THE SWEETHEARTS Set for Vibrant 2014 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights

A world premiere, originally seen as a staged reading as part of Vibrant 2014 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, The Sweethearts is a new play by exciting new playwright Sarah Page opening at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Tuesday, 22 September 2015 (Press Nights: Thursday, 24 September and Friday, 25 September 2015 at 7.30pm).

Coco, Mari and Helena are The Sweethearts, a manufactured girl band who are rarely off the front page of the tabloids. In need of some positive publicity, they travel to Afghanistan to do a special gig for the troops at Camp Bastion before the base is handed over to Afghan officials. A group of battle weary soldiers, chosen to protect these three beautiful celebrities, eagerly await their arrival. But when there's an attack on the base, The Sweethearts and the soldiers are thrown together and forced to wait it out in very close quarters...

Marking the first anniversary of the departure of British Troops from Afghanistan after a thirteen year campaign and the deaths of 453 British service personnel, The Sweethearts is a new play about the people we choose to make into our heroes and how we tear them back down...

Playwright Sarah Page returns to the Finborough Theatre where she was formerly a script reader. Sarah was a member of the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers' Group, before being invited to join their Studio Writers' Group in 2013. She recently participated in the Milano Festival Playwriting Scheme in association with the Finborough Theatre. Her first full length play Pilgrims (Etcetera Theatre), débuted last year to critical acclaim, and Sarah has also had performances of her work at the Arcola Theatre, Curve Theatre Leicester, Old Vic Tunnels, Hampstead Theatre and Soho Theatre. Sarah was a contributing writer for BBC Radio 4's new comedy series The Show What You Wrote, and her first television drama pilot GYPPO made it to the final stage of the BBC's Scriptroom 4 Prize. The Sweethearts was a finalist in the Curve Leicester Playwriting Competition, whose judges included the Finborough Theatre's Artistic Director Neil McPherson, and was also supported by IdeasTap, Writing East Midlands and BBC WritersRoom. The play had its first performance as a sell-out staged reading at the Finborough Theatre's Vibrant 2014 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights.

Director Daniel Burgess returns to the Finborough Theatre where he directed the critically acclaimed UK premiere production of Suzan-Lori Parks' In the Blood. He was previously a Resident Assistant Director at the Finborough Theatre where he assisted on A Day at the Racists, Moliere or the League of Hypocrites and Too True to be Good. Trained at Middlesex University. Direction include The Little Blue Boat and the Secret of the Broads (New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Latitude Festival) Starting Tomorrow, Guardian Angel (Park Theatre) The Pillowman (Norwich Playhouse),To Defend Freedom, Waterton's Wild Menagerie (Theatre503), Days of Significance, Nativity, The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Theatre Royal Norwich Youth Company), The Dispossessed (Etcetera Theatre), Coming and Going (Lighthouse Theatre, Poole) and Christie in Love (Edinburgh Festival). Associate Direction includes working with James Dacre on As You Like It (Shakespeare's Globe) and Orpheus and Eurydice (National Youth Theatre). Assistant Direction includes assisting John Dove on Anne Boleyn (English Touring Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe), James Dacre on As You Like It (Shakespeare's Globe) and Peter Wilson on Skylight (Norwich Playhouse).

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