PRESS RELEASE 7 August 2017 A Frantic Assembly and State Theatre Company South Australia production Originally produced in collaboration with Warwick Arts Centre in association with Chichester Festival Theatre and the Lyric Hammersmith THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR 2017 UK TOUR OF FRANTIC ASSEMBLY S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED HIT PLAY THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE MATTHEW BARKER AND KIRSTY OSWALD TO RETURN TO THE PRODUCTION, ALONGSIDE NEW CAST MEMBERS CATE HAMER, SELINE HIZLI, JOHN MCARDLE AND ARTHUR WILSON TRAILER CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE, IMAGES OF THE 2016 PRODUCTION & HEADSHOTS OF 2017 CAST CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE Full casting has been announced for Frantic Assembly and State Theatre Company South Australia s critically acclaimed Things I Know To Be True ahead of its return to the UK from 27 September 2017. Original UK cast members, Matthew Barker and Kirsty Oswald, return to reprise their roles as Mark and Rosie respectively. Joining them in the company will be Cate Hamer as Fran, Seline Hizli as Pip, John McArdle as Bob and Arthur Wilson as Ben. As beautifully touching as it is funny and bold, Andrew Bovell s Things I Know To Be True tells the story of a family and marriage through the eyes of four grown siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents love and expectations. Featuring Frantic Assembly s celebrated physicality, and co-directed by Frantic Assembly s Tony and Olivier Award nominated Artistic Director Scott Graham and State Theatre Company s Artistic Director Geordie Brookman, Things I Know To Be True is a complex and intense study of the mechanics of a family that is both poetic and brutally frank. The production will tour to the Oxford Playhouse, The Lowry in Salford, Leicester Curve, Mercury Theatre in Colchester, York Theatre Royal, Chester Storyhouse, Nuffield Southampton, The Lighthouse in Poole and Lyric Hammersmith.
Matthew Barker reprises the role of Mark from the 2016 UK tour of Things I Know To Be True. Matthew trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His theatre work includes Sweet Bird of Youth (Chichester Festival Theatre), Good People (Hampstead Theatre & Noel Coward Theatre) and Much Ado About Nothing (Derby LIVE). For the National Theatre he has appeared in Husbands and Sons, NT50, 13, Emperor & Galilean, Hamlet and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (also Gielgud Theatre). His work on television includes The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, Doctors, EastEnders, Jericho: The Killing of Johnny Swan and No Angels. Cate Hamer plays Fran. With extensive credits across stage and television, her theatre work include Machinal (National Theatre), The Love of the Nightingale, Mary & Lizzie, The Tempest (RSC), Dona Rosita, The Tower, Volpone (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe Tour), A Bed Amongst the Lentils (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Indian Ink (Salisbury Playhouse), Scenes From An Execution (Hackney Empire Studio), A Christmas Carol and Crime and Punishment (Glasgow Citizens) amongst many others. Her television credits include Eastenders, Holby City, The Town, Doctors, The Bill, Coronation Street, When I'm 64, Casualty, Inspector Lynley and Without Motive. Seline Hizli plays Pip. Seline trained at RADA. Perhaps best known for playing Margaret in ITV s Grantchester, her other television credits include Land Girls, Appropriate Adult, Call the Midwife, Luther and Mum. Seline s theatre credits include One Night in November, Blood Wedding (Royal & Derngate), The House of Bernarda Alba (Almeida Theatre), Jumpy (Royal Court & Duke of York s Theatre), The Republic of Happiness (Royal Court), Dirty Butterfly (Young Vic) and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Playhouse Theatre). John McArdle plays Bob. With credits across stage and screen from the past 37 years, John is known best for his work on telelvision, including the roles of Billy Corkhill in Brookside and Ronnie Hale in Emmerdale. Other screen credits include Mersey Beat, New Tricks, Waterloo Road, Prime Suspect 5, Waking the Dead, Law and Order UK, Vera, Casualty and Holby City amongst others. His extensive theatre credits include Lennon (Liverpool Everyman), Our Country s Good (Liverpool Playhouse), The Crucible (Sheffield Crucible), Brassed Off (York Theatre Royal & UK Tour), The Arbour (National Theatre), with film credits including There s Only One Jimmy Grimble, Charlie Noades R.I.P, Through My Eyes and The Rochdale Pioneers. For BBC Radio 4, his work includes A Clockwork Orange, The Spire, King of the Hill, and Stockport, So Good They Named It Once. John has also written and published his autobiography titled You Never Said Goodbye. Kirsty Oswald plays Rosie. Her previous work with Frantic Assembly has included Desdemona in Othello and last year s production of Things I Know to Be True (UK Tour). Other theatre credits include The Father (Duke of York s Theatre), The Judas Kiss (Hampstead Theatre & Duke of York s Theatre), The Winter s Tale (Sheffield Crucible) and We Are Proud To Present (Bush Theatre). Her television credits include The Coroner, Beowulf, Ripper Street, Holby City and Doctors, and film credits include Gutterdammerung, A Little Chaos and Dirty Weekend. She has also worked extensively across BBC Radio. Training at Rose Bruford, she won the prestigious Highly Commended Award at the Spotlight Prize.
Arthur Wilson plays Ben. His theatre work includes Man and Superman (National Theatre), Richard II (Shakespeare s Globe), Home Edinburgh (National Theatre of Scotland), Peter Pan (Kensington Gardens, 02 & US Tour), Persuasion (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Crunch (Look Left Look Right), Project Space (Secret Cinema) and The Borrowers (Citizens Theatre). His television credits include Call The Midwife, Law and Order, 20 Anything, The Academy and Sea of Souls. LISTINGS For further information please contact Hannah Clapham or Laurence Ainscough at The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 or email hannahc@thecornershoppr.com / laurence@thecornershoppr.com 27-30 September Oxford Playhouse 11-12 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2LW 01865 305 305 www.oxfordplayhouse.com 3 7 October The Lowry (Quays Theatre) Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ 0843 208 6000 www.thelowry.com 10 14 October Leicester Curve 60 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1SB 0116 242 3595 www.curveonline.co.uk 17 21 October Mercury Theatre, Colchester Colchester CO1 1PT 01206 573948 www.mercurytheatre.co.uk 31 October 4 November York Theatre Royal St Leonard's Pl, York YO1 7HD 01904 623568 www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk 7 11 November Chester Storyhouse Hunter St, Chester CH1 2AR 01244 409113
www.storyhouse.com 14 18 November Nuffield Southampton University Rd, Southampton SO17 1TR 023 8067 1771 www.nstheatres.co.uk 21 25 November The Lighthouse, Poole 21 Kingland Rd, Poole BH15 1UG 01202 280000 www.lighthousepoole.co.uk 11 January 3 February 2018 Lyric Hammersmith Lyric Square, King Street, London, W6 0QL 020 8741 6850 www.lyric.co.uk Running time approx 2 hours, including an interval Contains strong language Suitable for ages 14+ NOTES TO EDITORS Award winning theatre company 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 companies 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 company 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 commissioning writers such as Mark Ravenhill, Abi Morgan, Simon Stephens and Bryony Lavery the company has been acclaimed for it s collaborative approach. In 2016 the company 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, Fatherland (Manchester International Festival 2017 and Lyric Hammersmith 25 May-23 June 2018). 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).
Frantic Assembly is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England www.franticassembly.co.uk @franticassembly State Theatre Company South Australia is one of Australia s leading theatre companies performing an annual season of new Australian writing, reimagined classics and exceptional international writing in its home city of Adelaide. The Company is committed to the nurturing of Australian playwrights and to the development of South Australian theatre makers. State Theatre Company also plays an important role in the wider Australian theatre industry, with an extensive touring program and frequent co-productions with other Australian theatre companies. Throughout its 45 year history, the Company has played a pivotal role in the careers of many of Australia's leading actors, writers and directors, attracting artists of the calibre of Miriam Margolyes, Xavier Samuel, Neil Armfield, Ruth Cracknell, Judy Davis, Gale Edwards, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sharman, Hugo Weaving andjacki Weaver. Geordie Brookman is the Artistic Director of State Theatre Company South Australia. He has directed productions throughout Australia and Asia for companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Griffin, Malthouse, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, the Adelaide Festival of Arts and MONA FOMA. Geordie s productions have Helpmann, Greenroom, Sydney Critics Circle, Adelaide Critics Circle and Curtain Call awards.