Hampstead Theatre Announces Its Next Two Productions, JUDE and THE FIRM

Hampstead Theatre has announced its next two productions and full casting for Wilderness.

The world premiere of Jude by Howard Brenton will be directed by Edward Hall. Jude will be the last production that Edward will direct during his tenure as Artistic Director of Hampstead.

Roy Williams' gripping play The Firm returns to Hampstead Downstairs following a sold out run in 2017 and will be directed by Denis Lawson.

Full casting for the world premiere of Kellie Smith's Wilderness at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs includes Richard Frame, Natalie Klamar, Allison McKenzie and Finlay Robertson.

Artistic Director Edward Hall comments,

'Jude will be the last production that I will direct for Hampstead before Roxana Silbert's first season in the Autumn. It has been a huge privilege to work with so many extraordinary people backstage and front during my time as Artistic Director, with writers such as Mike Bartlett, Martyna Majok, Beth Steel, Lauren Gunderson, Ryan Craig, Fiona Doyle and David Lindsay-Abaire to name but a few. But it is a particularly happy moment for me to be directing one of Howard Brenton's plays as my last. Howard has given us five plays during my time here, with Jude emerging from our Next Decade programme, a fund that will support new work well beyond my tenure. It feels somehow appropriate then to sign off on this incredible journey with the world premiere of a Hampstead Theatre Next Decade play from this brilliant and original playwright, an artist whose work lies at the very heart of the British theatre canon.'

JUDE
A new play by Howard Brenton
Directed by Edward Hall
23 April - 1 June 2019

'It wasn't just her freakish ability with language. She saw through to behind the words. It was like she had a direct line to - I was going to say to 'the gods''

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Howard Brenton's latest play Jude, directed by Edward Hall in his final production as Hampstead's Artistic Director. Loosely inspired by Thomas Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure, Jude is a modern day tale of unexpected genius and of our struggle to accommodate extraordinary talent.

About to be fired from her cleaning job for stealing a volume of Euripides, Jude turns her employer's outrage to shock by translating the ancient Greek on the spot. The employer, a Classics teacher, knows great talent when she sees it and the encounter kick-starts Jude's lifelong ambition to study at Oxford University. Entirely self-taught and possessing an astonishing gift for languages, Jude will stop at nothing to achieve her dream - but she remains oblivious to the hidden barriers that her background has placed in her path...

Hampstead Downstairs / Celia Atkin Present
THE FIRM
By Roy Williams
Directed by Denis Lawson
3 May - 8 June 2019

'I can't get out of bed without groaning or feel summin inside of me is creaking... We're too old for this shit'

Hampstead Downstairs presents Roy Williams' gripping play The Firm, a tale of growing up, lifelong loyalties and how sometimes, it is possible to choose your own family. Directed by Denis Lawson, The Firm returns to Hampstead Downstairs following a sold out run in 2017.

In a pub in South London 'The Firm' reunite for the first time in twelve years. Once they were a notorious criminal gang. Today, they're older, wiser and wistful - their lives changed beyond recognition.

But when an uninvited guest turns up to their reunion with an intriguing proposition and an explosive secret, they're tempted to try their hands at one last job... Will they escape their pasts unscathed?

Hampstead Downstairs / Celia Atkin Present
WILDERNESS
Written by Kellie Smith
Directed by Anna Ledwich
21 March - 27 April 2019

'We can do better - can't we?'

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Kellie Smith's breakthrough play Wilderness. This searing exploration of unconditional love and of the personal sacrifices it demands will be directed by Anna Ledwich, which will be her eleventh Hampstead Theatre Production. The cast includes Richard Frame, Natalie Klamar, Allison McKenzie and Finlay Robertson.

Having both been deeply scarred by their own parents' separations, Joe and Anne never imagined they'd find themselves, years later, in the same position. Determined to place the interests of their son Alistair at the centre of their lives apart, they split with the firm objective of maintaining amicable relations at all costs. But a sudden change in circumstance triggers a chain of events that pushes their best intentions to the limit... Before they know it, they are both teetering dangerously close to the edge of an abyss.

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