Oil is the New Hot, Bubbling Topic in UK & Scottish Theatre! 'Crude' at Shed 36

Oil is the new hot topic in UK & Scottish Theatre! Grid Iron Announce 'Crude' by Ben Harrison at Shed 36, Port of Dundee, 11-23rd October

"Oil is sexy, that's the goddarn truth. That's why we do it. It's not only the money. Bringing in a well, that's magic, that's the biggest org*sm there is." Texas Jim in Crude

Grid Iron Theatre Company, Scotland's renowned site specific specialists, presents Crude, a brand new play which investigates the most controversial industry in Scotland - oil.

Focusing on the lives of offshore workers and the choices they make to work on the industrial islands of the North Sea, Crude travels to the Niger Delta and the Arctic Circle to look at the global impact of oil production and its human and ecological cost.

Written and directed by Ben Harrison, the play traces not only the history of oil but also our addicted reliance on the by-products of the black gold: our cars, our aeroplanes, our plastics that surround and almost literally wrap anything we do.

Bringing together a cracking cast of seven, Crude's actors include Grid Iron first timers: Band of Brothers and Silent Witness' Phil McKee, Neil John Gibson, Sarah Bebe Holmes, Brad Morrison (who had worked in the oil industry before launching his acting career), Tunji Lucas (Aaron in Dundee Rep's Titus Andronicus) as well as returning stars of previous Grid Iron productions: Itxaso Moreno (Once Upon a Dragon, Roam and Fermentation), Kirsty Stuart (Spring Awakening). Pippa Murphy joins the Crude's creatives as the music composer, Paul Claydon as Lighting Designer with Becky Minto as set and costume designer. Lewis den Hertog follows last year's success of Fringe First-winning Light Boxes and comes back as the video designer for Crude.

Ben Harrison, writer and director of Crude said: "'At the time of the longest continuous downturn in the history of oil production in the North Sea, it is an appropriate moment to consider Scotland and the world's connection with and reliance on hydrocarbons. The presence of oil has been both a blessing and a curse since its discovery in the 19th century, and for Scotland it throws up huge and important issues about natural resource control and who benefits from the production of oil and gas in the North Sea. Crude centres on the lives of offshore workers and their families and the huge pressure the two weeks on two weeks off work pattern puts on family life. The deeper I have gone into the research, the more I have discovered how profoundly modern life is entwined with the story of oil- not just the stuff we put in our cars and aeroplanes, but also our plastics, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, clothing, food...there is very little that surrounds us and makes us comfortable that is not connected with petrochemicals. For offshore workers, there are financially attractive opportunities globally, which become more attractive the longer the downturn lasts, but these opportunities can happen in some of the most dangerous places on earth, both environmentally and politically. The show, whilst rooted in the North Sea, travels to these places also and asks moral and political questions about resource control, risk and reward, and leaving it in the ground versus continuing with our complex, oil-addicted lifestyles."

The atmospheric Shed 36 in the Port of Dundee serves as the epitome of a set for Crude. In the past, it has homed Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company which, trading for over a century between 1874 and 1981, had built over 500 ships. Oil tycoons such as Kestrel Marine or Davy Offshore have employed the Shed for ship and rig production over the years but the vagaries of the industry saw them going into liquidation. Since then, for a couple of years the space was used as a grain store until Rigmar moved in and yet again the Shed served as a home to oil industry.

David Webster, Port Manager at Forth Ports said: "We are thrilled to support Grid Iron with free warehouse space for their exciting production of Crude. The subject matter of the performance has an appropriate link for the port as we are very active in the North Sea Oil and Gas sector. We wish Grid Iron all the best and we are looking forward to seeing the performances in October."

"Grid Iron is not just a Scottish National Treasure but one of the companies that has shaped British theatre over the last 20 years." The Guardian

"We are fortunate in Scotland to have one of the best exponents of the site-specific genre in the world in Grid Iron." The Scotsman

"Grid Iron are surely now one of the most sophisticated site-specific theatre makers in Europe". The Times

/ENDS

Grid Iron website / Twitter / Facebook

Performances: 11th - 23rd Oct at 7.40pm (PLEASE NOTE: pick up time for performances on Sunday 16th and 23rd is 6.30pm, no performances on Monday 10th & Monday 17th)

Venue: Shed 36 in the Port of Dundee.

Transport: There is no pedestrian or individual vehicle access to Port of Dundee. A bus will collect you in the city centre from the Greenmarket carpark (beside Dundee Science Centre/Dundee Contemporary Arts - DD1 4QB). The bus will depart at 7.40pm (6.30pm on Sundays). You will be returned to the car park by approx. 10pm (8.50pm Sundays). The car park is approx. an 8 minute walk from the train station. Parking is free after 6pm.

The shed will be cold - please wrap up warm!

Np persons under age 16 are permitted within the port.

Tickets: £21 / £19 - available soon from www.dundeerep.co.uk / 01382 223530

Please contact the Dundee Rep box office for disabled access information.

Running time: 90 minutes (plus travel time)

Writer & Director - Ben Harrison

Producer - Judith Doherty

Set & Costume Designer - Becky Minto

Lighting Designer - Paul Claydon

Video Designer - Lewis den Hertog

Aerial Choreographer - Sarah Bebe Holmes

Music composer - Pippa Murphy

Celebrating 21 years of Grid Iron Theatre Company!

Grid Iron are an Edinburgh-based theatre company who, following their incorporation in 1995 and their first show Clearance at the Traverse, Edinburgh, swiftly gained a reputation for creating high-quality, high profile shows. The Company went on to specialise in presenting shows in unusual locations such as an airport, car park, foyers, hotel, bar, school or a climbing centre. They are a new writing company who work in challenging sites that lend themselves especially well to Grid Iron's taut production style. Occasionally they create work for the stage or use theatre buildings in a site-responsive, promenade manner.

In 1997 Grid Iron produced their first full-scale site-specific production, The Bloody Chamber, their adaptation of Angela Carter's Bluebeard fairytale, which they presented in famously haunted underground vaults beneath Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile. Since then they have been awarded: 7 Fringe First Awards, 6 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland, 3 Stage Awards for Acting Excellence, 3 Herald Angels, 2 Herald Devils, Herald Archangel and many others.

Grid Iron shows:

Clearance by Anita Sullivan, 1996

The Bloody Chamber, adapted by Keith Lodwick from the book by Angela Carter, 1997

Gargantua, devised by Ben Harrison and the cast, 1998

Monumental by Anita Sullivan, 1999

Decky Does a Bronco by Douglas Maxwell, 2000-2002 and 2010

Fermentation, based on the novel by Angelica Jacob, adapted by Ben Harrison, 2002

Variety by Douglas Maxwell, 2002

The Houghmagandie Pack, written and directed by Justin Young, 2003

Those Eye That Mouth, devised by Ben Harrison and the cast, 2003 and 2005

Fierce by Justin Young, 2004

Naw Nader Men al Houb, co-directed by Ben Harrison and Samar Dudin, 2004

The Devil's Larder based on a novel by Jim Crace, 2005 and 2015

Roam by Ben Harrison, 2006

Once Upon a Dragon by Pauline Mol and Moniek Merkx, 2007

Yarn, devised by Ben Harrison and the Company, 2008

Tryst written by Ben Harrison and the Company, 2008

Barflies, adapted by Ben Harrison from the stories by Charles Bukowski, 2009 and 2012

What Remains by David Paul Jones in collaboration with Ben Harrison, 2011

Huxley's Lab by Ben Harrison, 2013

Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind adapted by Douglas Maxwell, 2010

The Authorised Kate Bane by Ella Hickson, 2012

Leaving Planet Earth by Catrin Evans and Lewis Hetherington, 2013

Letters Home, adapted from short stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Kei Miller, Christos Tsiolkas & Kamila Shamsie, 2014

Light Boxes, adapted by Finn Den Hertog from a novel by Shane Jones, 2015

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