Steven Berkoff & Shobu Kapoor Set for DINNER WITH SADDAM at Menier Chocolate Factory

Steven Berkoff and Shobu Kapoor return to the stage to play opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar in the world première of Anthony Horowitz's new play Dinner with Saddam. The production, directed by Lindsay Posner, opens on 22 September, with previews from 10 September, and runs until 14 November.

Steven Berkoff makes his Menier Chocolate Factory debut as Saddam Hussein. A prolific actor, director and writer, he was most recently on stage inAn Actor's Lament. His screen work includes War and Remembrance and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Sobu Kapoor returns to the stage after a five year absence. She is best known for her leading role as Mrs Khan in the BBC's Citizen Khan, and formerly as series regular Gita on EastEnders. Sanjeev Bhaskar's work includes creating and performing in Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No.42, and for the stage Spamalot and Dumb Show, as well as the lead in the forthcoming major new series for ITV, Unforgotten. They are joined by Nathan Amzi, Ilan Goodman and Rebecca Grant.

"Saddam, fearful of assassination attempts, was known to move regularly from private home to private home. Even before the war, he declined to spend nights in one of his palaces."

USA Today, 20th April 2003

So what happens when Saddam Hussein turns up on your doorstep and announces he is staying for dinner? Political and personal issues are top of the menu, but behind the kitchen door something else far more sinister is cooking...

Anthony Horowitz is a hugely successful and prolific writer. He is the author of over 40 books including the best-selling Alex Rider series, the recent Sherlock Holmes novels, The House of Silk and Moriarty and the forthcoming James Bond novel Trigger Mortis. For television he created Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.

Steven Berkoff's theatre work includes An Actor's Lament, Religion and Anarchy, Six Actors in Search of a Director, One, Man, On the Waterfront, Sit & Shiver, Coriolanus, East, Hamlet, Messiah, Salome and Shakespeare's Villains. For television, his work includes The Frankenstein Chronicles, Witches of the East End, Doctor Who, The Borgias, Children of the Dune, Jonathan Creek and War and Remembrance; and for film, 7 Cases, Manhattan Nocturne, Nameless, North v South, Decline of an Empire, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Tourist, The Rapture, Luna, Rambo: First Blood Part Two, Beverley Hills Cop, Decadence and Octopussy.

Sanjeev Bhaskar's theatre work includes Dumb Show (Rose Theatre Kingston), Spamalot (Palace Theatre), Art (Whitehall Theatre), and Peter Sellers is Dead (Whitehall Theatre). For television his work includes Drunk History, Horrible Histories, The Corrupted, Doctor Who, The Kumars at No. 42 (Winner of two Emmy Awards, a Bronze Rose of Montreaux Award and a Brit Comedy Award), The Indian Doctor, Outnumbered, Chopra Town, The Way It Is, Goodness Gracious Me, The Grimleys, as well as the leading role in the forthcoming Unforgotten for ITV; and for film, The Zero Theorem, Arthur Christmas, London Boulevard, It' a Wonderful Life, Not the Messiah: He's a Very Naughty Boy, Scoop, The Guru, Anita & Me and Notting Hill.

Shobu Kapoor's theatre work includes Lotus Beauty (Gate Theatre), What Fatima Did... (Hampstead Theatre), Yerma (Arcola Theatre) and 14 Songs, 2 Weddings and a Funeral (Tamasha). For television her work includes Citizen Khan (series regular Mrs Khan), Silent Witness, The Jury, Doctor Who, Shameless, Banglatown Banquet and (as series regular Gita); and for film, Acts of Godfrey, The Infidel, Filth and Wisdom and Bend It Like Beckham.

Nathan Amzi's theatre credits include Urinetown (Apollo Theatre), In The Heights (Southwark Playhouse), Rock of Ages (Dominion Theatre), The Rocky Horror Show (UK tour), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare's Globe), A Small Family Business (Watford Palace) and Miss Saigon (UK tour).

Ilan Goodman's theatre credits include Bad Jews (Bath Theatre Royal/Arts Theatre), Intimate Apparel (Bath Theatre Royal), Paper Dolls (Tricycle Theatre), Tartuffe (ETT), Chicken Soup With Barley (Royal Court), Danton's Death (National Theatre), and Six Degrees Of Separation (Old Vic). For television his credits include Call The Midwife, Yes Prime Minister, Lost Cosmonauts and Broadside; and for film, The Imitation Game, A Long Way Down, Diana, That Woman and The Echelon Conspiracy.

Rebecca Grant's theatre work includes Avocado (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Seminar (Hampstead Theatre), Around the World in 80 Days (New Vic Theatre/Royal Exchange), and Wah! Wah! Girls (Sadlers Wells). For television, her work includes Breaking the Chain, Prisoners' Wives (series regular),Holby City (series regular), Other People and Elgar's Enigma; and for film, Chakara, 3½ Inches, David and Paradise for Sale.

Lindsay Posner returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory having previously directed Communicating Doors and Abigail's Party (also Theatre Royal Bath, Wyndham's Theatre and UK tour). His recent productions include Hay Fever (Duke of York's), Harvey (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Speed the Plow(Playhouse Theatre), Relatively Speaking (Wyndham's Theatre), A Little Hotel on the Side (Theatre Royal Bath), Other Desert Cities, The Winslow Boyand Noises Off (Old Vic), The Turn of the Screw (Almeida Theatre) and Uncle Vanya (Vaudeville Theatre). He was Associate Director of the Royal Court from 1987-1992 where his productions included Death and the Maiden (which transferred to the Duke of York's and won two Olivier Awards),Colquhoun and McBryde and The Treatment.

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