SUNDAY ON THE ROCKS By Theresa Rebeck Returns To London

Thirty years after its original run, Theresa Rebeck's Sunday on the Rocks is getting a revival in the London pub theatre scene. Four actors who resonate strongly with the words are bringing the 90's back to a contemporary audience. Theresa Rebeck was hailed as the "voice of her generation" when this play was first released and director/performer Bellis believes that this transcends to her own generation and the one after her too.

Bellis said, "The apathy felt by young voters in 2024 feels similar to the political and social detachment I feel when reading the play. These are 90's women, grounded staunchly in that era, but some of what they talk about or experience still unfortunately hits strongly today. The discussion topics these women have: boycotts, capitalism, the environment, women's rights, disturbing men -- all are conversations I have with my friends now. And the idea that no one has the right to judge another person (said by one character whilst that character is herself making a judgement) feels like the precursor to Twitter/X. I wanted to revive this play (presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals LTD on behalf of Samuel French) in order to link us, 30 years on, but having the same conversations."

It's an idyllic Sunday in a sleepy Boston suburb, and three housemates decide to have scotch for breakfast, naturally. A Theresa Rebeck masterpiece, Sunday on the Rocks, explores the problems of several young women in the nineties. Elly is pregnant and considering an abortion, Jen is being harassed by a coworker, and Gayle feels lost. Their problems are exacerbated by a fourth roommate -- Jessica -- whose religious compassion and activist zeal does not extend to their individual problems. As they drink, debate, discuss, and dance, it becomes clear just how muddied making a moral decision is in a world with only shades of grey.

"Sunday on the Rocks" is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

Content warnings: excessive drinking, drug use implied, abortion mentioned, infertility implied, violence including gender-based violence both discussed and portrayed, adult themes, sex work mentioned, use of a Ouija board.

About the Artists

Theresa Rebeck is a prolific and widely produced playwright, whose work can be seen and read throughout the United States and abroad. Last season, her fourth Broadway play premiered on Broadway, making Rebeck the most Broadway-produced female playwright of our time. Other Broadway works include Dead Accounts; Seminar and Mauritius. Other notable NY and regional plays include: Seared (MCC), Downstairs (Primary Stages), The Scene, The Water's Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels (Second Stage), Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection and Our House (Playwrights Horizons), The Understudy (Roundabout), View of the Dome (NYTW), What We're Up Against (Women's Project), Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer Prize finalist). As a director, her work has been seen at The Alley Theatre (Houston), the REP Company (Delaware); Dorset Theatre Festival, the Orchard Project and the Folger Theatre. Major film and television projects include Trouble, starring Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman and David Morse (writer and director), "NYPD Blue," the NBC series "Smash" (creator), and the female spy thriller 355 (for Jessica Chastain's production company). As a novelist, Rebeck's books include Three Girls and Their Brother and I'm Glad About You. Rebeck is the recipient of the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award, a Lilly Award and more.

Candace Leung (Elly) is an actor and theatre-maker with a multi-hyphenated background in dance and voice who trained at LAMDA. In addition to playing numerous classical roles, she's also performed on the Hudson Mainstage and the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles. On screen, you may currently track her down voicing characters in Gen:Lock (HBOMax), playing a nurse in Criminal Minds (CBS), and playing the President of the Universe in Pandora (SyFy UK / The CW). She co-wrote, co-directed, and performed in Expatriated, a one act play exploring the dichotomy of experiences faced by two women who move abroad, which will tour internationally. She also will make her BBC debut in a new comedy slated for release this year.

Rachael Bellis (Gayle) is an actor, singer, and director who started theatre company, Aequitas, in 2015. She is originally American and trained at NYU Tisch. She performed as Rosalind in Worldwide Shakespeare's As You Like It online during the pandemic and as Nellie in the UK premiere of Jane Cafarella's e-baby in 2019 at the Jack Studio Theatre. Other credits include Othello (Quirkspace), Paper Soldiers (Elysian Productions), Nehemiah (Richard Burton Theatre), and A Victorian Christmas Treasury (Treasured Stories). She is a regular cabaret performer and acclaimed director. Directing credits include The Collab (The Space), A Little Princess (Drayton Arms), Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (Jack Studio), Antigone (Bread and Roses).

Olivia Gibbs-Fairley (Jen) is a London based actor and theatre-maker. After graduating from ArtsEd in 2020, she wrote and starred in Sex, Society and Other Silly Sh*t (Drayton Arms Theatre, Hen & Chickens Theatre). She recently directed Steph Darcey's political physical comedy Prototype (Old Red Lion). Other credits include Beverley in From This Day Forward (OSO Barnes), Sarah in Sarah Williams (The Pleasance Islington) and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. She is also an improviser with ShakeItUp Theatre and regularly improvises new Shakespeare plays across the country!

Julie Cheung-Inhin (Jessica) is British-born Sino-Mauritian, with past performances in Eastern Star at Tara Arts and Love's Labour's Lost at The Rose Playhouse. She is also the creator of No More Lotus Flower!, a satirical show on the absurdities of being a British East Asian actor in the UK today, which was later published by Oberon in the anthology Foreign Goods Last Forever. In 2022, she was delighted to create a new monologue, Foreigner, for Lit, an anthology of dynamic new monologues for actors from underrepresented ethnicities. Julie is also a voice actor and can currently be heard as Parisa in the video game AFK Journey.

Klutzy Dragon recently co-produced Expatriated at the Hen and Chickens (April 28th) and is taking that show to the Hollywood Fringe in California June 22-25, 2024.

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