PYONGYANG to Open at Finborough Theatre in 2016

The world premiere of a new North Korean story from award-winning playwright In-Sook Chappell, P'yongyang opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Tuesday, 5 January 2016 (Press Nights: Thursday, 7 January and Friday, 8 January 2016 at 7.30pm).

Crossing military borders and class divides, P'yongyang tells the epic love story of two North Korean childhood sweethearts spanning three decades. Chi-Soo and Eun-Mi dare to dream of a life together in P'yongyang, working for Kim Jong Il's film studios. But as those around them start to disappear and information from the outside world trickles in, the devoted Communists are forced to view their glorious homeland in a different light.

Written by award-winning, Korean-born playwright In-Sook Chappell - who was inspired by a childhood visit to the Demilitarized Zone at the height of the Cold War and by the experiences of North Korean refugees - P'yongyang is a striking new work that was shortlisted for the 2013 Bruntwood Prize Award.

A play that pits hope against hunger.

Playwright In-Sook Chappell's first play This Isn't Romance won the Verity Bargate Award, was produced at the Soho Theatre and was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 before being commissioned as a screenplay by Film Four. She wrote and directed a short film, Full, and is currently working on her second short film Kochebi.

Director Chelsea Walker returns to the Finborough Theatre where she directed the world premiere of Chicken Dust. She trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice and at Oxford University. Her directing credits includes Chicken Dust (Curve, Leicester), Klippies (Southwark Playhouse), Lean (Tristan Bates Theatre), Bespoke (Southwark Playhouse), Ocean of Loneliness (Lost Theatre), Citizens (Theatre503), Occupied (Bad Host at the Bush Theatre). She assisted Simon Godwin on Routes (Royal Court Theatre), The Little Mermaid (Bristol Old Vic) and Candida (Theatre Royal Bath) and Amelia Sears on Brimstone and Treacle (Arcola Theatre). Chelsea is currently a reader for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and Hampstead Theatre, and is co-directing Southwark Playhouse Young Company's 2016 show.

The cast:
Lourdes Faberes | Mrs Park, Min, Waitress
Theatre includes Hidden (Royal Court Theatre), Golden Child (New Diorama Theatre), La Boheme, Orphée (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Still (Theatre503), Hungry Ghosts (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), One Day, Twenty Years (The Young Vic), Cruel and Tender (The Young Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre and Bouffes de Nord, Paris) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Theatre Royal York).
Film includes The Heart of the Forest, Mother of Pearl, Someone You Love, Balsa Wood, Room 304, Spread and State of Play.
Television includes Grantchester, Safelight 19, Holby City, Law and Order UK, The Thai Bride and New Tricks.

Chris Lew Kum Hoi | Chi Soo
Theatre includes A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Life of Galileo, Boris Godunov, The Orphan of Zao (Royal Shakespeare Company), The World of Extreme Happiness (National Theatre), Peter Pan (Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park), James and the Giant Peach (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Fox Attack (National Theatre of Scotland).
Television and Film includes War Machine and Doctor Who

Anna Leong Brophy | Eun Mi
Theatre includes Pitcairn (Chichester Festival Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe), Yeh Shen (Yellow Earth), How to Waste Money on Mere Happiness (Cockpit Theatre), The Art of Fugue (Soho Theatre) and Cure (Underbelly, Edinburgh).
Film includes The Conversations, GBH, The Diana Clone and Malaya: A Forgotten War.

Daniel York | Mr Park, The Producer
Productions at the Finborough Theatre include Our American Cousin, The Wallace and We Know Where You Live.
Theatre includes The World Of Extreme Happiness (National Theatre), The Merchant Of Venice, The Country Wife, Moby Dick (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Importance Of Being Earnest, The Birds (International Tour), Animal Farm (Theatre Royal, Hobart, Tasmania), Boeing Boeing (Drama Centre Theatre, Singapore), Turandot (Hampstead Theatre), Branded (The Old Vic), Five Tanks (Hackney Empire), The Good Woman Of Setzuan (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), In The Bag (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh), Tartuffe (Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke), The Changeling (Southwark Playhouse), Sun Is Shining (King's Head Theatre and 59E59 Theaters, New York City), Romeo and Juliet (Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke), Measure For Measure (Library Theatre, Manchester), Nativity (Birmingham Rep), Une Tempete (Gate Theatre), Kiss of the Spiderwoman, The Glass Menagerie (Singapore Repertory Company), The Magic Fundoshi (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), Hamlet (Thelma Holt Productions) and Porcelain (Royal Court Theatre).
Film includes Faraway, Act Of Grace, We've Got The Toaster, Doom the Beach and Rogue Trader
Television includes Whitechapel, Moving On, Waking the Dead, Casualty, Peggy Su!, Chambers, The Bill, Supper at Emmaus and A Fish Named Tao
Radio includes Doggie's Nirvana, Romeo and Juliet, The Monkey King, Dead Lines, Say It With Flowers and The Inspector Chen Mysteries.

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