Fay Lomas Directs OUT OF THE DARK

With the critically acclaimed Captain Corelli's Mandolin currently running, Rose Theatre Kingston today announce Out of the Dark, a debut play written by Suzy Gill. Fay Lomas, winner of the 2019 Peter Hall Emerging Artist Fellowship, an annual award introduced to commemorate the legacy of Sir Peter Hall, directs. Out of the Dark opens at the Rose Studio on Wednesday 30 October and runs until Saturday 2 November 2019.

There's the space that's all around us - enclosing the Earth, full of galaxies, moonbeams and meteors, planets and probably other life forms. And then there's the space inside Lily's head. Where the matter simply stopped forming.

Lily. He. And She. A fledgling family. A family who are suddenly faced with the unexpected, when, at 6 months, Lily is diagnosed with a rare neurological condition with potentially life-changing consequences.

Out of the Dark is a lyrical, honest and tender exploration of their family life as they begin tentatively to orbit the struggles and triumphs that come following the discovery that Lily's brain did not quite form the way that He and She anticipated.

Fay Lomas said today, 'I'm really excited to be able to bring Suzy's deeply moving and human story to life at the Rose this autumn. Suzy is an extraordinary wordsmith, and her play takes its audience on a journey that moves between minds and meteors in the blink of an eye. Our collaboration on this play started at a workshop (with the company Scene Gym) back in early 2018. So we're both delighted that the Rose's invaluable support has meant we can now share this work with a public audience in Kingston.'

Alongside Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which embarks on a UK tour until 29 June, this year the Rose also present their annual Christmas production The Snow Queen, adapted and directed by Ciaran McConville. In addition, they welcome visiting productions including The Lovely Bones; Posh; smash hit musical Six and parody musical Friendsical. For family theatre, Julia Donaldson's and Alex Scheffler's The Gruffalo and Tabby McTat return along with a new version of Kes Gray and Jim Field's Oi Frog!

Fay Lomas is an emerging theatre director working across the Midlands and London. Her directing credits include The Crucible (Royal & Derngate Northampton Community Company), The Winter's Tale (St Peter's Church, Northampton), Bérénice (The Space) and Blood Wedding (The Bread and Roses). In addition, she has directed new, short plays at Arcola Theatre, Theatre503 and Southwark Playhouse. As an assistant director her credits include The Model Apartment (Ustinov Studio), Macbeth (National Theatre/UK tour), Trouble in Mind (Print Room), Death of a Salesman (Royal & Derngate Northampton/UK tour), Great Expectations (Royal & Derngate Northampton), Annie Get Your Gun (Sheffield Theatres) and Half Life (Theatre Royal Bath).

Suzy Gill is an actress, poet and playwright based in London. She graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2011. Extracts of her writing have been produced by Pint-Sized Plays, (First Time, The Bunker), SLAM King's Cross (The Fox) and at the Old Red Lion (Twilight Zone). She regularly performs and produces Spoken Word nights across London. These have included; Hollaback (Theatre N16), SLAMinutes (The Arcola), and the post-show event for Collective Rage at the Southwark Playhouse. Her spoken word poem, Systematic Problems went viral after it was published by the Huffington Post and publicised by BBC3.

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