Performances run 25 April – 28 May.
The Orange Tree Theatre today announces the full cast for the UK première of Pamela Carter's The Misfortune of the English. Oscar Toeman directs Hubert Burton (Harrison), Vinnie Heaven (Eaton), Eva Magyar (Tour Guide), and Matthew Tennyson (Lyons). The production opens on 28 April, with previews from 25 April, and runs until 28 May, with a livestreamed performance via OT On Screen on 12 May and available to stream on demand from 31 May - 3 June.
Artistic Director of The Orange Tree Theatre, Paul Miller says today "It's a real pleasure to welcome such a talented company for The Misfortune of the English, each of them making their OT debuts in Oscar Toeman's production. Pamela Carter's highly original new play, based on real events, tackles the nature of memory and storytelling, our relation to Europe and the problems of leadership."
Directed by Oscar Toeman; Sound Design by Dan Balfour; Lighting Design by Elliot Griggs; Movement Direction by Rachel-Leah Hosker; Casting by Christopher Worrall
Performances run 25 April - 28 May.
Press night: Thursday 28 April at 7pm and Friday 29 April at 7.30pm
OT On Screen: Thursday 12 May at 7.30pm
"Guten Tag meine Herren und Frauen von Freiburg, von Deutschland. We have travelled here from London, England. You may have heard of it."
On the morning of 17 April 1936, a group of 27 schoolboys, led by their teacher and newly arrived in Nazi Germany, set out on the first of a seven-day walking tour of the Black Forest.
By 8pm that evening, local villagers were searching for them in a blizzard.
"You did say you wanted to take the scenic route."
Inspired by true events: a story of (mis)adventure and blind optimism, nationhood, and courage in the face of disaster.
Pamela Carter is a playwright and dramaturg. Her work includes Lines (Year Theatre), Fast Ganz Nah/Almost Near (Theater Dresden), Skåne (Hampstead Theatre), What We Know (Traverse Theatre), Wildlife (Magnetic North), Them! (National Theatre of Scotland), The Male Queen (Lyceum Theatre/RSC). Her work for Untitled Projects and long-term collaborator Stewart Laing include The End of Eddy, Slope, Paul Bright's Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Arguments About Sex (After Marivaux). As a dramaturg, she has worked with Graeae Theatre, Vanishing Point Theatre, The Pappy Show, DAU Films, Malmö Opera and National Theatre of Scotland.
Hubert Burton plays Harrison. His theatre credits include Into The Night (Original Theatre), Relatively Speaking, Breaking The Code (Salisbury Playhouse), Mancoin (Vault Festival), The Inheritance (Young Vic/Noel Coward Theatre), Deep Blue Sea, Waste (National Theatre), She Stoops to Conquer (Bath Theatre Royal). His television credits include The Last Post, Jekyll and Hyde, 100 Days of UKIP, The Outcast and The Passing Bells; and for film, his credits include Living and Their Finest, The Most Reluctant Convert and Testament of Youth.
Vinnie Heaven plays Eaton. Their recent theatre credits include Cuckoo (Soho Theatre), Half The World Away (UK tour) and Malory Tower (Bristol Old Vic). Their television credits include The Nevers and Power Out.
Eva Magyar plays the Tour Guide. Her theatre credits include Tristan and Yseult, Hedda Gabler, From Morning to Midnight (National Theatre), The Wild Bride, Ramayana (Lyric Hammersmith), Midnight's Pumpkin (Battersea Arts Centre), The Bacchae (Bristol Old Vic), Romeo and Julist (RSC), Marlene (Tristan Bates Theatre/Katona Jozsef Theatre, Budapest), The Arabian Nights (Tricycle), Breathing Irregular and The Sexual Neuroses of our Parents (Gate Theatre). Her television credits include Father Brown, X Company, Paranoid and Mars; and for film, her credits include Overlord, X-Men:First Class, Let Me Go, Headhunter, Dark Woods 2, Daniel, Monte Carlo, The Death of Pentheus and A Matter of Life.
Matthew Tennyson plays Lyons. His theatre credits include The Lodger (Coronet Theatre), A Monster Calls (The Old Vic), Salome (RSC), Cleansed (National Theatre), The Seagull (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), A Breakfast of Eels (The Print Room), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe), Making Noise Quietly (Donmar Warehouse), Beautiful Thing (Manchester Royal Exchange) and Flare Path (Theatre Royal Haymarket). His television credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Father Brown, Grantchester, Humans, Babylon and The Hollow Crown; and for film, his credits include Benediction and Making Noise Quietly.
Oscar Toeman returns to the Orange Tree to direct, having previously directed The Sugar Syndrome for the company. His other theatre credits include, Actually (Trafalgar Studios), After October and Laburnum Grove (Finborough Theatre). He is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center's Directors Lab in New York, an MGCfutures Bursary recipient, and an Associate at the National Youth Theatre.
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