Janet Amsden, Martin Buchan and More Set for Finborough Theatre's THE BLOOD IS STRONG; Full Cast Announced!

High Fell Productions in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents THE BLOOD IS STRONG by David Hutchison. Directed by Bruce Guthrie, the show is designed by Gabriella Slade with lighting by Humphrey McDermott and sound by Josh Richardson. Just announced, the cast will feature: Janet Amsden, Margaret-Ann Bain, Martin Buchan, Alistair Findlay, Neil McNulty and Steven Miller in this World Premiere.

The multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre presents the world premiere of David Hutchison's new play The Blood is Strong playing for a limited run of six Sunday and Monday evening and Tuesday matinee performances from Sunday, 26 May 2013 (Press Night: Monday, 27 May 2013 at 7.30pm).

Scotland, today. Alec Baillie used to be a famous singer of Scottish popular music. No Hogmanay was complete without him, but now he finds himself out of date and forgotten as tastes have moved on, and the country itself is changing around him. His daughter is an aspiring Scottish National Party MSP anxious to be part of an independent Scotland in which she sees no place for the traditional cosy view of the nation that her father represents...

This timely play is both a compelling human story and an exploration of what has been happening politically and culturally north of the border. And what that might mean for England and the English.

Playwright David Hutchison was born in Ayrshire in 1944 An earlier version of The Blood is Strongentitled The Voice of Scotland was presented as part of Vibrant 2010 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, directed by Blanche McIntyre. His first play, Deadline, was presented by Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Other plays include a rehearsed reading of A Scandalous Affair (Glasgow Citizens' Theatre), and, earlier this year, Too Long the Heart, a drama set in the aftermath of the Irish Troubles (Siege Perilous, Edinburgh).'In 2011, his one act play The Waves Roll In won first prize in the Play on Words competition, sponsored by actor and director Richard Wilson. He has spent most of his working life at Glasgow Caledonian University, and has written widely on media policy and the development of theatre in Scotland. Among his publications are The Modern Scottish Theatre, Media Policy and The Media in Scotland (co-editor). He is currently working with colleagues on a referendum related book.

Director Bruce Guthrie returns to Finborough Theatre where he directed An Incident at the Border(2012) which transferred to the West End and received a Broadway World nomination for Best Director of a Play. Direction includes Othello (Fort Canning Park, Singapore), St David's Day Celebration (Cardiff), A Month In The Country (Richard Burton Theatre), The Man On Her Mind(Charing Cross Theatre), Our Country's Good (Richard Burton Theatre), Twelfth Night (Fort Canning Park, Singapore), Hitchcock Blonde (Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff), Karen's Wish (Mayfair Theatre), Gloucestershire (Arcola Theatre), Stories by Heart (National Theatre), Actresses Franchise League (Novello Theatre and Prince of Wales Theatre), The Elephant Man (Trafalgar Studios), The Long and the Short and the Tall (Pleasance London), Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (The Venue, Leicester Square, and Gateway Studio, Edinburgh). Associate Direction includesThe Bridge Project - Richard III (The Old Vic, BAM and World Tour) and All My Sons (Apollo Theatre). As a Staff Director at The National Theatre, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Observer and Burnt by the Sun. Assistant Direction include The Girl with a Pearl Earring (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and The Lord of the Rings (Theatre Royal Drury Lane). He was also Resident Director for Shadowlands (Novello Theatre). Bruce trained at the Guildford School of Acting (BA Hons in Acting) and The National Theatre Directors Course. He was Artistic Director of Creative First Theatre from 2004 to 2007, and an Assistant Producer for Andrew Welch Ltd in 2008. Bruce is currently the Associate Artistic Director of PapaTango Theatre Company.

The production will play the Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. Box Office 0844 847 1652. Book online at www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk. Performance schedule: Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, 26, 27, 28 May, 2, 3 and 4 June 2013; Sunday and Monday evenings at 7.30pm. Tuesday matinees at 2.00pm. Tickets £14, £10 concessions. Performance Length: Approximately two hours with one interval.

CAST BIOGRAPHIES:

Janet Amsden | Maisie
At the Finborough Theatre, Janet appeared in Rigor Mortis (2011).
Theatre includes Napoli (Flying Cloud Theatre), The Boy Friend (Her Majesty's Theatre), Random Acts of Strangers (Courtyard Theatre), The Chairs (Bath Theatre Royal), They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina (Tristan Bates Theatre and Theatre 503), Oliver (Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury),Richard III (Greenwich Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bristol Old Vic and The Old Vic),All's Well That Ends Well (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Dr Faustus and Daisy Pulls it Off(Duke's Playhouse, Lancaster), Dead Soil (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), Animal Farm (National Theatre), Kathie and The Hippopotamus (Almeida Theatre), Filumena (Library Theatre, Manchester), Lulu (Newcastle Playhouse), Widowers Houses and Coriolanus (Everyman Theatre, Liverpool) and Schippell, Dream Play, The Exception and Rule and The Measures Taken (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh).
Film includes Getting It Right, Children of Icarus, Hussy and Violent Summer.
Television includes Doctors, The Bill, Hotel Babylon, EastEnders, Casualty, Spooks, Family Affairs, Down to Earth, Big Kids, Belfry Witches, Cold War, Daylight Robbery, Big Women, The King of Chaos, Dangerfield, Shine On Harvey Moon, Partisans, Between The Lines, Grange Hill, Crown Court, Blind Justice, Eleanor Marx and Target.

Margaret-Ann Bain | Jean
Trained at the Drama Studio London.
Theatre includes Beautiful Burnout (Frantic Assembly and National Theatre of Scotland), Henry V, A Doll's House (Theatre Delicatessen at the Latitude Festival), 3 Storeys (Pimlico Academy), The Love of the Nightingale (Waterloo East Theatre), It's A Girl (International Festival Theatre, Romania), Kid Simple: A Radio Play in the Flesh (Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh) and After Columbus(Hen and Chickens Theatre).
Film includes Zero Tolerance, The Dead Are Silent and Making Ugly.
Television includes Crisis Control and Lady Randy - Churchill's Mother.

Martin Buchan | Alec
At the Finborough Theatre, Martin appeared in In Quest of Conscience (2011).
Trained at the Guildford School of Acting.
Theatre includes Scrooge (Petersham Playhouse, Richmond), The Rehearsal (Library Theatre, Manchester), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (National Theatre of Ireland - Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Juno and the Paycock (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Borstal Boy (Gaiety Theatre, Dublin), Time and Time Again (Eye Theatre), The Greatest Sin (Schmucks Theatre Company)andDead Reckonings (Etcetera Theatre).
Film includes Kapital and Einstein.
Television includes Line of Duty, Casualty, Dead Clever, Britain's Greatest Heists, The Project, Emmerdale, Heartbeat, Doctors, Remington Steele, Gods Frontiersman, Three of a Kind, Love Against The World and Bread.

Alistair Findlay | Glen | Strachan
At the Finborough Theatre, Alistair appeared in What Every Woman Knows (2010).
Other Theatre includes Hobson's Choice (Chichester Festival Theatre and National Tour), The Art of Concealment (Jermyn Street Theatre), Hardman (Donmar Warehouse) and Faith, Hope and Charity (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith).
Film includes The Man with No Name, Red Sky At Night, Murky Waters, Cold Fish, In The Name of The Father, and Highlander.
Television includes Silent Witness, Doctors, The Tudors, Filth. The Mary Whitehouse Story, Passage, Suez, Wire In The Blood, Taggart, Poirot, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Why We Went to War.

Steven Miller | Ian
Trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes Black Watch (National Theatre Scotland), Lord of the Rings (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Fiddler on the Roof (Sheffield Theatres) and The Long The Short and The Tall (Pleasance, Islington) Richard II (Old Vic).
Television includes Our Girl, Casualty, Holby City, The Bill, Christmas Carol and Henry.
Radio includes Jago and Litefoot.

Neil McNulty | Tweedie
At the Finborough Theatre, Neil appeared in Witchcraft (2008).
Theatre includes The Real Thing (Salisbury Playhouse), The Grapes of Wrath (Chichester Festival Theatre) and The Recovery Position, Love and Money, Wolves in the Wall (National Theatre of Scotland).
Television includes The Hour, Hustle, Doctors, River City, Out of Your Mind and Taggart.

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