Box of Tricks to Tour Lizzie Nunnery's New Play NARVIK

"If I was to throw myself beneath that tide... If I was to let the water take me, 'til the cold felt like heat, like love..."

Following their hugely successful touring productions of Plastic Figurines and Chip Shop Chips, Manchester theatre company Box of Tricks is set to tour last year's critically-acclaimed new play with songs, Narvik, by award-winning playwright Lizzie Nunnery. Inspired by tales from naval veterans, and stories of her grandfather's time in the Navy, Nunnery's latest play brings to life a powerful story of love, guilt, heroism and betrayal.

The play will open at HOME, Manchester from the 31 January -4 February 2017 and then tour until 25 March 2017.

Set in World War II, Narvik tells the story of a Liverpudlian man and a Norwegian woman pulled together and torn apart by war as the events of one summer cause ripples across an ocean of time. Lizzie Nunnery explores her dual creative strands - writer and singer/songwriter - to conjure a play where music and words meet, creating a patchwork of memory and dream, truth and fantasy.

The cast will feature Joe Shipman (Ten Tiny Toes and The Way Home, Liverpool Everyman), Lucas Smith (Doctor Faustus, Royal Exchange; A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Hallé) and Nina Yndis (Norwegian feature film Glassdukkene and Peaky Blinders).

The production will be directed by Box of Tricks' Joint Artistic Director and co-founder Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder, designed by award-winning designer Katie Scott (shortlisted for this year's Old Vic 12) and feature original music and songs by Vidar Norheim, Martin Heslop and Lizzie Nunnery. Lighting will be designed by Richard Owen (Plastic Figurines and Tree, Young Vic) and movement directed by Elinor Randle (Tmesis Theatre). The play will be produced by Associate Producer Amy Fisher who recently produced the National Theatre's We're here because we're here for Theatre Royal Plymouth. Former Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Literary Associate Lindsay Rodden is Dramaturg.

Writer Lizzie Nunnery is an award-winning playwright and celebrated singer-songwriter. Lizzie's first theatre play Intemperance (Liverpool Everyman, Sept 2007) was awarded 5 stars by The Guardian and shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award. In 2017 she will have theatre work produced by Liverpool Everyman, Royal Exchange Theatre, Box of Tricks and NT Connections. She has also written extensively for BBC radio. The Hanleys, a series for Woman's Hour, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Lizzie Nunnery said: "Following the success of the premier at The Liverpool Playhouse in 2015, I can't wait for Narvik to tour to a wider audience. It's been great to build on the experience of the debut run, developing and shaping the script and music further- putting together an even more exciting version of the show to take out nationwide. I'm so proud of the production team and cast for taking the kernel of an idea and turning it in to an epic tale of love and war. The story's fictionalised from true stories of WWII sailors, including some told to me by my granddad, but from the start Hannah and I wanted to do much more than present history onstage. Through the music and physicality, the storytelling enters strange dreamlike places where memory, imagination and truth collide, creating an intense and immersive show. It'll be exciting to see how different audiences respond to it from Keswick to London."

Box of Tricks is a Manchester-based theatre company that champions the next generation of playwrights, producing top quality new plays on local and national stages. Narvik is part of Box of Trick's Tenth anniversary season.

Narvik will start its national tour at HOME in Manchester from the 31 January - 4 February and then tour till the 25 March 2017.

For more information visit www.boxoftrickstheatre.co.uk

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