Cast Announced For Time Zone Theatre's SHOOT, I DIDN'T MEAN THAT and 'THE LAST DAYS OF MANKIND' This Fall

Marking the centenary of the outbreak of WW1, Time Zone Theatre and Austrian director Pamela Schermann invited British playwrights to respond to Karl Kraus's The Last Days of Mankind. The winning play, Shoot, I didn't mean that by Catriona Kerridge, will run alongside a staging of the epilogue of Kraus's epic. The resulting double-bill aims to encourage an intercultural dialogue about global conflicts combining a play by one of the most influential Austrian playwrights of the 20th century with an emerging British talent.

Director Pamela Schermann said, 'I was excited to see what The Last Days of Mankind means to young British playwrights. Kraus's play centres around the absurdity of war and the people who are forced to continue their lives under these morbid circumstances.'

Kerridge's dark comedy follows four women's strange and surreal downfall as they become intoxicated by the politics of The Great War. Juliet waltzes into a difficult situation at Vienna's famous flea market; two schoolgirls struggle not to giggle during a Remembrance Day service; and an interpreter loses her voice. Shoot, I didn't mean that is play about a shared fear for the future, inspired by Karl Kraus's The Last Days of Mankind.

Karl Kraus's response to the outbreak of WW1, its impact on the lives of the people, and the role of the media is made up of over 200 scenes across five acts, one for each year of the War, following fictional characters, archetypes and historical figures. While the main play was naturalistic, using material from newspapers and actual conversations, the epilogue takes on an expressionist, apocalyptic vision of a world destroyed by war.

Both shows run Tuesday 23rd September - Saturday 18th October 2014 Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm with Sunday matinees, 3pm. Running time: 105 minutes including interval.

9th September 2014 at 11.00am
Austrian Cultural Forum London, 28 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PQ. Hosted by director Pamela Schermann and Elisabeth Koegler, director of the Austrian Cultural Forum London, it will include discussions about the project, a performed excerpt, and an introduction to the winning playwright Catriona Kerridge.

All performances play the Tristan Bates Theatre, 1a Tower Street, London WC2H 9NP, www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk. Tristan Bates Theatre is located in the Actors Centre on Tower Street. The nearest underground stations are Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines) and Tottenham Court Road (on the Northern and Central lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.

Tickets are available priced £14 (£12), previews £10 from 020 7240 6283 or boxoffice@tristanbatestheatre.co.uk.

Time Zone Theatre

Time Zone Theatre is an international theatre company based in London, which encourages collaboration between British and international artists and produces bold and daring work with room for experimentation. Recent productions include Orpheus and Eurydice (Rose Playhouse, Bankside), The Taming of the Shrew (Rose Playhouse, Bankside), The Last Day (Waterloo East Theatre, 2012), Werther's Sorrows (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2012) and Salome (Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 & transfer to Etcetera Theatre, London).

Catriona Kerridge

Catriona Kerridge is a writer and theatre-maker. She has written for Salt Theatre, Paines Plough and the Oxford Playhouse (Come to where I come from), the National Theatre Studio (Aftershocks London), and has been supported by the Escalator Playwrights, North Wall Oxford and the Arts Council England. Her new play Fast Track will be performed at the North Wall Oxford in October 2014. Catriona trained at the Royal Court Young Writers Group and discovered playwriting at Birmingham University.

Pamela Schermann

Pamela Schermann trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London, and the University of Vienna/Austria. Apart from directing for Time Zone Theatre, she directed Ernest (All in One Theatre Company/Etcetera Theatre & Edinburgh Fringe Festival, C Venues), Springtime (Vertical Line Theatre/Greenwich Theatre), The Eve of St Agnes (The Rose Playhouse, Bankside), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Alice Productions/Etcetera Theatre), Abe & Hans (Theatre503), Miniaturists: No movement (Arcola), Dorian Gray (Cockpit Theatre), Debris (Karamel Club), La Traviata (Kirchstetten/Austria), Mozart & Salieri (Vienna/Austria), Don Carlos (Vienna/Austria), and other plays and operas throughout Austria and Germany.