Cast Announced for Marion Bott's MOORMAID

Moe Bar-El (Le Bureau Des Legendes, Canal+; Tyrant, Fox; Snatch, Sony) and Ali Azhar (Algérie en éclats, Alouettes Theatre in Paris; Macbeth, Screen Northants/BBC; Digital Physics, Philadelphia Philms) will join renowned German actress Sarah Alles in Marion Bott's Moormaid - an explosive new play about two lost individuals' search for freedom.

Set in Berlin, Moormaid is a thrilling chamber-play about self-destruction and rebirth that attempts to understand the fear currently gripping the European psyche, and the threats that may be posed by our own alienated youth. Bott's inspiration for Moormaid came in 2014, when she discovered that two of her old classmates had travelled to Syria to fight for IS and didn't come back. She was shocked by the banality with which the news was discussed and how this absurdity has now become a normality.

Director Zois Pigadas comments, This is a very important new play that captures the essence of the human psyche and its capacity for creativity but also destruction. The play is set in Berlin, but tackles a pan-European phenomenon, so for me this flat is a 'no-place' that could be London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels. It is a privilege for me to work with such a talented cast and creatives from different countries, to put to life what I believe to be a very poignant text for the times we live in.

Berlin. Eleven past eleven. Art teacher Melissa is about to do something drastic. Seeking a place to hide, her ex-pupil Mehdi interrupts her momentum. This meeting is the key to her questions as Melissa represents a depressed and fearful generation longing to break out. Medhi is the mirror of her darkest and greatest desires - he provokes and draws out all the suppressed aspects of her personality and brings them back to life, no matter how uncomfortable it becomes. Both embark on a turbulent journey, painting and battling their way through the past.

Moormaid has been kindly supported by Arts Council England and Arcola Theatre. Tickets are available for £15-£22 from www.arcolatheatre.com and on 020 7503 1646. Concession tickets are available including £10 tickets for Young Arcola members. Pay What You Can Tuesdays, in person from 6pm.

Marion Bott is a French-German writer and actress working in four different languages. She trained at one the Berlins top screen writing schools, Filmuniversität Potsdam-Babelsberg, in Scriptwriting Master of Arts. Marion also trained at East 15 Acting School London where she studied Acting on the Master of Arts course. Before this she went to the Theaterakademie Mannheim and trained at Théâtre Jeune Public in Strasbourg France.

In 2016 Marion's first play, Cyber Love, was commissioned and produced in Stadttheater Ingolstadt, Germany. Marion currently has two feature films and a devised play, Blauhauch, in development. Marion's upcoming project, SevenSeven, a devised piece with her brother Sylvain Bott that tells the stories of seven ancestral generations from both their maternal and paternal bloodline. It is planned to open in London September 2018, before playing in Oslo at the Versagord Theatre Festival 2018.

Arcola is one of London's leading off-West End theatres. Locally engaged and internationally minded, it stages a diverse programme of plays, operas and musicals. World-class productions from major artists appear alongside cutting-edge work from the most exciting emerging companies. Arcola delivers one of London's most extensive community engagement programmes, creating over 11,000 opportunities every year. By providing research and development space to diverse artists, Arcola champions theatre that's more engaging and representative. Its pioneering environmental initiatives are internationally renowned, and aim to make Arcola the world's first carbon-neutral theatre.

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