Cast Announced For NOT NOW at The Finborough Theatre

Replacing the previously announced production of Yes So I Said Yes by David Ireland which has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts, Not Now by multi-award-winning playwright David Ireland has its English premiere at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season starting on Tuesday, 1 November 2022 (Press Nights: Thursday, 3 November 2022 and Friday, 4 November 2022 at 7.30pm).

The morning after his father's funeral, an unsure and still grief-stricken Matthew prepares to fly to London to audition for the prestigious drama school, RADA.

When his painter-decorator Uncle Ray interrupts his private rendition of Richard III's opening monologue to offer some unwanted direction and dubious career advice, Matthew starts to doubt whether he should really be leaving Belfast in the first place.

Or is Belfast where he truly belongs?

Originally presented by A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Glasgow's Òran Mór in May 2022 to critical acclaim, Not Now is a sharply written, heartfelt comedy about the past, identity and moving on - from the multi award-winning author of Cyprus Avenue.

Playwright David Ireland returns to the Finborough Theatre following the Great Britain premiere of Yes So I Said Yes, and the English premiere of Everything Between Us. Director Max Elton returns to the Finborough Theatre following his "brutally effective" (The Stage) staging of Yes So I Said Yes, and his "excellent production" (The Guardian) of Israel Zangwill's play The Melting Pot.

Playwright David Ireland was born in Belfast and brought up in County Down. He was Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, in 2011-2012. In 2010, Everything Between Us, first produced by Solas Nua and Tinderbox Theatre Company, was performed in Belfast, Scotland and Washington, D.C., winning the Stewart Parker Trust BBC Radio Drama Award and the Meyer-Whitworth Award for Best New Play. It received its English premiere at the Finborough Theatre in 2017. Yes So I Said Yes was first performed at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, in 2011 as part of the Belfast Festival and then on a tour of Northern Ireland, where its performances in Omagh led to the theatre being picketed by a local church group. In 2021 Yes So I Said Yes had its Great Britain premiere at the Finborough Theatre, London, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the partition of Ireland. Cyprus Avenue premiered at The Royal Court Theatre before transferring to The Public Theater, New York City, The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and the Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast, winning The Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Drama. It returned to The Royal Court Theatre in 2019. It received over 100,000 views online. In 2018, Ireland's Ulster American was performed by the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of their Edinburgh Festival season, where it was awarded the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, and won Best Female Performance, Best New Play and Best Production at the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland.

Director Max Elton returns to the Finborough Theatre where he directed the critically acclaimed sold-out Great Britain premiere of Yes So I Said Yes and a rediscovery of The Melting Pot. He wrote and directed Big Brother Blitzkrieg (King's Head Theatre), and other direction includes The End of Hope (Soho Theatre and Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Stripped (King's Head Theatre) and Leftovers (Tristan Bates Theatre).

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