Kathryn Prescott, Cian Barry and More Set for Southwark's THE LOVE GIRL AND THE INNOCENT, Beg. Tonight

Olivier-award nominee Matthew Dunster directs Kathryn Prescott (Channel 4's Skins) in her stage debut with Cian Barry (Our Boys, The Member of the Wedding), Daniel Stewart (Written on the Heart) and Rocky Marshall (Headlong's Faustus, Mean Machine) alongside 16-strong cast in the first major revival in over 30 years of The Love Girl and the Innocent at Southwark Playhous in October.

THE LOVE GIRL AND THE INNOCENT by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and translated by Nicholas Bethell, is directed by Matthew Dunster and designed by Anna Fleischle, with lighting design by Joshua Carr and sound design by George Dennis.

The cast features: Cian Barry, Emily Dobbs, Jack Johns, Kurt Kansley, Ben Lee, Rocky Marshal, Ben Nathan, Ben Onwukwe, Kathryn Prescott, Stevie Raine, Richard Rees, Alice Selwyn, Grace Smibert, Daniel Stewart, Rob Tofield and Adam Venus.

Previews from 9 October 2013. Press night Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 8pm. The show runs tonight, 9 October to 2 November 2013.

The first London production in over 30 years, this brand new version of The Love Girl and the Innocent is a gripping love story set against the struggles of sex, power and survival. Russia. 1945. Nemov is serving a 10 year sentence. Conscripted as chief of his work group, Nemov is confronted with the prison system's hypocrisy and his loyalties are pushed to the limits. How long can he stand up to the brutality and injustice of the camp and a regime that thrives on power, corruption, and sexual amorality? When Nemov meets Lyuba, one of the women prisoners - a "love girl", he is tempTed Further, and forced to betray his own moral integrity.

Kathryn Prescott plays Lyuba. Kathryn is best known for playing in Channel 4's Skins. This is her stage debut. Other television credits include Being Human, Bedlam, Casualty, Lee Nelson, Goths, Monroe and Doctors. Film includes Dreds, Counting Backwards and Lethal.

Cian Barry plays Nemov. Previous credits at Southwark Playhouse include The Rivals (2010). Recent television credits include New Tricks, Titanic, Shameless, Doctors and Man And Boy. His stage credits include Our Boys (Duchess), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (UK tour) and The Member Of The Wedding (Young Vic). Cian's film credits include leading roles in RPG, Holy Water, Ghost Town and In the Spiders Web. He has also appeared in concerts including a Remembrance Day event at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and The Grand Concert (Old Vic).

Rocky Marshall plays Goldtooth and Ov. Theatre credits include Faustus (Headlong), Rabbit (Old Red Lion), Piaf (West End and Tour), Macbeth(Wimbledon Theatre), What About Leonardo (Lilian Baylis), Glengarry Glen Ross (Synergy Theatre),Realism (Soho Theatre) and Romeo and Juliette (Oval House). Television includes Silk, Waking the Dead, Law and Order:UK, Bones, Rome, Dalziel and Pascoe, Holby City, Band of Brothers, The Affair, EastEnders, Casualty, The Royal, The Bill and Bugs. Film includes Mr Right, Hart's War, Re-Kill and Mean Machine.

Ben Onwukwe plays Mereschun. Ben is frequently heard on the radio in readings, plays and series including playing a regular character in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. Theatre credits include Sunset Baby (Gate Theatre), Pandora's Box(Arcola Theatre), Man in the Middle (Theatre 503), A Family Business (Watford and Oxford), The Making of Moo (Orange Tree Theatre), Days of Significance, The Winter's Tale (Royal Shakespeare Company),Macbeth (Out of Joint), Cinderella (Hackney Empire), Smile Orange (Theatre Royal Stratford East),Greenland, The Emperor (Royal Court) and Andromache (Old Vic). Television credits include London's Burning, Law and Order: UK, Coronation Street, Holby City, Doctors, The Bill, Casualty, The Biz, Between the Lines, Growing Pains and Inspector Morse.

Daniel Stewart plays Yakhimchuk. Theatre credits include Written on the Heart (Swan Theatre, Duchess), Measure for Measure, Heresy of Love (Swan Theatre) and Not About Nightingales (National Theatre). Film includes Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Emily Dobbs plays Granya. Previous credits at Southwark Playhouse include The Seagull (2012) and The Hostage (2010). Other theatre credits include Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, Love on the Dole, Ours (Finborough Theatre), As You Like It (Riverside Studios/regional tour), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Gotcha, Stars in the Morning Sky(Riverside Studios), Can't Stand Up For Falling Down (Arcola) and Puppets and Prophets (Theatre503).

Adam Venus plays Kostya. Previous credits at Southwark Playhouse include Feathers in the Snow (2012) and Company (2011). Other credits include Death of a Salesman (West Yorkshire Playhouse), 1984 (Manchester Royal Exchange), Rough Crossing (Vienna English Theatre), Annie Get Your Gun (Young Vic), Henry VI parts I and II(Kenilworth Castle/Dream Factory), Carnivale, (Teatro San Gallo), MacDeath (Landor Theatre) and You Beautiful Ewe (Roundhouse).

Other cast includes Jack Johns (playing Chegneyov), Kurt Kansley (playing Munitsa and Kolodey), Ben Lee (playing Boris Khomich), Ben Nathan (playing Gurvich), Stevie Raine (playing Gai), Richard Rees(playing Gontoir and Fomin), Alice Selwyn (playing Shurochka), Grace Smibert (playing Zena) and Rob Tofield (playing Brylov).

Playwright Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian writer who was imprisoned for his criticism of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, and later exposed Stalin's prison system in his novels and spent 20 years in exile. In 1970, he was awarded the Novel Prize for Literature. He is best known for the novels The Gulag Archipelago, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The First Circle, Cancer Ward and The Red Wheel.Other works include A Storm in the Mountains, An Incident at Krechetovka Station, Matryona's Place, For The Good of the Cause, The First Circle, Prussian Nights and Two Hundred Years Together. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 89.

Director Matthew Dunster returns to Southwark Playhouse after directing the critically acclaimed You Can Still Make A Killing in 2012. Recent credits include The Sacred Flame (English Touring Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park), Mogadishu (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and Royal Exchange- nominated for Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement In An Affiliate Theatre),The Maddening Rain (Soho Theatre), Love the Sinner (National Theatre), The Fahrenheit Twins (Barbican),Dr Faustus, Troilus and Cressida, The Frontline (Shakespeare's Globe), Saturday Night and SundayMorning, Macbeth, 1984 (Royal Exchange Theatre), You Can See The Hills, Love and Money (Royal Exchange Theatre and Young Vic - nominated for Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement In An Affiliate Theatre), Testing the Echo (Out of Joint), Some Voices, The Member of the Wedding (Young Vic), Cruising(Bush Theatre), Project B, Project D: I'm Mediocre, The Work, Port Authority (Liverpool Everyman). As well as being a writer and actor, Matthew was also a founding member of both Quarantine and The Work theatre companies. He was an Associate Director of the Young Vic for four years and is currently an Associate Artist.

Designer Anna Fleischle's work includes Before the Party (Almeida Theatre), Can We Talk about This?(DV8 Physical Theatre, Sydney Opera House, National Theatre Lyttleton and international tour), winner of the Australian Helpmann Award for Best Ballet or Dance Work 2012 and winner of Production of the Year 2012 Tanz, Germany, Second Coming (Scottish Dance Theatre), Rats Tales, Saturday Night and SundayMorning (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Love the Sinner (National Theatre), The Sacred Flame (English Touring Theatre), Love and Money - nominated for the Olivier Awards 2007 for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre (Young Vic and Royal Exchange, Manchester), Coram Boy (Bristol Old Vic at Colston Hall), Zadie (Sadler's Wells/tour), Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare's Globe), As You Like It (Curve, Leicester), Beasts and Beauties (Hampstead Theatre), You Can See The Hills (Young Vic/Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Playing God (Soho Theatre/Edinburgh Festival), Someone Else's Shoes (ETT at Soho Theatre), Dysfunction (Soho Theatre), Some Voices (Young Vic) and Maria de Buenos Aires (Vereinigte Bühnen Bozen, Italy).

The Southwark Playhouse is located at 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD. Nearest Tube: Borough / Elephant and Castle. Performances of THE LOVE GIRL AND THE INNOCENT play Monday to Saturday at 8pm and Saturday matinees at 3.30pm. Box Office: Online at www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk (24 HOURS/NO BOOKING FEES), or by telephone 020 7407 0234 (NO BOOKING FEES). Ticket Prices: All previews £10 (9, 10, 11, 12, 14 October); £16 (£14 Conc.). Concessions: Disabled people can bring one companion free of charge.

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