Press release 9 March 2017 Senior FATHERLAND A POIGNANT NEW SHOW CREATED BY FRANTIC ASSEMBLY S SCOTT GRAHAM, UNDERWORLD S KARL HYDE AND PLAYWRIGHT SIMON STEPHENS A BOLD NEW THEATRE SHOW FOCUSING ON CONTEMPORARY FATHERHOOD IN ALL ITS COMPLEXITIES AND CONTRADICTIONS Created by Frantic Assembly s Scott Graham, Karl Hyde from Underworld and playwright Simon Stephens, this emotive collage of words, music and movement will see a 13-strong cast and a multitude of voices engulf the Royal Exchange Theatre. Inspired by conversations with fathers and sons from the three co-authors hometowns across England, Fatherland explores identity, nationality and masculinity. In a vivid and st deeply personal portrait of 21 -century England at the crossroads of past, present and future, Fatherland is a show about what we are, who we are and what we d like to bee. Simon Stephens said, "Fatherland was born out of a spirit of fearlessness and collaboration. For that spirit to survive it needs champions. There are no greater champions than the MIF, Frantic Assembly and the Royal Exchange. We couldn't have made the show without them. #fatherland Page 1 of 6 Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival, Frantic Assembly, the Royal Exchange Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith and LIFT. Supported by PRS for Music Foundation. Creative Team Scott Graham Karl Hyde Simon Stephens Matthew Herbert Jon Bausor Jon Clark Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound Eddie Kay Anne McNulty CDG Nick Sidi Co-Author & Director Co-Author & Composer Co-Author & Writer Music Producer & Co-Composer Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Choreographer Casting Director Dramaturg Scott Graham is Artistic Director and co-founder of Frantic Assembly, for which he recently directed Thing I Know To Be True, No Way Back, Othello and The Believers. He has been nominated for an Olivier and a Tony Award for Best Choreography on the multi-awardwinning NT production The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. For Frantic Assembly he has co-directed Little Dogs, Lovesong, Beautiful Burnout, Stockholm, pool (no water), Dirty Wonderland, Rabbit, Peepshow and Underworld. Director/performer credits include Hymns, Tiny Dynamite, On Blindness, Heavenly, Sell Out, Zero, Flesh, Klub and Look Back in Anger. Other directing credits include: Man to Man at Wales Millennium Centre and Home for the National Theatre of Scotland. Choreography/movement direction includes The Merchant of Venice for Singapore Repertory Company; Praxis Makes Perfect for National Theatre Wales; The Canticles at Brighton Festival/Aldeburgh Music; Husbands & Sons, Port, Hothouse and Market Boy at the National Theatre; Dr Dee for Manchester International Festival/ ENO. With Steven Hoggett and Bryony Lavery, he created It Snows, a National Theatre Connections play. He has, with Steven Hoggett, written The Frantic
Assembly Book of Devising Theatre (Routledge 2nd ed.) Senior Scott is Visiting Professor in Theatre Practice at Coventry University Karl Hyde together with Rick Smith, has recorded 9 albums as Underworld, scored film and theatre pieces for Academy Award winning directors Anthony Minghella and Danny Boyle, and provided the music for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, and has spent the last 27 years touring their now legendary live show. At the end of 2010 they were enlisted to create the sound and music scores for the Royal National Theatres production of Frankenstein (dir. Danny Boyle) which opened to critical acclaim February 2011, their score being nominated for an Olivier Award. In the same year, they also provided the score for the National Theatre of Scotland and Frantic Assembly s award-winning Beautiful Burnout. Karl Hyde s first solo painting exhibition titled What s Going On In Your Head When You re Dancing opened in Tokyo in August 2010 and in July 2012, acpanied by an audio installation piece by Rick Smith. Karl released his critically acclaimed first solo album Edgeland in 2013 followed by a duo of albums with long-time collaborator Brian Eno (Someday World and Highlife). In 2016, Underworld s seventh studio album Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future was released to critical acclaim. It saw the band play headline performances at Coachella, Glastonbury and Summer Sonic and receive their first Grammy nomination. Page 2 of 6 Simon Stephens is an award-winning playwright. His early work at the Royal Court includes Bluebird (1998); Herons (2001), Country Music (2004) and Motortown (2006). In 2008 his play Harper Regan opened at the National Theatre, and Sea Wall, starring Andrew Scott, played at the Bush. Simon then had success with his plays Pornography (Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hanover, 2007 and Edinburgh Festival / Birmingham Rep, 2008 and Tricycle Theatre, 2009) and Punk Rock (Lyric Hammersmith / Manchester Royal Exchange, 2009) which won the 2009 Manchester Evening News Award for Best Production. In 2011, I Am the Wind, an adaptation from Jon Fosse s original, opened at the Young Vic. 2012 saw Three Kingdoms performed in, Tallinn and Munich, Morning at the Lyric Theatre, and a new version of Ibsen s A Doll s House at the Young Vic which subsequently transferred to the Duke of York s Theatre in 2013. His adaption of Mark Haddon s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won the Oliver and Tony Awards for Best New Play (National Theatre, 2012; Apollo Theatre, 2013; Gielgud, 2014 present; Barrymore Theatre in Broadway, 2015). In 2014 Simon premiered Carmen Disruption at Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, which transferred to the Almeida Theatre in in 2015, and Birdland at the Royal Court. His adaptation of Chekhov s The Cherry Orchard also opened at the Young Vic in 2014. In 2015, Heisenberg opened at MTC in New York; The Funfair, Simon s new version of Ödön von Horváth s Kasmir and Karoline, opened at Home Theatre in Manchester; and Song from Far Away, directed by award-winning Belgian director Ivo van Hove, received its UK premiere at the Young Vic. His version of Brecht and Weill s The Threepenny Opera opened at the National in May 2016. Simon also writes for radio; plays include Five Letters Home to Elizabeth (2001) and Digging (2003), both BBC, Radio4. Simon s screenwriting includes a two-part serial Dive (with Dominic Savage) for Granada / BBC (2009), a short film adaptation of Pornography for
Coming Up: Channel 4 (2009) and Cargese for Sprout Pictures (Sky Arts, 2013). Senior Other awards include the 2001 Pearson Award for Best Play for Port and the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play for On the Shore of The Wide World. Simon has won the Theater Heute s Award for Motortown in 2007, Pornography in 2008 and Wastwater in 2011. Simon is Artistic Associate at the Lyric Theatre and Associate Playwright at the Royal Court. He was also on the board for Paines Plough between 2009 and 2014, and was a Writers Tutor for the Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court between 2001 and 2005. IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM www.thecornershoppr/downloads Username: MIF2017 password: Manchester For the full festival programme, please visit www.mif.co.uk ENDS LISTINGS FATHERLAND ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE 1 15 JULY, 7.30PM MATINEES 6, 8, 9, 13, 15 JULY, 2.30PM PRESS NIGHT 5 JULY Page 3 of 6 Continues at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 22 July Captioned performance: 13 July British Sign Language interpreted performance: 14 July Audio-described performance: 15 July Book tickets mif.co.uk 0843 208 1840 royalexchange.co.uk 0161 833 9833 Tickets 16.50-39 12 tickets for Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage Fatherland will transfer to the Lyric Hammersmith, in June 2018 as part of LIFT 2018, tickets will be on sale summer 2017. NOTES TO EDITORS Manchester International Festival (MIF) is the world s first festival of original, new work and special events, staged every two years in Manchester, UK. MIF launched in 2007 as an artist-led festival presenting new works from across the spectrum of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture. MIF has missioned, produced and presented world premieres by artists including Björk, Steve McQueen, Robert Wilson, Wayne McGregor, Maxine Peake, The xx, Zaha Hadid Architects, Damon Albarn, Punchdrunk, Elbow and Marina Abramović. MIF brings together world-renowned artists from different art forms and backgrounds to create dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking new work, staged in venues across Greater Manchester from theatres, galleries and concert halls to railway depots, churches and car parks. MIF works closely with venues, festivals and other cultural organisations around the world, whose financial and creative input helps to make many of these projects possible.
Senior Page 4 of 6 The Festival also works widely within munities around Manchester, originally with MIF Creative and now with a new initiative called My Festival. MIF s Artistic Director and CEO is John McGrath, previously the Founding Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales. Earlier this year, MIF was confirmed as the operator of Factory, a new 110 million cultural centre in Manchester due to open in 2020. MIF is a registered charity and pany limited by guarantee. About Frantic Assembly Award winning theatre pany Frantic Assembly s method of devising theatre has been impacting theatrical practice and unlocking the creative potential of future theatre-makers for up to 22 years. One of the most exciting theatre panies in the UK, Frantic Assembly is led by Artistic Director and co-founder Scott Graham, and has toured extensively across Great Britain, and worked in 40 countries internationally collaborating with some of today s most inspiring artists. Frantic Assembly is currently studied as leading contemporary theatre practitioners on five British and international academic syllabuses. The success of the pany s distinct approach has influenced contemporary theatre-making and foregrounded the use of movement directors and choreographers in new dramatic works. With a history of missioning writers such as Mark Ravenhill, Abi Morgan, Simon Stephens and Bryony Lavery the pany has been acclaimed for it s collaborative approach. In 2016 the pany started delivering practical modules on a new Collaborative Theatre-Making MA it has created with Coventry University (UK Modern University of the Year 2014, 2015, 2016 and UK University of the Year 2015). Frantic Assembly runs Ignition, a free national training programme for young men aged 16-20, increasing involvement in and access to the arts in places of low cultural engagement. Frantic Assembly productions include Othello, Beautiful Burnout (UK, Australia, New Zealand and New York), Lovesong, (Stockholm, UK and Australia), The Believers. They are also the Movement Directors on the award-winning National Theatre of Great Britain, production The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (West End, Broadway, UK & Ireland Tour). Television credits include Movement Direction on BAFTA winning British American series Humans (AMC, Channel 4 & Kudos). www.franticassembly.co.uk twitter @franticassembly Instagram @frantic_assembly facebook/franticassembly Registered charity: 1113716 About Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre Company transforms the way people see theatre, each other and the world around them. Our historic building, once the world s biggest cotton exchange, was taken over by artists in 1976. Today it is an award-winning cultural charity that produces new theatre in-the-round, in munities, on the road and online. Exchange remains at the heart of everything we make and do. Now our currency is brand new drama and reinvigorated classics, the boldest artists and a pany of highly skilled
Senior Page 5 of 6 makers - all brought together in a shared imaginative endeavour to trade ideas and experiences with the people of Greater Manchester (and beyond). The Exchange s unique auditorium is powerfully democratic, a space where audiences and performers meet as equals, entering and exiting through the same doors. It is the inspiration for all we do; inviting everyone to understand the past, engage in today's big questions, collectively imagine a better future and lose themselves in the moment of a great night out. In 2016 the Royal Exchange won The Stage s award for Regional Theatre of the year. Recent work includes Hamlet with Maxine Peake (for stage and film), The Skriker (with the Manchester International Festival), Husbands & Sons (a co-production with the National Theatre), King Lear (co- produced with Talawa Theatre Company, filmed for BBC iplayer and BBC Four), Little Sister (by Mark Storor & developed with munities across Greater Manchester), A Streetcar Named Desire with Maxine Peake, Wish List (winner of the 2015 Burntwood Prize for Playwriting) B!rth (a global festival of theatre and debate) And The House Of Bernarda Alba (a co-production with Graeae theatre Company). Spring/Summer 2017 productions include Twelfth Night, How My Light Is Spent and Persuasion. About Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Hammersmith is one of the UK s leading producing theatres. For more than one hundred and twenty years it has been responsible for creating some of the UK s most adventurous and acclaimed theatrical work. It has gained a national reputation for its work with and for children and young people and creates pathways into the arts for young talent from all backgrounds, helping to diversify our industry. Recent productions include the smash hit Bugsy Malone, the international tour and co-production with Filter Theatre of A Midsummer Night s Dream and a new stage adaptation of Sarah Waters Tipping the Velvet. The Lyric s dual mitment to producing the highest quality contemporary theatre, alongside nurturing the creativity of young people is what makes it unique within the cultural ecology of the UK. It is a local theatre rooted in its munity with a national and international reputation for the quality and innovation of its artistic work. In April 2015 the Lyric reopened following a multi-million pound capital project, which saw the addition of the Reuben Foundation Wing housing state-of-the-art facilities for theatre, dance, film, music, digital and more. The new Lyric is now the largest creative hub in West and home to an innovative partnership of like-minded leading arts organisations who work together to deliver life changing creative opportunities for thousands of young West ers. Artistic Director Sean Holmes Executive Director Sian Alexander please visit lyric.co.uk About LIFT LIFT travels the world to bring global stories to, bringing spectacular performances and moments of magic to every corner of the capital. For over 35 years LIFT has presented shows in partnership with s major arts venues, theatres and galleries, but also in countless hidden spaces and places across the city. It works with world-class artists, whose radical imaginations create exceptional work that questions the nature of theatre, engages with the big ideas of our time, and reveals the stories and munities of our incredibly diverse capital. The next LIFT is June 2018.
Senior Page 6 of 6 Fatherland is supported by PRS for Music Foundation. PRS for Music Foundation is the UK s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development across all genres. Since 2000 PRS for Music Foundation has given more than 23.6 million to over 5,300 new music initiatives by awarding grants and leading partnership programmes that support music sector development. Widely respected as an adventurous and proactive funding body, PRS for Music Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity from poser residencies and missions to festivals and showcases in the UK and overseas. www.prsformusicfoundation