Besterman, Shaw, Gemmel et al. Set for Papatango New Writing Festival

Papatango have teamed up with one of London's leading new writing venues, the Finborough Theatre to present the winning entries in the 2011 Papatango Playwriting Competition 2011, featuring this year's winning play Foxfinder by Dawn King which will play for a four week limited season from 29 November (Press Night: Thursday, 1 December 2011 at 8.30pm) and three runners up who will each receive a one week run – Through The Night by Matt Morrison (Press Night: Wednesday, 7 December 2011 at 6.30pm), Rigor Mortis by Carol Vine (Press Night:Wednesday, 14 December 2011 at 6.30pm) and Crush by Rob Young (Press Night: Tuesday, 20 December 2011 at 6.30pm).

Papatango was founded by Matt Roberts, George Turvey and Sam Donovan in 2007. The company's mission is to find the best and brightest new talent in the UK with an absolute commitment to bring their work to the stage. Since then, Papatango have produced eight pieces of new writing in such venues as the Tristan Bates Theatre, the Old Red Lion Theatre and the Pleasance London. 2009 saw the launch of their first Papatango New Writing Competition, which each year has gone from strength to strength.

Winners of previous competitions have won much acclaim from the press and profession including – for Angel by Matt Grinter at the Pleasance London – "Riveting performances….powerfully directed"  (Jeremy Kingston, The Times critic), and "A great piece of theatre" (Steven Berkoff) and, for Potentials by Dominic Mitchell at the Tristan Bates Theatre, which was awarded four stars byWhatsOnStage,  "Potentials was beautifully observed, conceived and the performances strong, witty and true. It was also British and modern – things I am passionate about" (Emma Rice, Kneehigh).

Now in its new home - the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre - this year's competition received over 600 entries from all over the UK. This year's judges included Con O'Neill (Actor), Catherine Johnson (Playwright), Matt Charman (Playwright), Colin Barr (BBC Director and Producer), Tamara Harvey (Director), Ruth Carney (Director),  Neil McPherson (Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre),Van Badham (Literary Manager of the Finborough Theatre) and Tanya Tillett (Literary Agent, The Rod Hall Agency).

Tuesday, 29 November – Friday 23 December 2011

Foxfinder by Dawn King
Directed by Blanche McIntyre
Cast: Kirsty Besterman. Tom Byam Shaw. Becci Gemmell. Gyuri Sarossy.
Directed by Blanche McIntyre. Designed by James Perkins. Lighting by Gary Bowman. Sound by George Dennis.

"You, Foxfinder, must be clean in body and mind. Always remember that the smallest fault in your character could become a crack into which the beast may insinuate himself, like water awaiting the freeze that will smash the stone apart."

William Bloor, a Foxfinder, arrives at Sam and Judith Covey's farm to investigate a suspected contamination. What follows will change the course of all their lives, forever. Foxfinder is a gripping, unsettling and darkly comic exploration of belief, desire and responsibility.

Playwright Dawn King was one of ten writers from across the UK chosen for the BBC Writersroom 10 scheme, a prestigious mentoring and support programme. Through this she is developing a new play with West Yorkshire Playhouse. She is also currently writing My One and Only, an afternoon play for BBC radio 4. Her episode of horror series The Man in Black will broadcast on BBC radio 4 Extra later this year. Previous radio work includes afternoon play 28 and episodes for the first and second series of science fiction drama Planet B for BBC radio 7. She was made co-series leader for the third series. Her recent theatre work includes Water Sculptures/Zoo double bill (Union Theatre), Face Value  (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), The Bitches' Ball  (Hoxton Hall), National Tour and Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh) and Doghead Boy and Sharkmouth Go To Ikea (The Junction, Cambridge).  Previous work has received performances, workshops and readings at; Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Theatre503, Arcola, Old Red Lion, Etcetera Theatre, The Latitude Festival, Resonance FM and The Union Theatre. Dawn was a member of both the Soho Theatre and Royal Court Theatre Young Writers' Programmes and holds an MA distinction in Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University, London. www.dawn-king.com

Director Blanche McIntyre returns to the Finborough Theatre where she directed the sell-out productins of Accolade and Molière or the League of Hypocrites. She was the winner of the first Leverhulme Bursary for Emerging Theatre Directors. She was Associate Director at Out of Joint in 2010, and Director in Residence at The National Theatre Studio London and the Finborough Theatre in 2009. Directing includes When Did You Last See My Mother? (Trafalgar Studios), Pinching For My Soul (Focus Theatre, Dublin), Robin Hood (Latitude), Open Heart Surgery (Soho Theatre and Southwark Playhouse), Wuthering Heights (National Tour), The Revenger's Tragedy (BAC), The Master and Margarita (Greenwich Playhouse), Three Hours After Marriage (Union Theatre), Doctor Faustus, The Devil Is An Ass and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as Told to Carl Jung by an Inmate of Broadmoor Asylum (White Bear Theatre), Cressida and The Invention of Love (Edinburgh Festival), Prometheus Bound (Burton Taylor Theatre, Oxford). She was also Associate Director on The Big Fellah (Out of Joint 2010 and 2011 tours). Blanche also works as a writer and librettist.

The cast comprises:

Kirsty Besterman
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Theatre includes The Importance of Being Earnest (Rose Theatre, Kingston), The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Holding Fire! and Liberty (Shakespeare's Globe),  King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Rivals (Theatre Royal Bath), Othello (Cheek by Jowl), Amy's View (Nottingham Playhouse), Plunder (Watermill Theatre, Newbury), Edmond (Wilton's Music Hall), Twelfth Night (Ludlow Theatre Festival), People Are Stupid: A Political Memoir (Arcola Theatre) and Private Lives (Simply Theatre).
Television includes Foyle's War, Doctors and Peter Ackroyd's London.
Radio includes The Girl Who Was Going To Die and Words and Music – Solitude.

Tom Byam Shaw
Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes The Tempest (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Salome (Headlong Theatre) and Les Parents Terribles (Donmar Warehouse at Trafalgar Studios).
Film includes Grand Street.
Television includes A Room With A View and The Bill.
Tom has been longlisted for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2011.

Becci Gemmell
Trained at Drama Studio London.
Theatre includes 66 Books (Bush Theatre), Lark Rise to Candleford (National Tour), Eurydice (Young Vic and National Tour), F*cked (Old Red Lion Theatre), As You Like It (The Curve, Leicester), How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found (Southwark Playhouse), Uncertainty (Latitude), Mad Funny Just (Theatre 503), Gleaming Dark (Trafalgar Studios), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oxford Shakespeare Company), Winter (Soho Theatre Studio), Anniversary (The Old Vic 24 Hour Plays), Much Ado About Nothing (Guildford Shakespeare Company), Air Guitar (Bristol Old Vic Studio) and Volpone (Wilton's Music Hall).
Film includes Red Lights.
Television includes Land Girls, Home Time, Meeting and Angel of Death – The Story of Beverly Allitt.

Gyuri Sarossy
At the Finborough Theatre, Gyuri appeared in Hangover Square (2008) and Moliere or the League of Hypocrites (2009).
Trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Other theatre includes Romeo and Juliet (Royal Shakespeare Company), Earthquakes in London (Headlong Theatre), Balmoral, Man and Superman, Galileo's Daughter, Don Juan (The Peter Hall Company), As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Liverpool Playhouse and Chichester Festival Theatre), Twelfth Night, Uncle Vanya (Donmar Warehouse), Luther (National Theatre), The Hypochondriac (Almeida Theatre), Macbeth, Coriolanus (The Tobacco Factory), Rope (Watermill Theatre, Newbury), The Promise (Tricycle Theatre), The Tempest (Nuffield Theatre, Southampton), Romeo and Juliet (Leicester Haymarket), Simplicity (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), A Christmas Carol, The Bald Prima Donna (Bristol Old Vic) The Biting Point (Theatre 503) and Summer in the City (BAC).
Film includes Another Life, After Death, Sheepish, Spirit of the Fox and Jean.
Television includes Einstein and Eddington, Tchaikovsky, Judge John Deed, Egypt, The Bill, Holby City, EastEnders, Casualty, Doctors, Blue Dove, Belfry Witches, Up Rising and Kavanagh QC.
Radio includes Getting Nowhere Fast and Twenty Cigarettes.

The Press on Accolade, director Blanche McIntyre's last production at the Finborough Theatre
***** Five Stars Financial Times, Fringe Review and West London Living
Time Out Critics' Choice and Show Of The Week
**** Four Stars Time Out, Musicomh.com, WhatsonStage, The Guardian, Evening Standard, The Public Reviews, TNT
The British Theatre Guide - Alternative Top 5 Shows
"The reviewers' cliché "Neglected plays are usually neglected for a good reason" carries the implicit qualifier "...except when the Finborough stages them." The more obscure revivals presented by this little Studio Theatre are almost always worthwhile, often impressive and sometimes revelatory. With Emlyn Williams' 1950 drama, here receiving its first revival, we are well into revelation." Ian Shuttleworth, Financial Times
"Blanche McIntyre's superbly acted production captures precisely the feel of a period of double-lives and double-standards" Michael Billington, The Guardian
"A forgotten gem... Accolade is humorous, humane and subtle in its suspenseful twists, and McIntyre's up-close staging enthralls. A talented young director and an exceptional fringe revival" Kate Bassett, Independent on Sunday
With a fraction of the budget and playing space, this is the production last year's National Theatre revival of Rattigan's After The Dance wanted to be – and perhaps the play it wanted to be as well" – Ian Shuttleworth, Financial Times
"Director Blanche McIntyre unearths a potent broadside directed at English prurience and hypocrisy... Witty and sad, tense but chary of melodrama, 'Accolade' is an elegantly understated piece with a palpable fury in its depths... blessed with just about the finest cast I've ever seen in a fringe show" – Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out
"At this early date, Accolade already classifies as one of the defining rediscoveries of this theatrical year... The praise afforded Accolade, one senses, has only just begun" – Matt Wolf, New York Times
"Blanche McIntyre's suspense-filled, utterly authentic exhumation... Upcoming director McIntyre is alive to the play's every emotional nuance... McIntyre's first-rate production ensures that its dilemmas remain timeless and gripping" – David Benedict, Variety
_____

Tuesday, 6 December– Sunday, 11 December 2011

Through The Night by Matt Morrison
Directed by Matt Grinter. Designed by Emma Bairstow. Lighting by Miguel Figueiredo.
Cast: Terri Dwyer. Steven Elder. Nadia Giscir. Jack Johns. Jan Shepherd. Liam Smith

"These things happen all the time, of course. But when it's close. When it happens in your 'sphere'. Usually these things don't touch us. But there is this dark side to certain people, certain communities. And it's a reminder to the rest of us, of how vulnerable we all are."

Through the Night is a terrifying psychological thriller about the lengths people will go to in order to protect the ones they love. Set over a single evening, it explores questions of class and violence, and how they have the potential to destroy the things we cherish most.

Playwright Matt Morrison's play Inside Out was produced at the inaugural HighTide festival. Since then he has written work for theatres and companies including the Gate Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, DryWrite, The Miniaturists, The Old Vic Tunnels, In The Same Boat and Menagerie. His play Marchers was developed in conjunction with The National Theatre Studio and performed at The White Bear Theatre. His next play, Brightest and Best, will be produced by We Were Here in early 2011, directed by Natalie Ibu. Matt has also written short stories, radio comedy for the BBC, and two non-fiction books.

Director Matt Grinter trained at the Bristol Old Vic Directors Course. Theatre includes A Great Undertaking in Little America (Alma Tavern, Bristol; Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham; and the White Bear Theatre, London), Eddie Kings Unforgettable Tour of the Forgotten (Tobacco Factory, Bristol) and Orphans (Alma Tavern, Bristol, and Trafalgar Studios). His writing credits include Angel (Tristan Bates Theatre and Pleasance London.) His film credits include Tealeaves (shown at the Tate Gallery, the Royal Academy Summer Show and the Glynn Vivian Gallery), Yukka (Best in Brief at the Kodak Awards) and Small Talk (Encounters, Palm Springs).

The cast comprises:

Terri Dwyer
Television includes Grange Hill, Holby City, Mile High, Double Take, Movin'on, Breaking Boundries, Off On One and Hollyoaks.
Film includes They Want You and Ten Minutes.

Steven Elder
Theatre includes The Cherry Orchard (Royal Shakespeare Company), How To Be Happy, The Ring of Truth, Tosca's Kiss, Clockwatching, Amaretti Angels, Whispers Along the Patio, The Daughter in Law, Macbeth, All in the Wrong, The Case of Rebellious Susan (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), All My Sons (Apollo Theatre), The Seagull (Theatre Royal Northampton), After the Rain (Gate Theatre), Disappeared (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), Macbeth (English Touring Theatre),The Green Parakeet, Hamlet (Greenwich Playhouse) and The Thickness of Skin (New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich).
Film includes The Eschelon Conspiracy, Tortoise in Love, Good, Gallowwalkers, Wrath of the Dragon God, The Defender and Cold.
Television includes DCI Banks, Lost, NCIS, The Day of the Triffids, The 39 Steps, New Tricks, Blackbeard, Monarch of the Glen, The Vice, Afterlife, Judge John Deed, Robin Hood, Lie With Me, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Cromwell, Redcap, In Deep, Waking the Dead, Peak Practice, Heartbeat, The Bill, Holby City, Casualty, Doctors, EastEnders, Coronation Street, Suffer the Little Children and Resnick.

Nadia Giscir
Trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes Coasting (Bristol Old Vic), Country Music (Trafalgar Studios), Antony and Cleopatra (The Tobacco Factory), The Tale of Lady Stardust for which she won The Spotlight Outstanding Female Performance (Edinburgh Festival) and Teachers, The Wild Party andThe Crucible (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School).

Jack Johns
Trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes Orphans (Trafalgar Studios), Peer Gynt (TheatreState), Love's Labour's Lost (Circomedia, Bristol), Cinderella (Redgrave Theatre, Bristol) and The Madras House, The Recruiting Officer and Something Out Of Nothing (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School).

Jan Shepherd
Theatre includes Cinderella (His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen), Calendar Girls (Noël Coward Theatre), The Vagina Monologues (Wyndham's Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (US Tour), Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jitterbug (Arcola Theatre), King Lear (Southwark Playhouse) and This Happy Breed (Man in the Moon Theatre).
Film includes Jam, Friends Forever and Ugly and the Beautiful.
Television includes The Glass, Chandler and Co, Bugs, Waiting For God and Strange But True.

Liam Smith
Trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and Rose Bruford College.
Theatre includes Hacked (Theatre 503), Blok/Eko (Northcott Theatre, Exeter), Judith: A Parting From The Body (Cock Tavern), Sleeping Beauty (Tabernacle), Prose and Cons (Union Theatre), Guns Or Butter, Premature Burial (The Sticking Place), All Men Are Whores, One Jerk and It's All Over (Tristan Bates Theatre), Dinner (National Tour for The National Theatre), Song Of The Frogs (Polka Theatre), The Golem, Charlotte Bronte (Pascal Theatre Company), Hatful Of Rain, The Rover, Woyzeck (Bloomsbury Theatre) and Urban Stories (Pleasance London).
Film includes End of Love, Roads, Telstar, Cass, Man for Hire and A Day in the Life of Lemar.
Television includes Sirens and Holby City.

The Press on director Matt Grinter
"Matt Grinter's direction of his actors in Orphans was fine, detailed and intelligent. He is a director to look out for" - Tom Morris on Orphans
**** Four Stars, Bristol Evening Post on Orphans
"As hypnotic as it was compelling" Bristol Evening Post on Orphans
**** Four Stars, Bristol Evening Post, Metro and Venue Magazine on Little America
"A triumphant debut with this excellent and intelligent play" Bristol Evening Post on Little America
_____

Tuesday, 13 December–Sunday, 18 December 2011

Rigor Mortis by Carol Vine
Directed by Kate Budgen. Designed by Victoria Smart. Lighting by Rob Casey. Sound by Edward Lewis.
Cast: Janet Amsden. Max Gold. Rupert Simonian. David Whitworth. Eleanor Wyld.

"And each nail driving me closer to the end.
And my heart breaking.
And I don't tell her that either."

After years of absence, Martin returns, a middle-aged, quietly broken man, to visit his parents in the house he grew up in. The fraught relations between Martin and Layla, the daughter he abandoned many years before, echo Martin's conflicted history with his own past, which he must now confront - along with the childhood event that shaped the course of his life. In this ugly coastal town, through a bitterly cold spring, extraordinary things happen to normal people as they struggle to find meaning and redemption in their lives.

Playwright Carol Vine originally trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College, before deciding to devote herself fully to writing. She later gained an MA in Screenwriting at the University of the Arts, London. She has been short-listed and long-listed for various awards in the past, including the Kings Cross New Playwriting Award, BBC Talent, Channel 4's Coming Up and the Red Planet Prize. She has also had two short films made, Rise and Irreparable - showcased in the West End and at Clapham Picture House. Carol has written treatments for the musicals Zorro and Always Summer for Adam Kenwright Associates and InterNational Theatre and Music. Her other plays include a one-woman show, Whore, which was commissioned for the Tabard Theatre, a musical The TrashChrist performed at the Soho Theatre, and an excerpt from her adaptation of Pegwell Bay performed at the Jermyn Street Theatre and the Rocliffe Forum. Carol recently completed a new play, Borderland, and a sitcom pilot.

Director Kate Budgen completed an MFA in Theatre Directing at Birkbeck College in 2007 and has been Associate Director at Shropshire based Pentabus Theatre since 2008. Recent directing includes Crossed Keys (Eastern Angles), A New Breed (Jersey Arts Trust), May Fair (Latitude Festival), Tales of the Country (National Tour for Pentabus Theatre), Miriam Gonzalez Durantez (Theatre 503) and Bedbound (Lion and Unicorn Theatre). She has worked as an Assistant Director for The Gate Theatre, Almeida Theatre, The Opera Group, Pentabus Theatre and for Opera North. She completed The National Theatre Studio Director Course in May 2010 and she is a Creative Associate at the Bush Theatre. She was runner up in the 2010 JMK Director Award with The Hairy Ape which will be produced in 2012.

The cast comprises:

Janet Amsden
Theatre includes The Boy Friend (Her Majesty's Theatre), Random Acts of Strangers (Courtyard Theatre), The Chairs (Bath Theatre Royal), Single Numbers Only (King's Head Theatre), They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina (Tristan Bates Theatre and Theatre 503), The Waiting Game (New Sounds Theatre), Oliver (Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury), Richard III (Greenwich Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bristol Old Vic and The Old Vic), All's Well That Ends Well (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Dr Faustus and Daisy Pulls it Off (Duke's Playhouse, Lancaster), Dead Soil (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), Animal Farm (National Theatre), Kathie and The Hippopotamus (Almeida Theatre), Filumena (Library Theatre, Manchester), Lulu (Newcastle Playhouse), Widowers Houses and Coriolanus (Liverpool Everyman) and Schippell, Dream Play, The Exception and Rule and The Measures Taken (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh).
Film includes Getting It Right, Children of Icarus, Hussy and Violent Summer.
Television includes Doctors, The Bill, Hotel Babylon, EastEnders, Casualty, Spooks, Family Affairs, Down to Earth, Big Kids, Belfry Witches, Cold War, Daylight Robbery, Big Women, The King of Chaos, Dangerfield, Shine On Harvey Moon, Partisans, Between The Lines, Grange Hill, Crown Court, Blind Justice, Eleanor Marx and Target.

Max Gold
Theatre includes Othello, The Dillen, Mary After the Queen, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Flight, Worlds Apart, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company), Johnny Johnson (Lilian Baylis Theatre at Sadler's Wells), Love Bites (Resurgence Theatre Company), Vex (Half Moon Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (English Theatre, Frankfurt), Dreyfus (Tricycle Theatre), The Story of Jude (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Cider with Rose (York Theatre Royal), Our Country's Good, Hamlet, The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), Othello, Rope, Volpone (Birmingham Rep) and Flight (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith).
Film includes Suzie Gold, Inferno and The Commissioner
Television includes EastEnders, Rosemary and Thyme, Holby City, William and Mary, Swag, The Bill, Bergerac and Dangerfield.

Rupert Simonian
Theatre includes Three Kingdom, Punk Rock and A Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), Mums (Soho Theatre) and Lifesavers (Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and Theatre 503).
Film includes The Boys Are Back In Town, Keeping Mum, The Constant Gardener, Piccadilly Jim and Peter Pan.
Television includes Appropriate Adult, Hidden, The Bill, Doctors, Ashes To Ashes, The Impressions Show with Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson, Holby City, Murderland, Lifebites and Not Going Out.

David Whitworth
Theatre includes London Assurance (National Theatre), The Thunderbolt, Mary Goes First, Double Double, Trifles and King Lear (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night (Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park), Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep), As You Like It (Nottingham Playhouse) and The Mousetrap (St. Martin's Theatre).
Film includes Love's Kitchen and Little Dorrit.
Television includes The Bill and Nicholas Nickleby

Eleanor Wyld
Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes His Teeth (Only Connect Theatre), Antigone (Southwark Playhouse), The Deep Blue Sea (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Romeo and Juliet (Brighton Dome).
Film Includes Johnny English Reborn, The Manual and Freestyle.
Television includes Black Mirror – The National Anthem, Casualty, Honest, You Can Choose Your Friends and Coronation Street.

The Press on Carol Vine
"Her writing constantly takes you by surprise, draws you in...Strong and provocative...intrigue and a Heavy Does of sexual tension that continues to shatter any preconceived notions of what we are watching." WhatsOnStage on Whore
_____

Monday, 19 December–Friday, 23 December 2011

Crush by Rob Young
Directed by Laura Casey
Directed by Laura Casey. Designed by Emily Howard. Lighting by Elliot Griggs.
Cast : Erin Richards. Matt Roberts. Dolly Wells.

"Everything they tell you is a lie. Babies aren't cute, the sixties didn't swing and there's no such thing as safe sex. Citizen Kane was not the best movie, so what the stupid ball rolls off the table. Santa Claus is a fat, boozy actor and that cafe that sells an 'all day' breakfast? It shuts at 5.30. My point being, they lied. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar."

Rob researched Crush by spending ten years in a catty office, full of growling sexual subtext. The play tells the story of Johnny and his doomed crush on Celia, the office bitch. The trouble is, she's shagging Nudds, a man whose voice is so smooth, he can wriggle his tongue between two coats of paint. And that is where the story ends. Until... click, click, click... in minces Laura, in killer heels. As Bitch 2.0, Laura Makes Celia look like an amateur. What starts out as handbags at dawn, soon descends into a filthy labyrinth where life itself hangs in the balance, culminating in a victorian theatrical spectacle of literally breathtaking proportions. For Crush, think crisp white blouses, an office tango and a flirt to the death.

Playwright Rob Young 's feature film, Miranda, starred John Hurt and Christina Ricci. It won the Audience Award at London's Raindance Film Festival and sold in twenty two countries. He has since been commissioned to write original screenplays for BBC Films, Filmfour and Working Title, as well as TV scripts for the BBC and Channel 4. Rob's musical, Ex, premiered on Soho Theatre's main stage in November 2011. His adaptation of Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize winning novella, The Old Man and the Sea, won the Award for Artistic Excellence at last year's Brighton Festival before transferring to a sell-out run at the Arcola Theatre and a five week run at the Riverside Studios in 2011. Rob has previously written three plays for the Finborough Theatre – Tango 'til You're Sore, Suicide and Manipulation and Surfing. His other theatre includes Obsession (Time Out Critics' Choice), The Shoe Shop of Desire (BAC and BBC2 documentary) and The Man with the Absurdly Large Penis (The Young Vic). Rob is the co-founder of the art group, The Curious Guide.www.robyoung.info

Director Laura Casey works in both Germany and the UK. She is Artistic Director of Magpie Blue Productions and Associate Director for UpstArt Theatre. Directing includes The Old Man and The Sea, adapted by Rob Young (Shorelines Festival, Riverside Studios, Arcola Theatre, Kaskelot, a pirate ship in Charlestown Harbour and Little Marlborough Theatre, Brighton), Rubies in The Attic (Jermyn Street Theatre and Riverside Studios), Mods and Rockers (Tristan Bates Theatre), Deep and Crisp and Even and The Christmas (Site Specific  in SW6); England (The Karamel Club) and Urban Legends (Krudttonden, Copenhagen). Assisting includes Yerma (Hull Truck Theatre and Gate Theatre), Shakespeare on Edge which was nominated for Kölner Theaterpreis 2011 (Artheatre, Cologne), Oh Well Never Mind Bye (Union Theatre) and The Lover and The Dumb Waiter (Krudttonden, Copenhagen).

The cast comprises:

Erin Richards
Trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes The Bankrupt Bride (Greenwich Theatre), Women Beware Women (Sherman Cymru, Cardiff) and Cleansed (Drama Studio).
Film includes Abrahams Point, Expiry Date and Creep Killers.
Television includes Being Human, Crash, Torchwood and Jara.

Matt Roberts
Trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes Christmas Reloaded (Old Red Lion Theatre), The Muse (Pleasance London and Tristan Bates Theatre), Popcorn, Blue Remembered Hills (Sherman Cymru, Cardiff) and Bianco (Elan in Florence).
Film includes Scopia, Breaking Waves,  Fourth Dimension and Philips Head.
Television includes Grange Hill.
Writing includes performances at the Soho Theatre, the Crucible Theatre Sheffield, Theatre 503 and Pleasance London. His new play Blackpool was long-listed for the Bruntwood Prize and he has been supported by the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.

Dolly Wells
Theatre includes The Underpants (Old Red Lion Theatre), Aunt Dan and Lemon (Almeida Theatre), As You Like It (Riverside Studios) and The Rivals (Whittington Centre).
Film includes Franklyn, Magicians, Bridget Jones Diary, I Capture The Castle and Morvern Callar.
Television includes Campus, Starlings, Star Stories, Peep Show, Whites, The IT Crowd, French and Saunders, The Mighty Boosh, Casualty, Doctors and Murphy's Law.

The Press on Rob Young
"A fascinating playwright" The Times
"Young is such a compelling voyeur. He has an unnatural way with small, lethal details that tell entire stories. This is a beautifully choreographed piece of precision acting that dances on the razor's edge between loathing and love. Highly unsettling, perhaps because it is so bleakly funny and true." The Times on Obsession
"A broader view of Young's vivid imagination and his unique way with words. Speech is a slippery, evocative and three-dimensional thing, rife with knock-on alliteration and spot-on comic juxtaposition." Evening Standard on Obsession
Time Out Critics' Choice. "Lurid emotional intimacy combines with strong dramatic conceit. Young's language is alternatively sensual and surgical. Obsession ruthlessly exploits the relationship between actor and audience, a fine blend of art and matter. Rob Young's Obsession is a stand out in this celebration of a lonely art form." Time Out on Obsession
Time Out Critics' Choice. "Young evokes a strangely affecting world, part fantasy, part cry from the heart...Essential viewing." Time Out on Surfing
"Touchingly sad, the characters grow on you, almost imperceptibly, drawing you into their destitute, moving lives." The Guardian on Surfing
"Young's sensitive handling...imbue a funny, sexy story with a real sense of wonder and romance." Evening Standard on Surfing

The Press on Laura Casey's production of The Old Man and The Sea, adapted by Rob Young
Awarded the Argus Angel Award 'in recognition of artistic excellence at the Brighton Festival and Fringe' by The Argus, Brighton.
"The most wonderful visual piece of theatre to hit this year's fringe... A powerful show that will not only pull at your heartstrings, but will leave you wanting more." FringeReview ***** 5 stars
"Beautifully performed, a highly intelligent, intuitive and thought provoking drama... A resounding success for all involved" Allthefestivals.com **** 4 stars

LISTINGS INFORMATION
Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652   Book online at www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Tuesday, 29 November – Friday 23 December 2011

Foxfinder
Tuesday, 29 November – Friday 23 December 2011
Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 8.30pm, with matinees on Saturday at 3.00pm and Sunday at 4.30pm (as listed in the schedule below)
Prices for Weeks 1 and 2 (29 November –11 December 2011) – Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £9 all seats, and Saturday evenings £13 all seats.
Previews £9 all seats.
£5 tickets for under 30's for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only.
£10 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on the first Saturday of the run only.
Prices for Weeks 3 and 4 (13 December –23 December 2011) Tickets £15, £11 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £11 all seats, and Saturday evenings £15 all seats.

Through The Night
Tuesday, 6 December– Sunday, 11 December 2011
Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 6.30pm. Sunday matinee at 2.30pm.
Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £9 all seats, and Saturday evenings £13 all seats.

Rigor Mortis
Tuesday, 13 December–Sunday, 18 December 2011
Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 6.30pm. Sunday matinee at 2.30pm.
Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Tuesday evening £9 all seats, and Saturday evening £13 all seats.

Crush
Monday, 19 December–Friday, 23 December 2011 
Monday to Friday evenings at 6.30pm.
Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Monday evening £9 all seats, and Friday evening £13 all seats.

All the shows have either adult themes, strong language or sexual content meaning these plays are not suitable for children.
Performance length: All plays are approximately 1 hour 30 minutes with no interval.

REPERTOIRE SCHEDULE
Tuesday 29 November  8.30pm  Foxfinder                              Preview
Wednesday 30 November 8.30pm  Foxfinder                         Preview
Thursday 1 December  8.30pm  Foxfinder                               Press
Friday 2  December  8.30pm  Foxfinder
Saturday 3   3.00pm  Foxfinder
Saturday 3    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Sunday 4    4.30pm  Foxfinder
Monday 5    8.30pm Special Guest Talk
Tuesday 6   6.30pm  Through The Night
Tuesday 6    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Wednesday 7   6.30pm  Through The Night                            Press
Wednesday 7    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Thursday 8   6.30pm  Through The Night
Thursday 8    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Friday 9    6.30pm  Through The Night
Friday 9    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Saturday 10    3.00pm  Foxfinder
Saturday 10   6.30pm  Through The Night
Saturday 10    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Sunday 11   2.30pm  Through The Night                                 Last Performance
Sunday 11    4.30pm  Foxfinder
Monday 12    8.30pm  Special Guest Talk
Tuesday 13   6.30pm  Rigor Mortis 
Tuesday 13    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Wednesday 14   6.30pm  Rigor Mortis                                        Press
Wednesday 14    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Thursday 15   6.30pm  Rigor Mortis
Thursday 15    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Friday 16   6.30pm  Rigor Mortis
Friday 16    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Saturday 17   3.00pm  Foxfinder
Saturday 17   6.30pm  Rigor Mortis
Saturday 17    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Sunday 18   2.30pm  Rigor Mortis                                              Last Performance
Sunday 18    4.30pm  Foxfinder
Monday 19   6.30pm  Crush
Monday 19   8.30pm  Special Guest Talk
Tuesday 20   6.30pm  Crush                                                        Press
Tuesday 20    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Wednesday 21   6.30pm  Crush
Wednesday 21    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Thursday 22   6.30pm  Crush
Thursday 22    8.30pm  Foxfinder
Friday 23   6.30pm  Crush                                                           Last Performance
Friday 23    8.30pm  Foxfinder                                                   Last Performance

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