World Premiere of WEALD by Daniel Foxsmith Comes to Finborough Theatre Tonight

WEALD by Daniel Foxsmith will make its World Premiere at the Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED from tonight 2nd- Saturday 27th February 2016. Press Night: Thursday 4th February, 7.30pm.

All I needed to do was stand firm like the rest, take a breath and I'd've been fine. Break heart, drop blood, done. Always take a breath Jim. Always take a breath.

WEALD is a terse and delicate dissection of male emotions from a rural perspective: fathers and sons, honour and legacy, molasses and mud. This poignant world premiere by Daniel Foxsmith is directed by Bryony Shanahan of critically acclaimed shows Operation Crucible and Bitch Boxer.

After eight years away Jim arrives 'home' to a remote livery yard in rural England. He's in need of work. It didn't end so well last time, but he's sure that this time it'll be different...

Sam, as old as the fixtures and fittings themselves, reluctantly agrees - there's work to be done after all. As the men attempt to pick up from where they left off, fresh cracks appear beside old wounds. Things have changed. But the world can only be held at bay for so long before the two men will have to answer for their actions.

Writer Daniel Foxsmith comments, I'm interested in men's identity in a modern world, one that is slowly leaving traditional gender roles behind. What does it mean to 'be a man' nowadays? Does it even matter anymore? With WEALD I'm asking why men (including myself) struggle to be emotionally transparent, particularly with each other. My frustrations with my own shortcomings have found their way into the writing, and the ideas I'm keen to explore are told through the relationship between father and son; what we give to each other and what we take away, the unspoken bond that cannot be replaced and how men of all ages attempt to bridge generational gaps.

In 2014, there were 4,623 male suicides in the UK (figures collated by the Campaign Against Living Miserably), the second highest number in 15 years and the equivalent of 12 deaths a day. WEALD looks at the importance of a support network for the vulnerable and the need for men to articulate their emotions and redefine gender roles.

WEALD is in association with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and supported by BBC Performing Arts Fund Legacy Grant. It is Daniel Foxsmith's third full-length play. Bryony Shanahan along with Charlotte Josephine are co-Artistic Directors of multi award-winning Snuff Box Theatre.

IF YOU GO:

WEALD by Daniel Foxsmith

Tuesday 2nd - Saturday 27th February 2016
Tuesday - Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday and Sunday matinees 3pm (Saturdays from 13th Feb)
80 minutes

At Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED

Finborough Theatre is located in Earl's Court. The nearest underground stations are Earl's Court (on the District and Piccadilly lines) and West Brompton (on the District line and National Rail).

Tickets are available from £14 (previews £12) from the Finborough Theatre Box Office and www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk, 0844 847 1652

Snuff Box Theatre is a multi-award winning collective formed in 2011 by Bryony Shanahan, Charlotte Josephine and Daniel Foxsmith. The company has produced four shows to date including Bitch Boxer which won the Holden Street Theatre Award, Old Vic New Voices Edinburgh Season and Soho Theatre Young Writers Award. Bitch Boxer has been part of the British Council Showcase and toured the UK as well Australia, Norway and Ireland. Snuff Box Theatre are an Associate Company at Redbridge Drama Centre.

Playwright Daniel Foxsmith's previous plays include The Observatory, winner of Scottish Daily Mail and Conference of Drama Schools Edinburgh Award and National Student Drama Festival and Methuen Drama Prize (The Underbelly, Edinburgh) and The Altitude Brothers (Ovalhouse, Redbridge Drama Centre and National Tour). WEALD was shortlisted for the Yale Drama Prize 2015, and the inaugural Hodgkiss Award at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Daniel trained as an actor at East 15 Acting School, and has toured nationally and internationally, as well as performing in the West End and winning several awards, including Best Performer at The Adelaide Fringe with Bound. Daniel is founder and co-Artistic Director of Snuff Box Theatre.

Director Bryony Shanahan returns to the Finborough Theatre where she directed the acclaimed Operation Crucible for which she was nominated for an OffWestEnd Award for Best Director in 2015. She trained on the National Theatre Studio Directors Course and East 15 Acting School and is co-artistic director of Snuff Box Theatre. In 2014, she won a BBC Performing Arts Award to work at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, where she assisted on Sarah Frankcom's Hamlet with Maxine Peake. She returned in 2015 as Associate Director on The Skriker as part of the Manchester International Festival. Directing includes Bitch Boxer (Soho Theatre and National Tour), Chapel Street (National Tour), You and Me (Greenwich Theatre and National Tour), and The Altitude Brothers (Ovalhouse, Redbridge Drama Centre and National Tour). Other work includes Staff Director on Our Country's Good (National Theatre), director for the National Theatre Connections Festival, teaching at East 15 Acting School, Assistant Director for Around the World in 80 Days (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) and Associate Director on The Gruffalo's Child (Arts Depot North American Tour).

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