Olivier Award-Winning ROTTERDAM to Return to London

After its triumphant win at the 2017 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Donnacadh O'Briain's critically acclaimed production of Rotterdam by Jon Brittain will be returning to London following a highly successful run at Trafalgar Studios and at 59E59 Theater's Brits Off Broadway in New York. The play has an encore run at the Arts Theatre this summer.

Anna Martine Freeman (The Nether), Alice McCarthy (Boris: World King), Ed Eales-White (Strap In - It's Clever Peter) and Ellie Morris (Peter Pan Goes Wrong) reprise their roles in this poignant and highly comic production.

Alice wants to come out as a lesbian. Her girlfriend Fiona wants to start living as a man. It's New Year in Rotterdam, and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she's gay. But before she can hit send, Fiona reveals that he has always identified as male and now wants to start living as a man named Adrian. Now, as Adrian confronts the reality of his transition, Alice faces a question she never thought she'd ask... does this mean she's straight?

Rotterdam is a bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality and being a long way from home by acclaimed writer Jon Brittain, co-creator of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, and writer of What Would Spock Do? and A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad).

Director Donnacadh O'Briain comments, "Rotterdam made me laugh out loud and well up with tears from the first time I picked it out of a pile of scripts, and it continues to do that every time I see it. It's an honour and a joy to share that with the theatre capital of the world."

Jon Brittain was inspired to write Rotterdam after a couple of his friends transitioned in the late 2000s. He became aware of the absence of transgender stories in pop culture and wanted to address this on the stage. Through writing this show, he researched and consulted widely including talking to trans people and their partners, conducting a reading for members of the trans communities and discussing the show with various organisations, including Trans Media Watch who then endorsed Rotterdam, and the charity Gendered Intelligence, who the company dedicated their Olivier award to.

Brittain handles complex issues with great honesty and thoughtfulness, but also with a refreshing amount of wit. (Evening Standard)

Rotterdam by Jon Brittain

Wednesday 21st June - Saturday 15th July 2017
Monday - Saturday, 7.30pm
Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm
Run time: 2 hours plus interval

At Arts Theatre, 6-7 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JB
The nearest underground stations are Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines), Piccadilly Circus (on the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines) and Charing Cross (on the Bakerloo and Northern lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross

Tickets are available from £15 - £55 from the Arts Theatre Box Office and www.artstheatrewestend.co.uk, 020 7836 8463

Ages 14+

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Jon Brittain is a playwright, comedy writer and director. His plays include A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) (New Diorama), What Would Spock Do (Gilded Balloon), and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo (Pleasance). He also directed and co-wrote the smash hit Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho (Theatre503, Assembly, Leicester Square Theatre), for which he was nominated for 'Most Promising Playwright' at the 2014 Off West End Awards, and its sequel Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows (Assembly, Underbelly Festival). He has worked extensively with Old Vic New Voices, he was part of the Theatre503 Five and he was a member of the Royal Court Studio Group. In comedy, he directed both of John Kearns' Fosters Award winning shows Sight Gags for Perverts and Shtick as well as Tom Allen's shows Both Worlds and Indeed, and is a member of the Weirdos Comedy Club. He has written for Radio 4's The Now Show, Cartoon Network's BAFTA and Emmy award winning The Amazing World of Gumball and he created the online sketch show HodgePodge for Hoot Comedy. He is currently developing an original series for BBC3, an hour long drama series for the BBC Writers Scheme, a new play for LAMDA, the musical How to Stop Being Fat and Start Being Happy with composer Harry Blake.

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