First seen in Vibrant - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, the world premiere of a first play by Cornish playwright Henry Darke, Booby's Bay opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Tuesday, 30 January 2018.
Above a secluded cove in Cornwall, Huck, a former fisherman, is holed up in an empty second home. The holiday season is fast approaching, the sharks are coming, but he refuses to budge. As Booby's Bay fills up for the annual surfing competition, Huck wants to shake things up, even if no one is listening. He's got media connections and intends to make a political stand.
A passionate, comic fable about the housing crisis in Cornwall and beyond, and a maverick's mission to turn the tide.
Booby's Bay is Henry Darke's first full-length play. It is directed by Chris White and following its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre, it will be performed at the Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol and then a site-specific venue in Cornwall.
Playwright Henry Darke trained on The Royal Court Theatre Young Writers' Programme and his one-act play Highfliers was selected for The Royal Court Theatre Young Playwrights Season. He was selected for 'The Royal Court 50' Most Promising Playwrights in the UK by the Drum Theatre, Plymouth, and is currently writing his second and third full-length plays, Chippy, set in Padstow; and Service, set in London. Booby's Bay initially appeared in Vibrant - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, and was subsequently developed by the Bristol Old Vic through their 'Open Sessions' scheme, supporting the most talented voices from the South West. His award winning short film Big Mouth won Encounters Film Festival and was shortlisted for a BAFTA. He also directed Channel 4 Coming Up episode Hooked. He is a member of the BBC Writersroom Dramaroom 2017.
Director Chris White's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream currently plays in repertoire at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Beijing, and his recent production of Scenes From 68 Years (Arcola Theatre) was nominated for three OffWestEnd Awards including Best Director. He was Assistant Director to David Lan at The Young Vic, Mike Alfreds and Simon Usher at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Chris returns to the Finborough Theatre where he directed 1984 by Satinder Chohan as part of Vibrant 2014 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights. Further Direction includes The Visit, The Suicide, Le Foreste di Arden (Teatro Della Contraddizione, Milan), Hard Places (Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai,and Indian Ttour), The Truth (La Virgule, Lille), Fewer Emergencies (Teatro Litta, Milan), Trouble and Wonder (Royal Shakespeare Company), I Burn, I Pine, I Perish (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry), 40 Years Young (The Young Vic), Soho Young Playwrights (Soho Theatre), The Water When It Burns (Hampstead Theatre), The Sale (Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff), Plan D which was nominated for the Meyer-Whitworth Award (Tristan Bates Theatre) and Cocoa (Theatre503). Chris co-leads the Young Writers Lab at Soho Theatre and works internationally as an Associate Practitioner for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is a former JMK Award finalist and is currently developing a production of Pericles in Sri Lanka, in association with The British Council.
The cast is:
Oliver Bennett | Huck
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Theatre includes Babe, The Sheep Pig (National Tour), Tomorrow I Was Always a Lion and The Price of Money (Belarus Free Theatre), The Worst Wedding Ever (Salisbury Playhouse), Backbeat (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Duke of York's Theatre and International Tour), Change (Arcola Theatre), The Fool (Cock Tavern), Avocado (King's Head Theatre) and To the End of the World and Abigail's Party (Warwick Arts Centre and Edinburgh Festival).
Film includes All Is by My Side.
Television includes The Coroner.
Joseph Chance | Jim
Trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Theatre includes The Woman in Black (Fortune Theatre), Jeeves and Wooster (National Tour and Far East Tour), Pocket Comedy, A Midsummers Night's Dream, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew (National and International Tours for Propeller), I Killed Rasputin (Edinburgh Festival), Moonlight and Magnolias and Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Perth Rep Theatre), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow), The School of Night (Soho Theatre), Terror 2010 (Southwark Playhouse), The Merchant of Venice (Lamb House, Rye), Mary Mother of Frankenstein (Theatre National Brussels and Salzburg Festival), Peter and Vandy (Theatre503), Cyrano de Bergerac (Chichester Festival Theatre), Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Stafford Castle), Cyrano de Bergerac (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Tartuffe (Watermill Theatre, Newbury, and National Tour), Macbeth (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), The Importance of Being Earnest (Bristol Old Vic), The Spanish Golden Age Season - Pedro, The Great Pretender and The Dog in The Manger (Royal Shakespeare Company and Playhouse Theatre), Tamar's Revenge (Royal Shakespeare Company), Incarnate (Edinburgh Festival) and Snowbound (Etcetera Theatre).
Television includes Wallander, Family Business and Bloody Britain.
Esther Coles | Liz
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Theatre includes Touched (Nottingham Playhouse), Empathy Museum (LIFT Festival), The Nap (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Brian Pern Live (Lyric Theatre), Matchbox Theatre (Hampstead Theatre), Shed Plays (Royal Festival Hall), The Girlfriend Experience (Royal Court Theatre, The Young Vic and Drum Theatre, Plymouth), The Recruiting Officer (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Rom Com (Hackney Empire), Closer To Ormsby (The Shunt Arch) and Woyzeck, Can't Stand Up For Falling Down, Billy Liar and The Snow Queen (Hull Truck).
Film includes On Chisel Beach, Il Maestro, Cheeky and Sixty Six.
Television includes EastEnders, Josh, Damned, The Syndicate, Code of A Killer, House Of Fools, Nurse, Great Night Out, Doctors, Shameless, Tittybangbang, Whose Baby?, Sea of Souls, A Thing Called Love, No Angels World Productions, Coronation Street, Peak Practice and Hunting Venus.
Radio includes Ricky Zoom, Nurse and Down the Line.
Esther has written her own comedy The Allotment that was aired on BBC R4 in 2017.
Florence Roberts | Jeanie / Cassandra
Trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes Punts (Theatre503), BU21 (Trafalgar Studios), French Without Tears (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, and English Touring Theatre National Tour), Shakespeare in Love (Noël Coward Theatre) and Arcadia (Nottingham Playhouse).
Film includes This Is A Relationship, Dan?, Life in Black and Accolades.
Bradley Taylor | Daz
Trained at Drama Centre London.
Theatre includes Mothergun (Arts Theatre), Patronized Horses (Waterloo East Theatre), Wasted (Paines Plough), On the High Road (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Studios), The Dim (Southwark Playhouse), Death of Ophelia (Tate Modern), Hero/Heroine (Etcetera Theatre), Someone to Blame (King's Head Theatre), The Winters Tale (Old Vic Tunnels), Othello (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Moonfleece (National Tour), Some Trace of Her (National Theatre), Silverland (59E59 Theaters, New York City) and Doctor Faustus (Bristol Old Vic). Film includes Diggers Dead Cool, OUT, Absence, Rosie, Rock and Roll F***ing Lovely and Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud.
Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
Book online at www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
No booking fees on online, personal or postal bookings
By Telephone -
Until 29 January 2018 - Box Office 0844 847 1652 (Calls will cost 7ppm plus your network access charge.) From 30 January 2018 - Box Office 01223 357851. (Calls are free. There will be a 5% booking fee.) Lines are open Monday- Saturday 10.00am-6.00pm
Tuesday, 30 January - Saturday, 24 February 2018
Tuesday to Saturday Evenings at 7.30pm. Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm. Saturday matinees at 3.00pm (from 10 February 2018).
Prices until 11 February 2018 - Tickets £16, £14 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £14 all seats, and Friday and Saturday evenings £16 all seats. Previews (30 and 31 January) £12 all seats. £10 tickets for Under 30's for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only. £12 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on Saturday, 3 February 2018 when booked online only.
Prices from 13 February 2018 - Tickets £18, £16 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £16 all seats, and Friday and Saturday evenings £18 all seats.
Performance Length: Approximately 90 minutes with no interval.
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