Photo Flash: First Look at NOT TALKING at Arcola Theatre

Artistic Director of Defibrillator James Hillier directs David Horovitch (James), Gemma Lawrence (Amanda), Kika Markham (Lucy) and Lawrence Walker (Mark) in Not Talking. The production opens at the Arcola Theatre on 1 May, with previews from the 25 April, and runs until 2 June.

"If I don't want to tell anyone, it's up to me, right?"

Lucy knows James has avoided the battle. Mark knows Amanda has fought for her life. But speaking the truth could bring everything crashing down.

What happens if we live a life of not talking?

In his gripping and lyrical first play Olivier Award-winning, Mike Bartlett, unlocks a culture of silence, and gives voice to the human casualties when things are easier done than said.

Not Talking was first broadcast as a radio play on BBC Radio3 in 2007 and went on to win the Imison and Tinniswood Awards.

Mike Bartlett's Olivier Award-winning plays for the theatre include King Charles III, Bull and Cock. His other credits include Albion (Almeida Theatre), Wild (Hampstead Theatre), Game (Almeida Theatre), King Charles III (Almeida Theatre/Wyndham's Theatre/Music Box Theatre, New York), An Intervention (Paines Plough/Watford), Bull (Sheffield Theatres/Off-Broadway/Young Vic), Medea (Headlong/Glasgow Citizens/Watford Palace Theatre/Warwick Arts Centre), Chariots of Fire (Hampstead Theatre/Gielgud Theatre), 13 (National Theatre), Decade (co-writer Headlong), Earthquakes in London (Headlong, National Theatre), Love, Love, Love (Paines Plough/Plymouth Theatre Royal/Royal Court Theatre/Roundabout Theatre Company, New York), Cock, Contractions, My Child (Royal Court Theatre), Artefacts (Bush Theatre/nabokov). Plays for the radio: King Charles III, Cock, Heart, The Core, Family Man, Love Contract (BBC Radio 4) and The Steps.

David Horovitch plays James. His theatre credits include Absurd Person Singular, When We Are Married (Garrick Theatre), Losing Louis (Trafalgar Studios), Taking Sides and Collaboration (Duchess Theatre), Bedroom Farce (Duke of York's Theatre), Mary Stuart, Life is a Dream (Donmar Warehose), Cymbeline, Much Ado About Nothing, Love's Labour's Lost (RSC), Spinning into Butter, Seven Jewish Children (Royal Court Theatre), Hysteria (Hampstead Theatre), The Tempest, Major Barbara (Manchester Royal Exchange) and Grief (National Theatre). For television he is perhaps most well known for his role as Inspector Slack in Miss Marple and further television credits includePiece of Cake, Great Expectations, Bognor, Hold the Back Page, Piece of Cake, Love Hurts, Westbeach, Just William and Ivanhoe; and for film, Mr Turner, Solomon and Gaenor, Cassandra's Dream and The Infiltrator.

Gemma Lawrence plays Amanda. Her theatre credits include Wasted (Orange Tree Theatre), All My Sons (Hong Kong Arts Festival), The Tempest (Southwark Playhouse), As You Like It, Children Of The Sun (National Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe), Gaslight (Salisbury Playhouse), Lee Harvey Oswald (Finborough Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Redgrave Theatre), The Wild Party (Bristol Tobacco Factory) and Rough Cuts: The Lion's Mouth (Royal Court Theatre). For television her credits include Luther, Misfits, Stir It Up, All About George and Ahead Of The Class. Her film credits include Frail, A Bunch of Amateurs and Enlightenment.

Kika Markham plays Lucy. Her recent theatre credits include Escaped Alone and Tribes (Royal Court Theatre), The Last Yankee (The Print Room), On The Record (Arcola Theatre), Bloody Wimmin, Handbagged and You, Me And Wii (Tricycle Theatre), Bufonidae (Bush Theatre), Homebody/Kabul (Young Vic Theatre), The Vagina Monologues (Ambassadors Theatre), A Wedding Story (Soho Theatre and UK Tour) and Song At Twilight (Kings Head Theatre). For television her credits include Fearless, Mr Selfridge, New Tricks, Spooks and Born and Bred; and for film, Franklyn, Paint It Yellow, The Fever, Esther Khan, Killing Me Softly and Wonderland.

Lawrence Walker plays Mark. His theatre credits include Othello, My Mother Medea, The Owl Who Was Afraid othe Dark (Unicorn Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC) and Back Down (Birmingham Rep). Television credits include Our Girl and Find Me in Paris; and for film his credits include Alfie.

James Hillier is Artistic Director of Defibrillator. His directing credits include, A Lie of The Mind by Sam Shepard (Southwark Playhouse), Terry Johnson's Insignificance at Langham Place, New York; the première production of Tennessee Williams' The Hotel Plays at the Grange Hotel in 2012 and The Langham, London in 2014; The Armour (also The Langham, winner of an award at Le Miami Rebels), and Hard Feelings (Finborough Theatre). Hillier has directed a number of short films, including How To Make A Good First Impression Part 1 which went on to win awards at Tribecca Film Festival and Cannes. As an actor, he has worked at The Royal Court Theatre, National Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Bush Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange and the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. He has worked extensively as an actor in theatre, film and television and currently can be seen in series one and two of The Crown.

Photo Credit: Lidia Crisafulli

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