Photo Flash: Inside Rehearsal for TREMOR by Brad Birch at Sherman Theatre, Wales

A timely exploration of how society reacts to tragedy, this world premiere from Welsh playwright Brad Birch asks pertinent questions about how major events shape our lives, and the choices we make when trying to move on. Sherman Theatre's newly appointed Associate Director David Mercatali will direct Tremor as his first production at the venue, and the two-hander will star Lisa Diveney (The Green Green Grass- BBC) and Paul Rattray (Jamestown, Game of Thrones).

Once our lives are touched by tragedy, can we ever truly move on? Sophie and Tom's relationship fell apart in the aftermath of a catastrophe. Four years on and as they come face to face once again, the aftershocks of that fateful day can still be felt.

Tremor is a play about how the present is shaped by the past. It's about how we choose to see things and live our lives in a world riven with tension, anxiety and division.

Sherman Theatre's newly appointed Associate Director David Mercatali will direct Tremor as his first production at the venue. He was nominated for an Evening Standard for Outstanding Newcomer for Tender Napalm at the Southwark Playhouse, and won a Fringe First for Dark Vanilla Jungle. Other work includes Blue Heart (Bristol Tobacco Factory Theatres and Orange Tree Theatre); Cargo, Insignificance (Arcola Theatre); Radiant Vermin (Tobacco Factory Theatres, Soho Theatre, 59E59 New York & Avignon Festival); Tonight with Donny Stixx (Edinburgh Fringe and The Bunker) and Little Light (Orange Tree Theatre)

Brad Birch is currently on attachment at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, and has taught playwrighting at the Royal Court. Theatre includes: Black Mountain (Paines Plough Roundabout, Edinburgh); The Brink (The Orange Tree); Tender Bolus (Manchester Royal Exchange & Schauspielhaus, Hamburg); Gardening: For the Unfulfilled and Alienated (Undeb Theatre, Edinburgh Festival & Latitude Festival - Fringe First Award); Where the Shot Rabbits Lay (Royal Court Theatre); Even Stillness Breathes Softly Against A Brick Wall (Soho Theatre Upstairs). He was awarded the Harold Pinter Commission in 2016 and just completed the Channel 4 Writers' Scheme. His Plays One is published by Methuen Drama in April 2018.

Brad Birch said: I'm over the moon to be working with the Sherman Theatre, David Mercatali and this brilliant company on Tremor. The Sherman has been so significant in my development as a playwright and I'm so excited that they're producing this new play.

Sherman Theatre artistic director Rachel O'Riordan said of the production "I am delighted to have this bold and timely new play on our stage here in Cardiff. Brad Birch is a writer who is concerned with humanity, society and morality and he is a very exciting voice in Welsh playwriting. Sherman Theatre is the natural home for brave new plays and I am proud to premiere this relevant, interrogative new work before taking it to New York."

Photo Credit: Mark Douet

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