Actors Touring Company Presents LIVING WITH THE LIGHTS ON UK Tour

Back by popular demand, Mark Lockyer's critically acclaimed Living with the Lights On - produced by ATC - will tour the UK again in early 2019. This follows three previous UK and European sell-out tours and two sell-out runs at the Young Vic London.

It's 1995. Mark Lockyer is in Stratford Upon Avon, having been offered a job by Adrian Noble Artistic Director of The Royal Shakespeare Company to play Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. On a sunny afternoon he has nothing to do so decides to get out of town and go for a walk along the bank of the river Avon. An encounter along the way changes things profoundly and forever. From that point, Mark starts to lose control of his life, as he abandons a promising career and embarks along a pathway to hell.

This is Mark's story - a terrifying roller coaster ride that takes him through the medical and criminal justice systems, through prison and hospital and on towards eventual recovery. This is a gripping tale of a life lived at the edge, a personal memoir as moving as it is funny, as brutal as it is true.

Mark is testament to the fact that mental illness can happen to anyone, that the bipolar mind is not a deficient one and that, with the right treatment there can be a life beyond it.

Mark Lockyer's career spans three decades and includes leading roles at The National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Vic, the Young Vic, and the Royal Court. Mark was most recently seen as Danaos in The Suppliant Women (ATC/Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Hong Kong Arts Festival), Iago in Othello (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory/ETT) and Subtle in The Alchemist for the RSC.

'Mark is one of the most compelling, extraordinary and fearless artists I've had the pleasure to work with. This show is a remarkable tour de force.'
Rufus Norris, Artistic Director of The National Theatre

Actors Touring Company (ATC) makes international, contemporary theatre that travels. We create plays with a global perspective: activating and entertaining the audience whilst asking questions of the world around us. Placing the actor at the heart of our work, and employing a lean aesthetic which promotes environmental sustainability, the company have toured the UK and across the globe since we were founded in 1978, reaching audiences far and wide. Recent productions include: The Suppliant Women by Aeschylus in a version by David Grieg, co-produced with Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and recreated to open the 60th Dublin Theatre Festival; and as the closing event of the 45th Hong Kong Arts Festival; and in UK cities such as Belfast, Newcastle, Manchester (Royal Exchange, co-production) and London (Young Vic, co-production).

Other recent productions include The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by Bijan Sheibani (10th anniversary production, 2018, Young Vic, co-production); Winter Solstice (UK tour 2018, co-production with Orange Tree Theatre); and Big Aftermath of a Small Disclosure, the UK premiere of Dutch play by Magne van den Berg, directed by ATC's Associate Director Alice Malin, as part of the Summerhall 2018 Edinburgh Fringe.

http://www.atctheatre.com

Tues 22 - Sat 26 January
The Door
Birmingham Rep
(7pm on 22, 8pm 23-26 Jan)
https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/ <https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/>
0121 236 4455


Thurs 31 January to Sat 2 February
The Ustinov, Theatre Royal Bath
(7.45pm)
https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk <https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk>
01225 448844

Wed 10 to Fri 12 April
Emlyn Williams Theatre, Theatr Clwyd
https://www.theatrclwyd.com <https://www.theatrclwyd.com>
01352 701521