Cast Set for World Premiere of Harry McDonald's FOAM at Finborough Theatre

The cast has been set for the world première of Harry McDonald's Foam. Matthew Iliffe directs Jake Richards (Nicky Crane), Matthew Baldwin (Mosley/Craig), Keanu Adolphus Johnson (Bird/Nurse) and Kishore Walker (Gabriel/Christopher) in this new play, inspired by the true story of Nicky Crane, explores the collision of queer identity and extremist politics against a backdrop of 1970s and 80s London.

The production has Set Design by Nitin Parmar, Costume Design by Pam Tait, Lighting Design by Jonathan Chan, Sound Design by David Segun Olowu, Fight and Intimacy Direction by Jess Tucker Boyd and Assistant Direction by Tania Khan.

Foam will première at Finborough Theatre on 21 March 2024, with previews from 19 March and run to 13 April 2024.

About Foam

“You forget I knew you were a queer long before I knew you were a fascist.”

1973, a public lavatory. Nicky shaves his head, watched by an older man.

Publicly, Nicky is a skinhead. And a Neo-Nazi. But right now, in this place, that doesn't matter.

He's not the first man Nicky meets in a public toilet, and he won't be the last…

Spanning twenty years and inspired by a true story, Foam examines the nature of identity and the consequences of right-wing extremist ideology against the backdrop of London's skinhead and gay scenes of the 1970s and 1980s.

With right-wing extremism again on the rise, Foam confronts the flashpoint where the terrifyingly personal and the violently political collide.

Harry McDonald's debut play Don't Smoke in Bed, premièred at the 2023 VAULT Festival. His short fiction has been published by Another North, and he has also created work for the Liverpool Everyman's Love Liverpool project.

Jake Richards

plays Nicky Crane. His theatre credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (Changeling Theatre), Germ Free Adolescent (The Bunker Theatre), The Wounded Island (Theatre 503). His television credits include The Larkins.

Matthew Baldwin

plays Mosley/Craig. His theatre credits include 46 Beacon (Hope Theatre), The Clouds (ADC Theatre). His television credits include Riviera, The Crown, Greed; and for film, The Act and The Dark Room. As a writer, his theatre credits include The Act (Trafalgar Studios), Outings (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, UK tour, Lyric Theatre), Queers (Old Vic Theatre); and for film The Act.

Keanu Adolphus Johnson

plays Bird/Nurse. His previous theatre credits include Backstairs Billy (Duke of York's Theatre), Kinky Boots (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch & New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich), Aladdin (Kenneth More Theatre), Dick Whittington - A New Dick in Town (Above the Stag), and Never Lost at Home (New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich).

Kishore Walker

plays Gabriel/Christopher. His previous theatre credits include Passing (Park Theatre) and The Boys are Kissing (Theatre 503). His television credits include Queenie, and Doctors.

Matthew Iliffe

directs. His previous credits include, Breeding (King's Head Theatre), Bacon (Finborough Theatre, Riverside Studios, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Bristol Old Vic and SoHo Playhouse Off-Broadway), Four Play (Above The Stag), The Niceties, Maggie May (Finborough Theatre), and The Burnt Part Boys (Park Theatre); and as assistant director, Assassins (Chichester Festival Theatre), BLACK SUPERHERO (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre), Brass (National Youth Music Theatre/Hackney Empire), and Musik (Leicester Square Theatre).

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