Theatre503 Presents BREED, 9/21-10/16

Theatre503 presents BREED, a new play by Lou Ramsden and directed by Tim Roseman. BREED will run from 21st September - 16th October 2010.

As abandoned dogs and disposable cats make headline news, the Olivier Award-winning team at Theatre503 is proud to present BREED - a topical story about a very animal breed of human cruelty.

The Play
"From the night you were born, puppy, I knew I'd do anything for you."

Liv is in trouble - her mum's planning a dog fight, her dad's getting out of jail, her brother's getting too close to her baby, the police are sniffing around and the pack is closing in. A sharp and savage story of the animals we are and the people we try to be.

John Michie (Taggart) and rising star Jessie Cave (Harry Potter) lead an outstanding cast in a play with bite from Olivier Award-winning Theatre503.

The Writer

Lou Ramsden's stage work includes Hundreds and Thousands, which was developed in 2009 with the help of a grant from the Arts Council, and will now be produced in 2011 by Buckle for Dust Theatre Company, supported by ETT. Her previous stage work has been featured at the Edinburgh Fringe; in the Royal Court's Young Writers Festival; and at the Young Vic, as part of Paines Plough's Wild Lunch season. In Spring 2010, Ramsden was on attachment with the NT Studio, and the stage play she wrote there, The Half-Widow, is currently being developed. Ramsden has also written extensively for BBC Radio 4. She is currently under commission to the BBC, and her previous radio work includes four Afternoon Plays, two short dramas for the Woman's Hour slot, and a series co-written with Nancy Harris. Her most recent radio play, Dos and Don'ts for the Mentally Interesting, was adapted from the blog by Seaneen Molloy (www.mentallyinteresting.org.uk), and won a Mental Health Media Award in November 2009.

The Cast

Jessie Cave is best known for her performance as Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter films, and recently playEd Thomasina in Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre. John Michie is much-loved for the lead role of DI Robbie Ross in Taggart, which he has enjoyed for twelve years. Deirdre O'Kane is a celebrity on the Irish stand-up comedy circuit, and theatre credits include lead roles with the Gate Theatre, Dublin and Druid. Paul Stocker starred as Troilus in Troilus and Cressida at the Globe. Other recent credits include Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic. Tom Reed's theatre credits include S-27 (Finborough), East is East (Birmingham Rep) and The History Boys (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Bath Theatre Royal).

The Director

Tim Roseman is Joint Artistic Director of Theatre503, where his work includes, Peter and Vandy, This Much is True, The Final Shot and Natural Selection. Other directing credits include Overspill (Soho Theatre),The Arab-Israeli Cookbook (Gate/Tricycle). He has directed new writing for the Royal Court, Old Vic, Young Vic and Hampstead theatres as well as the National Theatre Studio and Gilded Balloon.

The Designer

Simon Daw's stage design credits include: As One (Royal Ballet); Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare's Globe); Double Sentence (Soho Theatre); Lost Monsters (Liverpool Everyman); Dolls (National Theatre Scotland); FAST Labour (Hampstead Theatre/West Yorkshire Playhouse); DNA, Baby Girl, The Miracle, The Enchantment (National Theatre); Elling (Bush and Trafalgar Studios); French Without Tears (English Touring Theatre); Rutherford and Son, Rafts and Dreams and Across Oka (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Romeo and Juliet (RSC, Stratford/Albery); Adam and Eve (TPT, Tokyo); Kebab (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs); Bloom (Rambert) and The Stepfather (Candoco). Installation/performance commissions include: 3rd Ring Out (UK tour); Wavestructures, Hopefully It Means Nothing, Sea House (Aldeburgh Festival) and New Town (site specific/Arches).

503FIVE - A Launch Pad to Success

Lou Ramsden is an inaugural member of the 503Five, Theatre503's group of hitherto unproduced playwrights selected from over two hundred of the country's most exciting new voices. As recipients of Theatre503's first ever commissioning awards, they will be resident with the company for a year in a unique programme that gives playwrights both artistic opportunities and enables them to be part of the decision-making process of Theatre503.

"Being on the 503Five has been fantastic. The programme addresses a real need in London theatre. Getting a first play on here can be incredibly hard - you can be an experienced, skillful, and confident writer, and still struggle to break through with a first production. The fact that 503 has recognised that, and is so determined to support emerging writers with practical help, is amazing. Production opportunities, development support, and the experience of a great team of experienced practitioners are just what new writers need.

Equally importantly, it's been fantastic to just be part of a building. As a writer you're often very isolated, so being part of a group with four other amazing writers, and being part of the day-to-day life of a theatre building, is a lovely experience. Writers can have very limited opportunities to actually get their voices heard in a theatre's decision-making process, but it's important that this changes, particularly in new-writing venues like Theatre503," says Ramsden.

Theatre503 premiered the Olivier Award-winning play The Mountaintop by Katori Hall in 2009.

Tickets: £14/ £9 conc. (Tuesdays 'Pay What You Can')

Dates: Tuesday 21st September - Saturday 16th October 2010

Times: Tuesday - Saturday 7.45pm, Sunday 5pm.

Box Office: 020 7978 7040

www.theatre503.com

Theatre503, The Latchmere Pub, 503 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 3BW

Nearest Tube: Sloane Square then bus 319 or South Kensington then bus 49 or 345

Nearest Rail: Clapham Junction (from Victoria or Waterloo) then 10min walk or bus 49, 319, 344, 345

 

 

 

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