DESSERT to Get World Premiere at Southwark Playhouse

Following on from his success with Daytona at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket Oliver Cotton, has written a new play for our time, Dessert. Directed by Trevor Nunn the world premiere of this powerful, thought-provoking play about wealth, greed and the lengths to which people will go to claim what's theirs, runs at Southwark Playhouse from 12 July.

A British financier and his wife host a lavish dinner party for their affluent American friends. The food is delicious, the conversation animated and dessert is on its way - when, from one second to another, the evening takes a sinister and alarming turn...

"Many actors, John Osborne, Harold Pinter, and for that matter, William Shakespeare, decided not only to act in plays but to write their own. I have known for many years that Oliver Cotton is of this number. I have so happily and often worked with him as an actor, and now I am hugely looking forward to encountering him in a different role when I direct his burningly relevant new play" -Trevor Nunn

Oliver Cotton's writing credits include Daytona (Park Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket), Wet Weather Cover (King's Head & Arts Theatre, London), The Incredible Journey of Sir Francis Younghusband, (Royal Court), The Enoch Show (Royal Court), and Man Falling Down (Shakespeare's Globe).

Cotton's acting credits include some forty productions at the Royal National Theatre, numerous productions at London's Royal Court and many appearances at The Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe. He was a founder member of Joint Stock and has also starred in several West End productions including: Children Of A Lesser God, Benefactors, An Ideal Husband, The Homecoming, Passion Play and Daytona.

Trevor Nunn was Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1968 to 1986 where he directed more than 30 productions including most of the Shakespeare canon, Nicholas Nickleby and Les Miserables. From 1997 to 2003, he was Artistic Director of the National Theatre. He has directed the world premieres of many of Tom Stoppard's plays and of Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Starlight Express and Aspects of Love by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Recent theatre includes The Lady From The Sea (Almeida); Hamlet, Richard II, Inherit the Wind (Old Vic); Cyrano de Bergerac, Kiss Me Kate (Chichester); Heartbreak House, Flare Path, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Tempest (Theatre Royal, Haymarket); A Chorus of Disapproval, All That Fall and Relative Values (West End) and A Little Night Music and Love in Idleness (Menier Chocolate Factory).

Set and Costume Design is by Rachel Stone whose design credits include Boy With Beer (King's Head Theatre), Stalking the Bogeyman (Southwark Playhouse), Cabaret (ACT Aberdeen), Upper Cut (Southwark Playhouse), That Face (Landor Theatre) and Short and Stark (Southwark Playhouse).

Lighting Design is by Derek Anderson whose theatre includes: Hound of the Baskervilles, Handbagged, Spamalot (English Theatre Frankfurt); Our Man In Havana (UK Tour); WhatsOnStage Awards 2014-2017 (Prince Of Wales) and Promises Promises, Allegro, Grand Hotel, Uppercut, Followers (Southwark Playhouse).

Sound design is by Sebastian Frost, who has designed for theatre, art installations, exhibitions, large scale public events, awards ceremonies and countless other live events. Amongst his many credits are An Inspector Calls (The Playhouse), Jekyll And Hyde (The Old Vic), Grease and The Witches (The Curve, Leicester and Hong Kong tour), The Olivier Awards (Grovesnor Square), the Queen's Jubilee (Parade and The Mall, London) and Edinburgh Military Tattoo (Edinburgh Military Castle).

Producer David Adkin's credits at Southwark Playhouse include the UK premieres of Stalking The Bogeyman and Next Fall starring Charlie Condou. His other recent credits include: Holmes & Watson: The Farewell Tour (National Tour); Our Friends, The Enemy (Theater Row, New York City); and the critically acclaimed sold out run of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street starring David Bedella - Winner of Best Off West End Production and nominated for Best Musical Revival at the 2015 Whatsonstage Awards (Twickenham Theatre).

Casting will be announced shortly.

southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

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