Patrick Drury, Florence Hall & More Set for Rose Theatre Kingston and English Touring Theatre GHOSTS

Rose Theatre Kingston and English Touring Theatre will co-produce a new translation of Henrik Ibsen's classic, Ghosts this autumn. Stephen Unwin, outgoing Artistic Director of the Rose Theatre, will direct his own translation which will premiere at the Rose on the 19 September before touring nationwide to Salisbury, Oxford, Guildford, York, Watford, Malvern and Brighton. Unwin has a long standing connection with Ibsen's work, and this will be the 7th Ibsen play he has directed. This will be the second play translation that Unwin has written, following his highly acclaimed translation of The Lady from the Sea in 2012 at the Rose Theatre.

Ghosts will be Stephen's final production at the Rose Theatre before he steps down from a five year tenure as Artistic Director. The collaboration also celebrates 20 years since Stephen foundEd English Touring Theatre, where he originally directed Ghosts to critical acclaim in 2002.

This production, designed by Simon Higlett, will draw inspiration from Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. Munch, famously known for painting The Scream, was commissioned by Max Reinhardt, for the Kammerspiele in Berlin, to design the set for Ghosts. This will be the first time these designs have been used since the 1906 Berlin production. Sue Prideaux, biographer of Munch and Strindberg, will be looking/working? closely with Stephen Unwin and his creative team to bring Munch's original paintings to life and advice throughout the process. This 2013 production will also coincide with the 150th anniversary of Edvard Munch's birth.

Stephen Unwin (Director) is outgoing Artistic Director of the Rose Theatre Kingston. His first production for the Rose was A Christmas Carol in December 2008, followed by The Winslow Boy, Miss Julie, Treasure Island, Dumb Show, Hay Fever, As You Like It, The Importance of Being Earnest, Farewell to the Theatre, The Lady from the Sea, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, The Vortex and most recently A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg. For much of the 1980s, Stephen was Associate Director at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh where six of his productions transferred to London theatres. In the early 1990s, Stephen was Resident Director at The National Theatre Studio before founding ETT in 1993. Stephen has directed a dozen operas including Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht's The Decision (Almeida) and has written a number of books including Pocket Guides to Shakespeare's Plays, Twentieth Century Drama and Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg. Stephen was Visiting Professor at the Universities of California and Kingston, the Judith E Wilson Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University and Halle Distinguished Fellow at Emory University.

Simon Higlett (Designer) is an award winning designer with a prolific career working in West End theatre. He most recently worked on Singin' In The Rain (West End), Infamous (Derren Brown's new stage show), Blithe Spirit (Stratford Ontario), Yes, Prime Minister (West End/Tour) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui andA Marvellous Year for Plums (Chichester Festival Theatre). Highlights from his career include Pygmalion (Old Vic), Enemies, The Earthly Paradise and Whistling Psyche (Almeida), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Donmar), Thomas More, The Russian in the Woods and Singer (RSC).

Patrick Drury (playing Pastor Manders) has had a prolific acting career, both on stage and screen. His previous work with ETT includes King Lear, Twelfth Night, Hamlet and Mother Courage. Other theatre credits include Democracy (Sheffield Crucible), The Woman in Black (West End), Strange Interludes, Much Ado About Nothing, Don Juan, The Prince of Homburg, Torquato Tasso, Batholomew Fair, Fuente Ovejuna, Murderers, The Enchantment, Major Barbara, Judgement Day (National Theatre), 66 Books (Bush), The Cherry Orchard (Birmingham Rep), Afore Night Come (Young Vic), The Graduate (national tour), The Memory of Water (Vaudeville), Flying Blind (Royal Court), Coriolanus (Edinburgh/Jerusalem/Tokyo) and The Trinidad Sisters (Donmar). On television he is perhaps best known for playing John O'Leary in the cult show Father Ted. He has also appeared in Prisoners Wives, The Politician's Wife and Cold Blood. His feature films include The Awakening, Hanna's War, Singleton's Pluck and The Nightingale Saga.

Florence Hall (playing Regina) trained at the Drama Centre London. Theatre credits include Children of the Sun (National Theatre), The Incident at the Border(transferred from Finborough to the NTS), Birdsong (Comedy Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Manchester Library Theatre) and You May Go Now(Finborough Theatre). Films include Telemachy, Truth or Dare and she has appeared in television series May Day, Holby City, Doctors, and Jonathan Creek.

Kelly Hunter (playing Mrs Alving) has previously worked with Stephen Unwin and ETT on A Doll's House, where she played Nora, and As you Like It. Other theatre credits include Evita (Prince Edward Theatre), Jean Seberg, She Stoops to Conquer, A Chorus Of Disapproval (National Theatre), Cabaret (Strand Theatre and Theatre Mogador, Paris), Brel (Donmar Warehouse), Not Fade Away (Bush Theatre), The Blue Angel, King John, Talk of the City, King Lear, The Winter's Tale (RSC), Cuckoos (Gate Theatre) and The Lucky Ones (Hampstead Theatre). Films include Being Human, Vanity Fair & Elizabeth the Golden Age. Her television credits include Perfect Strangers and Close Relations. She received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for Lola in The Blue Angel (RSC).

Mark Quartley (playing Oswald) theatre credits include Macbeth (Trafalgar Studio), Private Peaceful (West End and tour), Measure for Measure, Written on the Heart (RSC), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe) and The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal). He also starred in the ITV show Vera.

Under the leadership of Rachel Tackley, English Touring Theatre is the UK's leading touring theatre company, working nationally and internationally to present stimulating and ambitious theatre to the widest possible audience. English Touring Theatre works with leading directors, actors and artists to stage a broad repertoire from classics to completely new work; theatre that is vivid, popular and, above all, entertaining. The company carries out the majority of its work on the mid-large scale and is dedicated to uniting large audiences in the experience of theatre.

www.ett.org.uk

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