Gary Lineker to Lead Post-Show Panel for Patrick Marber's THE RED LION at Trafalgar Studios

Retired English footballer and sports broadcaster Gary Lineker OBE will lead an exciting post-show panel on Monday 20th November, discussing the football themes of Patrick Marber's The Red Lion.

The production will run Wednesday 1st November - Saturday 2nd December 2017, with Press Night slated for Monday 6th November 2017, 7pm at Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY.

Set in the dressing room of a semi-professional football club in the North East, this powerful, funny and touching locker room drama reaches beyond the beautiful game, exploring contrasting ideas about loyalty, ambition and what it takes to win, from the perspectives of three different generations.

Lineker comments, I look forward to seeing this new version of The Red Lion at Trafalgar Studios. It's a premier league play about non-league football and you can join the cast and me for a post-show discussion on the play and the importance of these leagues in the wider game.

The Red Lion is hoping to attract new young theatre fans by working with some of London's major football clubs and inviting players from their Academy and Youth Education programmes to come and see the play.

Amy O'Brien, Head of Development at Fulham Football Club Foundation, comments, We're delighted that our Football & Education participants can take advantage of this opportunity. In addition to football training, the character and social development of our student-athletes is an integral part of our programme, and team building activities such as this add tremendous value.

The production, directed by Max Roberts, is brought to life by Stephen Tompkinson (Spamalot, West End; DCI Banks; Drop the Dead Donkey), John Bowler (It Just Stopped, The Orange Tree; Operation Elvis, RSC/Almeida; DCI Banks) and Dean Bone (The Terminal Velocity of Snowflakes, Live Theatre; The Savage, Live Theatre; Vera, ITV) who will be reprising their roles after a run at Live Theatre.

Through Marber's own personal experiences with non-league football, The Red Lion goes far beyond the pitch to look at hope, obsessions and the desperation of humanity to be a part of something. It is a piece that resonates in contemporary society - the two older characters are conflicted representatives of a pre and post 1980s, one possessing a sensibility formulated by a before-Thatcher England, the other by its aftermath. In the middle a youngster is dealing with that fall out.

IF YOU GO:

THE RED LION

Performance Dates:
Wednesday 1st November - Saturday 2nd December 2017
Monday - Saturday 7.45pm
Thursday and Saturday matinees 3pm
Running time: 95 minutes

At Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY
Trafalgar Studios is located on Whitehall. The nearest underground stations are Charing Cross (on the Bakerloo and Northern lines), Embankment (on the Bakerloo, Northern, Circle and District lines), Westminster (on the Jubilee, Circle and District lines) and Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.

Tickets are available priced from £19.50 - £39.50 from the Trafalgar Studios Box Office and www.atgtickets.com, 0844 871 7632.

Patrick Marber was a writer and performer on The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. His plays include Dealer's Choice, winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and Closer, both at the National Theatre. Closer was adapted by Patrick into a film, which starred actors Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Natalie Portman. Patrick was also Oscar nominated in 2006 for his film adaptation of Zoe Heller's novel Notes on a Scandal which starred Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench. His other plays include After Miss Julie, Don Juan in Soho and Three Days in the Country. The Red Lion had its critically acclaimed first run at the National Theatre in 2015.

Max Roberts is the Artistic Director and a founding member of Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne. Over the years Max has worked with some of the country's finest playwrights, all with strong connections to the North East region including C.P. Taylor, Tom Hadaway, Alan Plater, Julia Darling, Pater Straughan, Lee Hall, Paddy Campbell, David Almond and Shelagh Stephenson.

For Live Theatre Max has recently directed the sell-out run of this production of The Red Lion in April 2017 and The Terminal Velocity of Snowflakes by Nina Berry. His other productions include Lee Hall's The Pitmen Painters (Live Theatre, Broadway, National Theatre and National Tours) and Cooking with Elvis (Live Theatre, The Arts Theatre, Whitehall Theatre and National Tour) and Wet House by Paddy Campbell (Live Theatre, National Tour & Soho Theatre).

In 2014 Max was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from Northumbria University as an acknowledgment of his work in theatre and in 2016 he was given a professorship at The University of Sunderland. In 2011 Max received the Journal Culture Award's Special Contribution Award which was given to honour his achievements in bringing national and international recognition to the work of Live Theatre.

Live Theatre is recognised as one of the great new writing theatres on the international stage. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne it is deeply rooted in its local community and produces work as varied and diverse as the audiences it engages with. As well as championing the art of writing for stage by producing and presenting new plays, Live Theatre finds, nurtures and trains creative talent and uses theatre to unlock the potential of young people. Founded in 1973, Live Theatre is a national leader in developing new strategies for increasing income and assets for the charity to sustain and extend its artistic programme.

Live Theatre is grateful for the support of Arts Council England and the Newcastle Culture Investment Fund through the Community Foundation, and its many other friends and supporters. For more information visit www.live.org.uk.

Trish Wadley spent 20 years working internationally in media before moving to theatre and has worked at the Bush Theatre and Tricycle Theatre. For Defibrillator, as Executive Producer, she has produced A Lie Of The Mind (Southwark Playhouse) Speech & Debate (Trafalgar Studios); The Hotel Plays (Grange Hotel and Langham, London); Hard Feelings and The One Day of the Year (Finborough); The Armour (Langham, London) and Insignificance (Langham Place, New York). As producer: Burning Bridges (Theatre503). As co-producer: My Night With Reg (Apollo Theatre). Trish is a Stage One Bursary recipient and director of The Uncertainty Principle. She is also a founder of The Australian & New Zealand Festival of Literature & Arts (FANZA).