Casting Announced For ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT HARD ENOUGH at Small Things Theatre

Small Things Theatre today announce the full cast for the world première of Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough written by Cordelia O'Neill and directed by Kate Budgen, which opens at Southwark Playhouse on 24 September with previews from 22 September and runs until 9 October.

Kate Budgen directs Gemma Lawrence (Alex) and Huw Parmenter (Rupert).

Alex and Rupert aren't a conventional match, but a caffeinated meeting on the underground ignites a spark. Skip forward to them fighting over baby names, nursery colours and ways to save money. All the signs of a normal family in waiting.

Then Alex goes into labour, their baby is born still and their world implodes.

What follows is a window into how a couple find the strength to move forward, the will to stay together, and the determination to keep the memory of their child alive.

A play that takes us to the depth of grief to find hope, to the edge of insanity to find reason and finds humour in the most unexpected places.

Gemma Lawrence plays Alex. Her theatre credits as a writer and actor include OFFIE nominated Sunnymead Court (Arcola Theatre/Actor's Centre/UK tour). Her other theatre credits include Not Talking (Arcola Theatre), Five Plays: Nuclear (Young Vic), Wasted (Orange Tree Theatre), All My Sons (Hong Kong Arts Festival), The Tempest (Southwark Playhouse), As You Like It, Children of the Sun (National Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe), Gaslight (Salisbury Playhouse), Lee Harvey Oswald (Finborough Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (Bristol Tobacco Factory, Rose Theatre), and Rough Cuts: The Lion's Mouth (Royal Court Theatre). Her television credits include Shakespeare and Hathaway, 18 - Clash of Futures, Luther, Misfits, 1066, Waking the Dead, Time of Your Life, Stir it Up, All About George, and Ahead of the Class. For film, her credits include Frail, A Bunch of Amateurs, and Enlightenment.

Huw Parmenter plays Rupert. His previous theatre credits include The Lovely Bones (Birmingham REP/UK tour), The Mirror Crack'd (Wales Millennium Centre, Salisbury Playhouse), Jam Jars (Tristan Bates Theatre), After Orlando (Theatre Royal Stratford East, Vaults Festival), The Late Wedding, The Ballad of Lost Dogs, Home Theatre UK (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Dark Tourism (Park Theatre), Rebel Rebel (Theatre503), Living in the City With or Without Sex (The Old Red Lion Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Kenton Theatre), Basket Case (UK tour), and Hearing the Song (Orange Tree Theatre). His television credits include Killing Eve, Vikings 4, and Vikings 3; and for film, Close. He is also Co-artistic Director of Chaskis Theatre Company.

Cordelia O'Neill is a writer, actress and co-founder of Small Things Theatre. She trained at Oxford School of Drama. Her plays include the sell-out show The Stolen Inches (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2015), No Place For A Woman (Theatre503, 2018 - the play has been optioned by Cannibal Films and she is currently writing the screenplay), and The Vote about women's suffrage with E17 Puppet Theatre Company (tour in Summer 2018 concluding at HighTide's Walthamstow Festival). She also co-authored The Apologists at The Vaults 2019, which will be returning to Omnibus Theatre in 2020.

Kate Budgen directs. Budgen trained at Birkbeck College and on the NT Studio Directors course. She has worked as Assistant and Associate Director for The Gate Theatre, Almeida Theatre, The Opera Group, Pentabus Theatre, the Bush Theatre, Opera North and for the Michael Grandage Company. She is regularly a Connections Director for The National Theatre Connections Festival and is co-artistic director of new writing company EQ Theatre. She was Associate Director on Girl From The North Country for Toronto and the West End in 2019. Directing credits include GUT (Guildhall School of Music and Drama), The Importance of Being Earnest (Watermill Theatre), No Place for a Woman (Theatre 503), Strong Arm (Underbelly/Old Vic New Voices), The Hairy Ape (Southwark Playhouse), Rigor Mortis (Papatango Theatre Companuy/Finborough Theatre), Crossed Keys (Eastern Angles), Bedbound (Lion and Unicorn), Stoopud Fucken Animals (Traverse Theatre), There is a War (Arts Ed), Punk Rock (Guildford School of Acting), and Anne Boleyn (RWCMD).

SMALL THINGS THEATRE brings detailed, entertaining, and socially thought-provoking work to the stage. They produce new plays, provide a platform for new artists in theatre, music, comedy and poetry, and have curated work to raise money for Grenfell survivors and the UN Women's gender equality campaign.

They have collaborated with the Pleasance, Theatre503, The Vaults and now Southwark Playhouse to produce new work from Cordelia O'Neill, Tom Vallen and Jess Butcher. They were also commissioned by UN Women and Vaults to curate a special performance of new work supporting HeForShe arts week, with a worldwide call out for short plays to accompany new work from writers Simon Stephens and Tamsin Oglesby on theme of gender equality. Alongside, they hosted a discussion with Robert Webb, leading politicians and charities about what actually helps redress the balance between genders.

Past productions include No Place For A Woman (Theatre503), A Gym Thing (Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh and London), Leaves (Caravanserail Bookshop), and The Stolen Inches (Edinburgh Festival Fringe).

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