Finborough Theatre Presents THE POTTING SHED, 1/4

Unseen in London since 1971, Graham Greene's controversial play The Potting Shed returns to the Finborough Theatre by popular demand after a sell-out Sunday and Monday run in October 2010, opening on Tuesday, 4 January 2011 for a four week run (Press Night: Thursday, 6 January 2011 at 7.30pm) as part of RediscoveriesUK, a three month season of rediscovered plays by writers from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
 
An estranged son desperately searches for the missing childhood memories that left him rejected by his father, alienated from his family and alone in the world. After a generation of denial, will the Callifer family ever end their silence on what happened in the potting shed all those years ago?
 
The Potting Shed was written in 1958 and originally produced at The Globe Theatre by H. M. Tennent Ltd with Sir John Gielgud, Irene Worth and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. It was last seen in London in 1971 at Sadler's Wells with Cliff Richard in the lead role.
 
Playwright Graham Greene was born in 1904 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. In 1926, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. Many of his literary works are inspired by Catholicism. His many novels, published by Vintage Classics, include The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, The Confidential Agent, The End of the Affair, The Quiet American, Loser Takes All, Dr Fischer of Geneva, The Human Factor, Monsignor Quixote, The Honorary Consul, and Travels with My Aunt, later adapted into a very successful play. His other plays include The Living Room, The Complaisant Lover and Carving a Statue . As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two books of autobiography, one of biography and four books for children. He also contributed hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews, some of which appear in the collections Reflections and Mornings in the Dark . Many of his novels and short stories have been filmed including Brighton Rock with Richard Attenborough, Our Man in Havana with Alec Guinness and Noël Coward, The Quiet American starring Michael Caine and The Third Man with Orson Welles. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991. This production of The Potting Shed coincides with the release of a new film adaptation of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock , directed by Rowan Joffe, with Sam Riley, Andrea Riseborough and Dame Helen Mirren.
 
Director Svetlana Dimcovic trained at the University of Birmingham and the National Theatre, London. She was Associate Director of the Gate Theatre (2003-2005), Associate Director of the Caird Company (2002-2005) and a Trainee Director at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond (2001-2002). Svetlana has also trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Text and Language with Cicely Berry and recently originated and set up the BEE programme at the Bush Theatre.  Previous productions include The God of Hell (Belgrade, Serbia), The Outside (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Lithuanian Festival  (Southwark Playhouse), Zuva Crumbling (Lyric Hammersmith), The Professional (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow), Mushroom Pickers (Southwark Playhouse), Writer's Generation (Arts Printing House, Vilnius, Lithuania) and The Broken Heel (Riverside Studios).
 
The cast includes Eileen Battye, Paul Cawley, Janet Hargreaves, Lorna Jones, Zoe Thorne and Martin Wimbush. Eileen Battye's recent credits include Life and Beth (National Tour) and That Old Feeling (The Mill at Sonning). Paul Cawley's recent credits include Wideness of the Sea (Arcola Theatre) and My Family (BBC). Janet Hargreaves' credits include Elgar and Alice (New End Theatre, Hampstead) and Talking Heads (Winchester Theatre Royal). Lorna Jones has recently played Christine in Miss Julie (BAC). Zoe Thorne recently performed in Alice and the Walled Garden (Sixteen Feet Productions). Recent theatre credits for Martin Wimbush include Humble Boy (National Tour) and he can be seen in Garrow's Law (BBC) and Kubrick (Channel 4).  
 
PRESS NIGHT: THURSDAY, 6 JANUARY 2011 AT 7.30PM
PHOTOCALL: TUESDAY, 4 JANUARY 2011 AT 1.00PM-1.30PM
 
Finborough Theatre, The Finborough, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652.   www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Tuesday, 4 January - Saturday, 29 January 2011
Tuesday to Saturday Evenings at 7.30pm. Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm. Saturday matinees at 3.00pm (from the second week of the run).

Weeks 1 and 2 (4-16 January) - Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £9 all seats, and Saturday evenings £13 all seats. Previews (4 and 5 January) £9 all seats.

£5 tickets for under 30's for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only.

£10 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on the first Saturday of the run only.

Weeks 3 and 4 (18-29 January) - Tickets £15, £11 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £11 all seats, and Saturday evenings £15 all seats.
Performance length: 2 hours.
 
For more information, interviews and images, please contact
Neil McPherson on e-mail admin@finboroughtheatre.co.uk or 07977 173135 
 

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