Cast Confirmed For the London Return of Joanna Pickering's BAD VICTIMS

A dark thriller centered around explosive power dynamics, sex and crime returns after sold out shows and adds two extra dates by popular demand and confirms its cast.

Bad Victims, written and performed, by award-wining Joanna Pickering, and directed by Erica Gould (world premiers of Neil LaBute and Theresa Rebeck) confirms its cast and returns to stage at The Courtyard Theatre, London with three more special dates on April 26th, 27th and 28th.

Inspired by Pickering's sold out shows in Paris and New York, it is a dark thriller centered around explosive power dynamics, sex and crime. Bad Victims sold out its shows in it's first development production receiving strong audience acclaim. It was described as uncomfortable and brilliant, and as culturally powerful as when The Vagina Monologues first hit The West End.

The play is a brutal, hilarious and emotional roller-coaster ride that follows three women's struggles, their decision making, and unpredictable reactions, in the aftermath of violent encounters. Bad Victims is not only important and timely but, more so, unexpected, unsettling, laugh-out-loud funny, and hard hitting. [*explicit trigger warning for implied sexual assault/language [14-16 PG, 16+ years]

Described as both nuanced and provocative, Bad Victims picks up where psychological thrillers like Promising Young Woman and Anatomy of a Scandal left off. Pickering's writing is Sarah Kane meets Noel Coward with the deviousness of Phoebe Waller-Bridge to flip a scenario on its head.

The production will see its original lead cast return to stage with Joanna Pickering (Lady Macbeth, Eve Ensler's Vagina monologues, Pickering's Truth Lies and Deception) alongside Richard Emerson (Chess, ENO Coliseum, West End, Alain Boublil's Manhattan Parisienne, A Chorus of Disapproval directed by Trevor Nunn, West End), Georgia Christodoulou (Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Scene Festival) alongside Kyle Titterton (TV series Sons of Spielberg), Eugenia Kuzmina (Woody Allen Fading Gigolo, Rock The Kasbah, Bad Moms, Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen, Spy City, True Blood, New Girl), Dara Seitzman (Twelfth Night, Grease), Lera Savannah (Rada, Macbeth), Aoife Scott (The National Youth Theatre) and adds Sarah de Lisle Wells (Spielberg's BFG).

This upcoming workshop is a last chance to view the work before a world premier and for audiences who already attended to see how their input shaped the playwright's work. The evening also offers a sneak peek of brand new material in the form of a short excerpt from Pickering's brand new play Don't Harm The Animals. This new work follows the main character of Bad victims six months later.

The workshop is a playwright and directorial collaboration to explore a re-conceived, single cohesive evening of theatre, under the experience and incisive directorial vision of Erica Gould.

The Courtyard Theatre is known as one of London's most vibrant theatre and live music venues. It presents an intimate space for established performers, and endeavors to discover the best new playwrights, directors, and companies from a wide range of backgrounds. The theatre also provides a venue to nurture, support, and mentor rising talent, while their career, or play, is in the early stages of development.

The Courtyard Theatre say they are, "excited to re-house this daring and timely work. The play's intimate realism and our black box theatre is perfect to showcase the production again. This play was powerfully received by our audiences.

The play is sponsored by On Kew, a prime film and TV shoot location in London, available to book at www.onkewlondon.com with producer Tiffany Newton of Piper films, UK.

Cast

Joanna Pickering................Jane
Richard Emerson............... Jay
Aoife Scott........................ Layla
Lera Savannah.................. Zurie
Georgia Christodoulou.......Jade
Sarah de Lisle Wells..........Harriet
Eugenia Kuzmina...............Rosie
Kyle Titterton.................... Marcus Meekus
Dara Seitzman...................Fi

Joanna Pickering (Playwright, Actress) Joanna is an award-winning actress and writer. Her plays have sold out in New York, Paris and London, and are stocked in The Drama Book Shop, NY. In 2022, Bad Victims ran at The Courtyard Theatre in London, directed by Erica Gould (Neil LaBute/Theresa Rebeck) starring Pickering and Richard Emerson (West End Chess, ENO Coliseum). The play was described as Sarah Kane meets Noel Coward. The Endgame pre-viewed off-Broadway at New Perspective Theatre, directed by Illana Stein (awarded for excellence in directing) and in Paris, at The Big Funk Company. In 2021, Truth, Lies and Deceptions sold out its full production, at Le Pave D'Orsay Theatre, in Paris, with Joanna performing a lead role, and receiving national press, and strong reviews for her performance. It first staged in NY as a reading with Caroline Aaron (Marvelous Mrs Maisel) and Dan Lauria (Lombardi) with artistic director Christine Cirker (FAB women/Barrow Group). The play is now published by Next Stage Press alongside a roster of Tony award-winning playwrights and emerging playwrights. Joanna's debut award-winning play, Beach Break, is adapted for series with an Academy award-winning team. It was awarded mentor Kelly Edwards (then VP HBO). Her debut film, Boardwalk screened at The Anthology Film Archives in 2019, and was nominated for best film and best suspense thriller at NY Web Fest. Joanna has worked as a script consultant for the industry's leading talent and award-winning scripts. As an actor, Joanna won best actor for The New York Women's International Film Festival, in 2023, and in 2022, Joanna won Best Actress at Los Angeles film Awards and The Actors Awards for her work on Diva. She has performed many lead roles in independent films, as well as smaller roles in TV (eg. alongside Benedict Cumberbatch/see imdb), stage credits include Lady Macbeth, after training at Lee Strasberg. Joanna is a member of Theatre 68, International Centre of Women Playwrights, The League of Professional Theatre Women, SAG and is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment and Talented in Paris.

Erica Gould (Director, Fight Choreographer) has directed the world premieres of Neil LaBute's plays autobahn and Stand Up (with Mos Def), SpeakEasy by writers including Theresa Rebeck and Rajiv Joseph (Joe's Pub/Public Theater), Troilus and Cressida (NY Stage & Film), and Dirty Paki Lingerie, which she developed with writer/solo performer Aizzah Fatima (Cherry Lane, 59E59, The Flea, Toronto, Edinburgh, Turkmenistan through the US State Dept, UK tour) and which has been featured in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and on Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Other productions include the US premiere of Me Cago en Dios/Holy Crap by Inigo Ramirez de Haro (La MaMa), Max and the Truffle Pig (NYMF), What Light From Darkness Grows by Janine Carter (w/ Phylicia Rashad and Harry Lennix), At War: American Playwrights Respond to Iraq (Bleecker Street Theater/The Fire Dept). As director/fight choreographer: Troilus and Cressida (NY Stage & Film), The Rover (Bank Street Theatre), Pericles (NJ Shakespeare), As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre ACA), Emmett: Down in My Heart by Clare Coss about the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, her adaptation of The Beggar's Opera. As adaptor/director: the music-theatre pieces More Between Heaven and Earth (w/ Melissa Errico, Matthew Modine, Kathleen Chalfant, Campbell Scott), The Heirs of Tantalus, Exodus: Dreams of the Promised Land (w/ Reg E. Cathey), Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (La Pietra in Florence), and Battalia w/ dancers from NYC Ballet (Salon/Sanctuary Concerts-The Fire Dept). Fight choreography for screen includes the award-winning film Eggs and Soldiers and the upcoming Above the Sunset.

Richard Emerson Theatre work includes Chess (ENO Coliseum, West End); Alain Boublil's new musical Manhattan Parisienne (The Other Palace); A Chorus of Disapproval directed by Trevor Nunn (West End); Homer in Monteverdi's il ritorno d'ulisse in patria at La Pietra, Florence; How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Wilton's Music Hall; Les Enfants Terribles' The Vaudevillains (Assembly, Edinburgh); the British premiere of Eugene O'Neill's The First Man (Jermyn Street Theatre); Adolphus Cousins in Major Barbara (West 52nd St Theatre, NYC); Florian Zeller's The Lie (Vienna); Uncle Maroye (Marin Dr?ic Theatre, Gdansk Shakespeare Festival); Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet (Fort Lovrijenac, Dubrovnik and Bermuda). Extensive repertory in the UK at Salisbury, Northampton, Basingstoke, Harrogate, Colchester, Chipping Norton, Southwold & Aldeburgh, Bury St Edmunds and Hornchurch. Film includes the The Last Photograph directed by Danny Huston; Not For Sale directed by Alejandro Sanchez and Miriam, Radio, and the The First Man directed by Hardeep Giani.

Georgia Christodoulou trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and graduated in 2017. Theatre credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Midsummer Scene Festival 2021/2019), Repeat After Me (Birmingham Rep Foundry Festival 2019), Uncle Maroye: Re-Examined (Marin Dr?ic Theatre 2019), A Family Affair (Vienna's English Theatre 2018), A Suffragette Story (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 2018), The Dutch Lady (Shakespeare Institute 2017), Blood Wedding (RBC 2017), Punk Rock (RBC 2017), The Merchant of Venice (RBC 2016), Tell Me About Your Ex (The Old Joint Stock Theatre 2014/2013), I Love You, Goodbye (The Old Joint Stock Theatre 2013).

Eugenia Kuzmina is a Russian-American actress, comedian, and model. She was training to be a professional ice skater when at 13 years old she was pulled out from a group of kids in her school to appear in a Russian version of SNL "Eralash." She was then cast to appear in Chuck Norris film, but couldn't leave the country due to visa issues. After appearing in commercials for Coca Cola, L'Oréal and Wrigleys in Moscow, she was noticed by a scout at Nathalie Models Europe. She signed a contract and moved to Paris at 15 to work with such brands as Cartier, Dior, Armani, Hermes, Loreal, Vogue among many others. After Ford Models, then IMG resigned her contract and moved her to the US, she was noticed by Rodrigo Prieto (cinematographer "Wolf Of Wall Street," "Babel") to appear in his directorial debut opposite Elle Fanning "Likeness." The movie was screened at Tribeca Film Festival and received excellent reviews. John Turturro cast Eugenia to play opposite him in a film with Woody Allen "Fading Gigolo." Recently Eugenia worked opposite Bill Murray in "Rock The Kasbah", Milla Kunis and Christina Applegate in "Bad Moms ", Guy Ritchie's " The Gentlemen ". Eugenia's Tv credits include " Spy City ", "True Blood," "New Girl," "Castle," "The Comeback," "Lady Dynamite"," Tour De Pharmacy ", etc. Eugenia is very passionate about comedy and writes and performs Stand Up regularly at The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory. Kuzmina resides in Los Angeles with her husband Bill Block ( Miramax CEO ) and three children.

Sarah de lisle Wells is an English actress. She trained privately as a child and completed her grades in LAMDA, City and Guild and Poetry Vanguard. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama, Theatre Studies and Film and Television at Roehampton University of Surrey and went on to complete a further years training at The Actors Lab in Manchester where she gained experience in independent British film (imdb credits), including a credit on Stephen Spielberg's BFG for ADR. Theatre credits include Gwendolen, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, Knutsford Theatre, REMEMBER THEM, The Harlequins, Annabelle, THREADS, The Actor's Lab, Manchester, directed by Sue Jenkins, and her work for The Cheltenham Everyman Reach out project, directed by Paul Tarling. Sarah is a multi-talented artist, working in theatre and a painter with upcoming exhibitions.

Lera Savannah is a Russian/Nigerian actor and former model who recently relocated back to the United Kingdom after beginning her professional acting career in the United States, where she primarily focused on film and television after completing a theatre minor at Northeastern University. Lera's recent training credits include the Stella Adler Training Studio (LA/NY), Identity School of Acting (IDSA, London) and MN Acting Studio (NY). Prior to this, Lera received a merit and distinction at LAMDA and RADA. Lera also won two bronze medals at the Woodley Festival of Theatre and Arts. Lera's recent theatre credits include Macbeth (The Underlings Theatre).

Dara Seitzman grew up in Michigan and lived in New York City for 11 years before moving to England. US credits include: Brecht's Man is Man (Leocadia Begbick) with The Prospect Theatre, The Merchant of Venice (Jessica), The Pirates of Penzance (Edith), Silly Cow (Peggy), The Servant of Two Masters (Smeraldina). US Regional Theatre includes: Swingtime Canteen (Topeka Abotelli), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Suzanne/Countess), Grease (Cha-Cha). Dara has toured in the US in two separate one-woman shows with the Core Ensemble: Mona Lisa Speaks and Angel of Memory. Dara is also a voice-over artist and sings lead for an all '80s cover band, That Eighties Band. After arriving in England she performed in Twelfth Night (Maria) with the Contexture Theatre Company and You Can't Take it With You (Penny Sycamore) with Sedos, as well as a TV guest spot on 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. Dara was trained at The University of Michigan and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance.

Kyle Titterton is an acclaimed actor and director. He had his first lead role in Neil Rolland's directorial debut Take It Back And Start All Over (2014) which played at the East End Film Festival in London, followed by a recurring role in the cult Dundee web series: Sons Of Speilberg (2013 - 2019) in which he performed alongside Scottish luminaries such as Kate Dickie and Mark Wahlberg. He is trained in theater, film and television as well as an experienced writer and director.

Aoife Scott is a working class emerging actor from the North-East of England. Aoife is a 2022 graduate of the National Youth Theatre. She has recently had her West End debut in Desire/Up All Night directed by Imogen Night, 2022/23. Aoife also recently played Colleen Rooney in WAGATHA in collaboration with Itch and Scratch theatre company. She has gained her debut film credit as Angela in IC9 which is now in production. Aoife is also a spoken word artist and her debut one woman show Strictly Come Dad'ting is currently in development. She has trained with Steven Buckwald as well as at The National Youth Theatre. Aoife is looking forward to stepping back on stage and reprising her role as Layla from Joanna Pickering's Beach Break, which was performed last year at The Courtyard Theatre, as well as attaining her first assistant directing credit under the guidance of director Paul Roseby OBE, with musical direction and composition by Naomi Hammerton for *Town Planning in the Apocalypse* written by James Graham OBE FRSL.

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