Casting Update Announced for Defibrillator's Major New Revival of A LIE OF THE MIND

With their critically acclaimed production of Stephen Karam's Speech and Debate running at the Trafalgar Studios, Defibrillator Artistic Director James Hillier today announces a casting update for their production of Sam Shepherd's A Lie of the Mind. Hillier directs Gethin Anthony (Jake), Kate Fahy (Lorraine), Robert Lonsdale (Mike), Laura Rodgers (Sally) and John Stahl (Baylor) in a new updated version as yet to be seen in the U.K. The production opens at Southwark Playhouse on 8 May, with previews from 4 May, running until 28 May. Further casting will be announced shortly.

"Love... it's a disease that makes ya' feel good. While it lasts. Then, when it's gone, yer worse off than before you caught it."

America. The great wide open. Two families torn apart by more than one brutal marriage. Out of this bleak landscape emerges a human spirit that burns bright. At heart a love story, this poetic and gritty play explores the ambivalence of family relationships, of love lost and found, against the backdrop of a macho American West.

Defibrillator's production immerses you in Shepard's world and features live music from acclaimed composer and musician James Marples.

Sam Shepard (b 1942) is a playwright, actor, director and author. He has written over 45 plays (11 of which have won Obie Awards) including True Love, Fool for Love and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child, recently seen at Trafalgar Studios starring Ed Harris. He also wrote the screenplay for Wim Wender's Paris, Texas for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Gethin Anthony plays Jake. Antony previously worked with the company on The Hotel Plays - Green Eyes. Other theatre credits include In the Vale of Health and What Fatima Did (Hampstead Theatre), A life of Galileo and Boris Gondonuv (RSC), Carrot (Theatre503), 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic), In Praise of Love (Theatre Royal Northampton), Ditch (HighTide), Cling to me like Ivy (Birmingham Rep) and Cyrano de Bergerac (Oxford Playhouse). For television his credits include Game of Thrones, Aquarius, ALT, Call the Midwife, Cloud Chamber, 10 Days to War and Pinochet's Progress; and for film, First Kill, Kodachrome, We are Monster, Copenhagen, Dreck, Into the Storm, Beyond the Rave and Bus Terminal.

Kate Fahy plays Lorraine. For theatre her credits include Handbagged (UK tour), After Electra (Tricycle Theatre), Definitely the Bahamas (Orange Tree Theatre), The Goat (Almeida Theatre and Apollo Theatre), Copenhagen (Watford Palace Theatre), Grace, Gaucho and Sparrowfall (Hampstead Theatre), Seduced (Royal Court), Old Flames (Arts Theatre), A Doll's House (Riverside Studios), Bouncing and Sunday Morning (National Theatre) and Othello (Young Vic). For television her credits include The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, Death in Paradise, Cherished, Pure Wickedness, The Best Man, The House of Elliott, The Jury, Trial and Retribution, The Mozart Inquest, Danton's Death, Terra Nova, Oxbridge Blues, The Lodger and The Nearly Man; and for film, Archipelago, Defiance, Brilliance, The Show, The Living and The Dead, The Fourth Angel, Somewhere Sometime.

Robert Lonsdale plays Mike. For theatre his credits include Plaques and Tangles, Open Court: Piigs and Brilliant Adventures (Royal Court), Another Place (Plymouth Theatre Royal), From Here to Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre), A Life (Finborough Theatre), Anna Christie (Donmar Warehouse), Finding Neverland (Curve, Leicester), La Bete (Harold Pinter Theatre) and The Indian Wants the Bronx (Young Vic). For television his credits include Vera, Chewing Gum, Love Sick, The Interceptor, Lost Christmas, A Passionate Woman, Plus One and Decisions; and for film, The Glass House.

Laura Rodgers plays Sally. For theatre her credits include Winter Solstice (Orange Tree Theatre), Private Lives (UK tour), Tipping The Velvet and Arcadia (Lyric Hammersmith), An Ideal Husband, Blue Remembered Hills, Hay Fever and Pressure (Chichester Festival Theatre), Masterpieces (Royal Court), 55 Days and Revelations (Hampstead Theatre), The Comedy of Errors (USA tour and Shakespeare's Globe), Macbeth, A New World - The Life of Thomas Paine, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Timon of Athens, The Taming of the Shrew and Richard III (Shakespeare's Globe), The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre), See How They Run (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and The Three Musketeers and The Barber of Seville (Bristol Old Vic). For television her credits include New Tricks, The Smoke, Dates, Twelfth Night, Dark Matters, Doctor Who Christmas Special, Missing, Albert's Memorial, Rock Face, Running Scared, Relic Hunter, Pleasure Beach and The Sins; and for film, Love Me Do, The Right Hand Man, Nylon Ghosts and In Two Minds.

John Stahl plays Baylor. For theatre his credits include The Winter's Tale (Lyceum Theatre), Father Comes Home From the War (Royal Court), The Crucible and Ghosts (Bristol Old Vic), Hamlet, All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, King John, Richard III and A Soldier in Every Son (RSC), Troilus & Cressida, The Frontline, We, The People, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and The Globe Mysteries (Shakespeare's Globe), Frankenstein (National Theatre), The Whisky Taster (The Bush Theatre), The Alice Trilogy (Royal Court Theatre), Blue Eyes and Heels (Soho Theatre), The Found Man (Traverse Theatre). For television his credits include Game of Thrones, Being Human, Beehive, Murder Rooms, Glasgow Kiss, Rebus - The First Stone, Shetland 3, Dr Finlay, Resort to Murder, Crime Story, Life of Jolly; and film, Victoria and Abdul and Loch Ness.

James Hillier is Artistic Director of Defibrillator. His directing credits include, Terry Johnson's Insignificance at Langham Place, New York; the première production of Tennessee Williams' The Hotel Plays at the Grange Hotel in 2012 and The Langham, London in 2014; The Armour (also The Langham, winner of an award at Le Miami Rebels), and Hard Feelings (Finborough Theatre). Hillier has directed a number of short films, including How To Make A Good First Impression Part 1 which went on to win awards at Tribecca Film Festival and Cannes. As an actor, he has worked at the Royal Court, National Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Bush Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange and the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. He is currently shooting the second season of The Crown.

DEFIBRILLATOR is an award-winning London based company with a growing reputation for delivering inspiring and entertaining theatre in both conventional and non-theatre settings. With a history of bringing to life less commonly used material, the company is increasingly developing and discovering new works from UK and international writers for audiences around the world. Defibrillator is led by Artistic Director James Hillier and Executive Producer Trish Wadley, supported by the Stage One Bursary Scheme for New Producers.

For tickets and more information, visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk.

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