Stance Theatre's DRAG KING RICHARD III Comes to Riverside Studios, July 28-Aug 3

Stance Theatre presents Drag King Richard III at Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, London W6 9RL, running Monday 28th July through Saturday 3rd August 2014, 8pm. Press Night: Tuesday 29th July 2014, 8pm.

Following a highly acclaimed run at the Bristol Shakespeare Festival, Stance Theatre presents a powerful Richard III ahead of other summer blockbuster productions. Drag King Richard III explores the complexity of switching gender as lead character Laurie embarks on the challenging journey of transitioning from female to male.

Life in the wrong body is explored through Shakespeare's deformed villain and the long term friendship Laurie has with La Femme - a butch lesbian who enjoys the trappings of femininity when opportunities arise. The play seamlessly weaves classical dialogue through contemporary text, and to stunning effect; the notorious seduction lines are quipped over a sexually charged Tango sequence.

Drag King Richard III is funny yet serious, probing but lighthearted, and offers some genuine laugh-out-loud moments while exposing the taboo of the transgender person. The issue has become highly topical with increased exposure in the media of trans people and their plight. Actor Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) became the first trans woman to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.

The gender-subverting photographer Del LaGrace Volcano, and acclaimed writer Laura Bridgeman (The Butch Monologues), will be in attendance for post-show discussions on the play and its 'very big questions' (The Stage).

Timely and relevant, Drag King Richard III takes its audiences on a spellbinding and thought- provoking journey 'that no one can afford to miss' (The Times), full of pathos and wit, as they follow Laurence's struggle to transition at any cost. The play offers no easy answers, it enthrals and surprises while questioning one of the last social taboos of our modern age.

Drag King Richard III will run Monday 28th July through Saturday 3rd August, 8pm with matinees Thursday 31st July, 3pm and Sunday 3rd August, 5pm at Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, London W6 9RL. For more, follow on Twitter @stancetheatre or visit www.stancetheatre.co.uk. Tickets are available from www.riversidestudios.co.uk/ and on 020 8237 1111, priced £17 (£15 concessions).

BIOS:

Theone Rashleigh - Theone trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Credits include: Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing, Chichester Open Air, Patrick Sanford, including Susan Brady; The Playboy of the Western World, Nuffield Theatre, Orla Quin; The Coast of Mayo, Nuffield Theatre, Jack Macnamara; Lanrezac/Mrs Pankhurst/Ensemble/Musician, Oh what a Lovely War, Northern Stage, Erica Whyman and Sam Kenyon; The Knight/Ensemble/Musician, The Canterbury Tales, Tacit Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Julianne Von Sivers; Tiger Lily/Mrs Darling/Slightly, Peter Pan, Bristol Old Vic, Sally Cookson; Doll Puppeteer/Stepmother/Stepsister/Mathilde, Hag, The Wrong Crowd, The Southbank, Latitude, Edinburgh Underbelly, Bestival, Soho Theatre, BOV and The Drum.

Robyn Kerr - Robyn Kerr performs in classical and modern theatre and screen. Her theatrical work includes Julius Caesar at the Oracual Theatre, NYC; The Cherry Orchard at the Shapiro Theatre, NYC; and Antigone at the Soho Theatre, London. She was also a lead in lesbian cult film Stud Life (2012), directed by Campbell X.

Roz Hopkinson - Roz Hopkinson has worked with numerous UK theatre companies and for film. Recent work includes: a shooting director at Bandstand Marathon, part of the Cultural Olympiad, closing of the Paralympic Games, and official finale of London 2012: a director at Bristol Shakespeare Festival 2012, and Artistic Director at BSF Theatre Company's 2013 Summer season, where she implemented a new platform of modern works before her appointment as Artistic Director at Stance.

Dr Terri Power - Dr Terri Power has written, directed and produced experimental works of Shakespeare since 2003. As a published LGBTQ playwright and gender performance scholar, she has also worked and trained with The Queen's Company (NYC), RSC, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Shake-scene Players, SITI Company, The Wooster Group, and Disney.

Eduardo Bozzo - Eduardo Bozzo has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Opera House and the Edinburgh Festival. His performances of Tango Argentino include International Festivals in Argentina, Costa Rica, Greece, Cyprus, Vietnam and UK. Eduardo's first UK performance as an actor was in the Tobacco Factory's Land Of Dust, Bristol, 2004.

Fiona Millward - Fiona Millward has worked throughout the UK and abroad as a dancer, teacher and choreographer since 1985, and values immensely the alchemy of collaboration that underpins these various roles. She is a National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) Fellow for her work with Independent Dance, a training programme for professionals dance artists, which she has co-directed since 1996. In June 2014 she graduates as one of the first cohort of the British Academy of Rolfing Structural Integration.

Christopher Hone - Studied Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University. Theatre includes: Tosca (Soho Theatre), Coyote Ugly & The Time of Your Life (Finborough Theatre), The Lesson, Vincent in Brixton, Romeo & Juliet, A Taste of Honey, Hamlet & Othello (International Tour), One Minute (Courtyard Theatre), Here & A Place at The Table (Tristan Bates), Gawkagogo Freakshow (National Tour), Guerilla/Whore, Pirates of Penzance, Cinderella & Stiffed! (Tabard), Dorian Gray (Leicester Square Theatre), Gilbert is Dead (Hoxton Hall) The Great Gatsby, Quasimodo & Starchild (King's Head), Rip Her to Shreds (Old Red Lion), Over Here! (Saban Theatre, Los Angeles). TV includes: the complete studio re-design of QVC UK Studios, Big Brother, The Great British Weather, Hollyoaks & numerous commercials and virals.

Del LaGrace Volcano - Del LaGrace Volcano is a gender variant photographer, filmmaker, author, and International speaker. An exhibition of Del's photography was at Tate Modern in December, 2013. Del is the author of Sex Works, Sublime Mutations, The Drag King Book and Love Bites. Del will be the guest speaker on Monday 28th July - Wednesday 30th July.

Laura Bridgeman - Laura Bridgeman has written for the theatre and BBC Radio 4. Theatre credits include: Maison Splendide (The Young Vic), Loonatik (Festival of Visual Theatre), The (Trans) Mangina Monologues (Soho Theatre). Radio credits include: Dogfood Diary co-written with Charles Lambert (BBC Radio 4) Caterpillars co-written with Charles Lambert (BBC Radio 4). Laura has a PhD from UEA in Creative Writing where she was awarded the HSC Scholarship. Her novel, Raphael Coombs, was short-listed for the Charles Pick Fellowship (2007). Laura will be the guest speaker on Thursday 31st July - Saturday 3rd August.

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