Bellinger Court Productions in Association with Neil McPherson for Finborough Theatre Presents THE RETREAT

Bellinger Court Productions in association with Neil McPherson for The Finborough Theatre presents THE RETREAT. The Retreat by is a fast-paced and acerbic take on craftsmanship, personal desires, and artistic ideals.

Playwright Jason Sherman offers a distinctly irreverent, Jewish voice as the play questions what happens when professionalism and personal desires collide, reflecting on our hunger for creativity against the constraints of money, work, and political division. The show opens at Finborough Theatre from 25th April - 13th May.

A fast-paced and acerbic take on craftsmanship, personal desire and artistic ideals, the European premiere of Jewish-Canadian writer Jason Sherman's play explores an excess of passion in the screenwriting process. When Rachel, an outspoken Hebrew school teacher longing to be a screenwriter, is taken under the wing of producing pair David and Jeff, conflicting sensibilities about art, money, and storytelling fuel an intense relationship between the three of them. While Jeff is pragmatic about the schlock they put out, David yearns for artistic substance, which he may have found in Rachel's unwieldy script. But as Rachel and David's professional relationship starts deepening into something more personal, the conflict between the characters and the art grows. The Retreat offers a distinctly irreverent, Jewish voice as it questions what happens when professionalism and personal desires collide, reflecting on our hunger for creativity against the constraints of money, work and political division.

Director Emma Jude Harris said: "As an American Jewish director working in the UK, I was thrilled to read Jason Sherman's 1996 play The Retreat-a cinematic piece of theatre about Jewish identity in the diaspora, inheritance, intergenerational trauma, and the ethics of making art under capitalism. The Retreat interrogates power and gender dynamics in entertainment, not to mention Jewish (geo)politics-both timely subjects to be revisiting in 2023 as we work towards justice on a global scale. I'm honoured to be working with an amazing, Jewish-led creative team and cast to bring this gem of a show to the Finborough."

Writer Jason Sherman is one of Canada's most influential and prolific playwrights and a celebrated screenwriter, with a multi-award-winning body of work that has been produced around the world. His awards include Canada's prestigious literary award, the Governor General's Award. Among his plays seen in the UK are Patience which marked his UK debut at the Finborough Theatre in 2005, also transferring from The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.

Director Emma Jude Harris' work includes Cabildo (Wilton's Music Hall and Arcola Theatre), The Agency (Tête à Tête), The Telephone (live streamed opera), sorry did I wake you (Tristan Bates Theatre) and Ares (VAULT Festival). Her dramaturgical work includes Watch On The Rhine (Donmar Warehouse). Harris is a Jewish American director, dramaturg and researcher, and trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Running Time: approx. 2 hours with interval | Suitable for ages 14+

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