Moodie to Replace Redgrave In Lyric's A THOUSAND STARS EXPLODE IN THE SKY

A THOUSAND STARS EXPLODE IN THE SKY: A new play by David Eldridge, Robert Holman and Simon Stephens is directed by Sean Holmes. The part of Harriet Benton will now be played by Tanya Moodie. Jemma Redgrave has withdrawn from the production due to personal circumstances.

The new updated cast is Kirsty Bushell, Nigel Cooke, Lisa Diveney, Harry McEntire, Ann Mitchell, Tanya Moodie*, Tom Mothersdale, Pearce Quigley, Andrew Sheridan, Rupert Simonian and Alan Williams. 

The show plays the Lyric Hammersmith, London from 07 May - 05 June 2010

Lyric Hammersmith Artistic Director Sean Holmes directs an exceptional cast in A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky an epic new play by three of the UK's finest playwrights David Eldridge, Robert Holman and Simon Stephens. As the universe begins to crumble a mother gathers her sons on their family farm in the North East of England, where they prepare to face the unknown. Will a lifetime's worth of closely guarded secrets finally be revealed and will lost love once again be found before time itself comes to an end?

A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky sees an exciting collaboration between three great British playwrights. David Eldridge, whose previous work includes Under the Blue Sky (Royal Court/West End), Market Boy (National Theatre) and Festen (Almeida/West End), collaborates with Robert Holman, whose recent work includes Across Oka (Royal Shakespeare Company), Rafts and Dreams (Royal Court) and Jonah and Otto (Royal Exchange Theatre), and Lyric Artistic Associate Simon Stephens whose most recent work at the Lyric, Punk Rock, was hailed as a critical success.
Starring Kirsty Bushell as Nicola Benton (Simon Stephens' Pornography, Tricycle and Angels in America at the Lyric, which won her a TMA Best Supporting Actress Nomination); Nigel Cooke as William Benton (most recently seen at the Lyric in Three Sisters); Lisa Diveney as Dorrity Porter (Greta Garbo Came To Donegal, Tricycle Theatre); Harry McEntire as Philip Benton (Spring Awakening and Simon Stephens' Punk Rock both Lyric Hammersmith); Ann Mitchell as Margaret Benton (Nominated for Best Actress in the Evening Standard Awards and the Laurence Olivier Awards for Through The Leaves, Southwark Playhouse/Duchess Theatre); Tanya Moodie as Harriet Benton* (BBC's The Street and Catch, Royal Court); Tom Mothersdale as Karl Steiner in his professional stage debut, Pearce Quigley as James Benton (The Seagull Royal Court/Broadway and BBC 3's Being Human); Andrew Sheridan as Edward Benton (BAFTA award winning film Control); Rupert Simonian as Roy Benton (Life Savers, Theatre503) and Alan Williams as Jake Benton (War Horse, National Theatre/New London Theatre).

The show is Directed by Sean Holmes, Designed by Jon Bausor with Lighting by Adam Silverman and Sound by Nick Manning

Bookings 0871 22117 22 / www.lyric.co.uk 

David Eldridge's plays have been performed across the UK, including at the Royal Court, the Bush, the Finborough Theatre and the National Theatre. His stage adaptation of the film Festen transferred from the Almeida to the West End and Broadway. His other plays include A Week with Tony (Finborough Theatre); Summer Begins (Donmar Warehouse); Thanks Mum (Red Room/Battersea Arts Centre); Falling (Hampstead Theatre); Under the Blue Sky (Royal Court); Killers (BBC); M.A.D. (Bush); Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness (Royal Court); Market Boy (National Theatre) and The Picture Man (BBC Radio 4).

Robert Holman's work has been produced since the 1970s at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the West End, Royal Court and across the UK. He has been resident dramatist at both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. His work includes Mud (Royal Court); Outside the Whale (Traverse Theatre); German Skerries (Bush); Rooting (Traverse Theatre); The Estuary (Bush); Chance of a Lifetime (BBC Play for Today); Other Worlds (Royal Court); Today (Royal Shakespeare Company); The Overgrown Path (Royal Court); This is History Gran (BBC); Being Friends, Lost and Making Noise Quietly (Bush); Across Oka (Royal Shakespeare Company); Rafts and Dreams (Royal Court); Bad Weather (Royal Shakespeare Company); Holes in the Skin (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Jonah and Otto (Royal Exchange Theatre).

Simon Stephens is an internationally acclaimed playwright whose award-winning work includes the recent critically acclaimed Punk Rock at the Lyric Hammersmith, which opened Sean Holmes' first season as Artistic Director. Other work includes Herons (Royal Court); Port (Royal Exchange Theatre, 2002 - Pearson Award for Best New Play); Country Music (Royal Court); On the Shore of the Wide World (Manchester Royal Exchange and National Theatre, 2005 - Olivier Award for Best New Play); Motortown (Royal Court); Harper Regan (National Theatre); Sea Wall (Bush/Traverse Theatre) and Pornography (Hamburg & Berlin Theatertreffen/Tricycle). Simon also writes for radio and the screen. TV includes a two-part serial Dive (Granada / BBC) and he is currently developing original work for Talkback Thames and Touchpaper TV. Simon is an Artistic Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith.

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