following the critically acclaimed Oresteia, which ran at the Almeida Theatre, transferred to the West End, and recently won him the Evening Standard Award for Best Director. Things your life could be: (1) a farce. (2) a tragedy. (3) pointless. (4) all of the above. Things you could do about it: (1) keep living. (2) stop living. (3) stop someone else living. (4) nothing. Even so, what has your life been worth? Chekhov s late masterpiece examines human behaviour in all of its beautiful, terrible, laughable contradiction. AND ELSEWHERE KING CHARLES III A NEW PLAY BY MIKE BARTLETT DIRECTED BY RUPERT GOOLD WITH WHITNEY MOSERY UK TOUR FROM 4 SEPTEMBER 2015 Following critically acclaimed sell-out runs at the Almeida Theatre and in the West End, King Charles III is currently on a UK Tour. Robert Powell takes on the role of King Charles. The company is Robert Powell, Penelope Beaumont, Jennifer Bryden, Richard Glaves, Dominic Jephcott, Geoffrey Lumb, Lucy Phelps, Ben Righton, Giles Taylor, Tim Treloar, Beatrice Walker and Paul Westwood. Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook, lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti. King Charles III has played at 17 venues and is still to run at Cheltenham Everyman, Manchester Opera House and Norwich Theatre Royal. The King Charles III tour is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Charles Diamond and the Almeida Theatre, in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and by arrangement with Lee Dean. KING CHARLES III A NEW PLAY BY MIKE BARTLETT DIRECTED BY RUPERT GOOLD WITH WHITNEY MOSERY ROSLYN PACKER THEATRE, SYDNEY

5 FROM 31 MARCH 2016 King Charles III opens in Sydney in March 2016 at the Roslyn Packer Theatre. Robert Powell will reprise the role of Charles as performed on the UK Tour. Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook, lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti. King Charles III is produced in Sydney by Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Charles Diamond and the Almeida Theatre in association with Birmingham Repertory and by arrangement with Lee Dean. AMERICAN PSYCHO A NEW MUSICAL BASED ON THE AWARD-WINNING NOVEL BY BRET EASTON ELLIS MUSIC & LYRICS BY DUNCAN SHEIK BOOK BY ROBERT AGUIRRE-SACASA DIRECTED BY RUPERT GOOLD GERALD SCHOENFELD THEATRE FROM 24 MARCH 2016 The Almeida and Headlong production of American Psycho will be presented on Broadway by Act 4 Entertainment (David Johnson & Jesse Singer), Jeffrey Richards, and Jerry Frankel in cooperation with Edward R Pressman. American Psycho had its world premiere at the Almeida on 3 December 2013 running until 1 February 2014 and was Rupert Goold s first production in his tenure as Artistic Director. The Broadway production will star Benjamin Walker (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) as Patrick Bateman. Living the high life in 1980s Manhattan, Patrick Bateman has it all looks, money, style and status. He and his entourage buy the most expensive designer clothes, eat at the most exclusive restaurants and party at the hottest clubs. But privately, Patrick indulges in another kind of transgression. And people - including those closest to him - keep disappearing. NOTES TO EDITORS THE ALMEIDA THEATRE A small room with an international reputation, the Almeida began life as a literary and scientific society complete with library, lecture theatre and laboratory. From the very beginning, its building existed to investigate the world. Today, the Almeida makes bold new work that asks big questions; of plays, of theatre and how we live. It brings together the most exciting artists to take risks, to provoke, inspire and surprise its audiences, to interrogate the present, dig up the past and imagine the future. Whether new work or reinvigorated classic, whether in its theatre or elsewhere, the Almeida makes work to excite and entertain with extraordinary live art, every day. Founded by Pierre Audi in 1980, his successors were Jonathan Kent and Ian McDiarmid in 1990, and Michael Attenborough in Productions including Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes in 2005, Rufus Norris Festen, Ruined by Lynn Nottage and most recently Chimerica, Ghosts and King Charles III have given the theatre international renown. In summer 2013, Rupert Goold joined the Almeida as Artistic Director. His first production as Artistic Director was American Psycho: A new musical thriller, which opens March 2016 on Broadway. In 2014 the Almeida productions of Ghosts and Chimerica won eight Olivier Awards including Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best New Play, Best Director and Best Revival and enjoyed transfers to the West End and Broadway respectively. This was followed by King Charles III, which then transferred to the West End at the Wyndham s Theatre and won the Olivier Award for Best New

6 Play in King Charles III opened on Broadway on November 1, is currently on a national UK tour, and will open in Sydney in March In summer 2015, the Almeida presented Almeida Greeks, which included three major new productions of Oresteia, Bakkhai and Medea, the latter of which was directed by Goold, with a festival of events, performances, talks and readings running alongside. He co-directed The Iliad and The Odyssey with Almeida Associate Director Robert Icke. Involving more than 60 readers, The Iliad reached an audience of over 50,000 people across the world, watching online, or in person at the British Museum and the Almeida Theatre. The Odyssey followed the huge success of The Iliad, and involved an army of artists in various locations around London, four of which audiences could attend. As with The lliad, both theatrical events were live streamed throughout and achieved ground-breaking levels of online engagement. Other notable productions include: 1984 by George Orwell in a new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan who won Best Director at the 2014 UK Theatre Awards for 1984; and The Merchant of Venice, directed by Rupert Goold and originally produced for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Rupert Goold was Artistic Director of Headlong from 2005 until 2013 where his work included The Effect, ENRON, Earthquakes in London and Decade. Other theatre credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Almeida, Macbeth at Chichester Festival Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway and No Man s Land at The Gate and in the West End. In 2014 he directed Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre. He was Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2009 to 2012 and was Artistic Director of Northampton Theatres from 2002 to He has twice been the recipient of the Laurence Olivier, Critics Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director. For television he has directed Macbeth and Richard II for the BBC and Neal Street Productions, the latter of which was nominated for a BAFTA. His first feature film, True Story, which stars James Franco and Jonah Hill for Plan B and Fox Searchlight, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in The Almeida is grateful to its Principal Partner Aspen, in its second term as the Almeida s most significant corporate supporter. Aspen has contributed specifically to the Almeida Participation programme since Aspen was established in 2002 and is a leading global insurance and reinsurance company. The Almeida is supported using public funding by Arts Council England. LISTINGS INFORMATION Until 26 March 2016 UNCLE VANYA Anton Chekhov a new version created by Robert Icke 5 April 28 May 2016 BOY Leo Butler Directed by Sacha Wares Press Night 12 April, 7pm Address Café Bar Box Office Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London, N1 1TA The Almeida Café Bar is open from 11.30am pm, Monday to Saturday Phone (10am 7.30pm Monday Saturday)

7 Online almeida.co.uk In person 10am 7.30pm, Monday Saturday (for Easter opening hours, check the Almeida website: almeida.co.uk/opening-hours) Uncle Vanya performances Monday - Saturday at 7.30pm (7pm on 11 March) Saturday matinees at 2.30pm from 20 February Wednesday matinees at 2.30pm from 17 February Boy performances Tuesday 5 - Saturday 9 April performances at 8pm Monday 11 April - Saturday 28 May Performances at 7.30pm Saturday Matinees at 2.30pm from Saturday 16 April Midweek Matinees Wednesday at 2.30pm on 27 April & 18 May Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Access Uncle Vanya Audio Described performance by VocalEyes Saturday 12 March at 2.30pm, Touch Tour 12.45pm and Friday 18 March at 7.30pm, Touch Tour 6pm. Uncle Vanya Captioned performance Monday 7 March Boy Audio Described performance Saturday 21 May at 2.30pm (touch tour at 12.30pm) Boy Captioned performance Monday 16 May at 7.30pm Boy Relaxed performance Wednesday 11 May at 2.30pm Talkback Post-show discussion with members of the company Free to same day ticket holders Uncle Vanya Monday 7 March* * to include live speech to text transcription by Stagetext. Boy Monday 16 May * *to include live speech to text transcription by Stagetext. Almeida Questions Thursday 12 May at 6 pm Dramatising Poverty Thursday 5 May at 6 pm Answers Back: Young People s Panel PRESS CONTACTS: Emma Holland, Emma Holland PR: emma@emmahollandpr.com / (until 12 April) Susie Newbery, Almeida Theatre Press and Media Relations Manager: snewbery@almeida.co.uk / /