RED VELVET, ARABIAN NIGHTS & More Set for Indhu Rubasingham's First Tricycle Programme

Indhu Rubasingham has announced her inaugural season at The Tricycle, which will launch with the World Premiere of Red Velvet, written by Lolita Chakrabarti with Adrian Lester in the role of Ira Aldridge; followed by The Tricycle's first festive family show, The Arabian Nights, written by Mary Zimmerman and adapted from The Book Of The Thousand Nights and One Night. In 2013, The Tricycle present an Eclipse Theatre production of One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, by Don Evans, followed by another World Premiere: Paper Dolls, written by Philip Himberg and adapted from the award-winning documentary by Tomer Heymann, produced by Stanley Buchthal.

Rubasingham will direct both Red Velvet and Paper Dolls. The Arabian Nights will be directed by Lu Kemp, and One Monkey Don't Stop No Show by Dawn Walton.

Rubasingham has also appointed Nic Wass as Artistic Associate (Literary), who joins The Tricycle after five years as Senior Reader at The Royal Court Theatre having also been Literary Manager at Out of Joint.

Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director: "I am so delighted to be announcing my opening season. In programming The Tricycle, I am seeking to view the world through different lenses, where unheard
voices are brought into the mainstream. I believe it's these global, contemporary stories, and the connections they make to each of us that keep theatre immediate and pertinent. Situated in Brent, the most diverse borough in London, The Tricycle is a local venue with an international vision.

My opening show, Red Velvet, brings together the accomplished writing of Lolita Chakrabarti, the Olivier award-winning actor Adrian Lester, and the inspiring true story of Ira Aldridge.

The Arabian Nights promises to be a magical event for young and old alike. The tales trace back to ancient times, but this version by the Tony Award winning Mary Zimmerman will have contemporary resonances.

Paper Dolls is a unique story that presents in a snapshot different cultures, religions, sexual identities, the young and the old, whilst throwing in some music and dance! Paper Dolls is adapted from the multi-award winning documentary, of the same name.

Finally, it is a pleasure to be presenting Eclipse Theatre's production of a classic American comedy and hosting a company who broaden the diversity of work available in the regions. I hope this
will be the beginning of a fruitful relationship, and indeed one of many that The Tricycle will have with companies in the UK, and internationally".

THE TRICYCLE SEASON – 11 OCTOBER – 13 APRIL

WORLD PREMIERE

RED VELVET (11 OCTOBER – 24 NOVEMBER)

Red Velvet is written by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Indhu Rubasingham with Olivier Award winning actor Adrian Lester in the role of Ira Aldridge. Red Velvet runs at The Tricycle from 11 October until 24 November, with opneing night on 16 October. Design is by Tom Piper, lighting by Oliver Fenwick, sound by Paul Arditti, with assistant direction from Titas Halder.

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But, as the public riot in the streets, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre? A new play based on the true story of Ira Aldridge.

Lolita Chakrabarti is an actress and writer. Her previous writing credits include The Goddess for Radio 4 and Last Seen – Joy for the Almeida Theatre. As an actress her credits include The Great Game: Afghanistan at the Tricycle Theatre, Free Outgoing at the Royal Court/Traverse Theatre, John Gabriel Borkman for the Donmar Warehouse, Grimm's Tales at the Young Vic and A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Waiting Room for The National Theatre. Her screen credits include Vera, ITV; When Romeo Met Juliet, Outnumbered, Hustle, Holby City, Extras Christmas Special, Waking The Dead, Silent Witness and Bodies – the finale all for the BBC; the recurring role of WPC Jamilla Blake in The Bill, and most recently appeared in the new BBC four-part drama, One Night.

In 2010 Lolita co-founded Lesata Productions with Rosa Maggiora, producing Of Mary, a twenty-minute film directed by Adrian Lester. It was selected for the Raindance Film Festival, Underwire Film Festival and the London Short Film Festival. In 2012 Of Mary won the Best Short Film Award at the Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles.

Adrian Lester is best known for playing Michael Stone in hit BBC1 series Hustle. Other screen credits include When Romeo Met Juliet, BBC2; Merlin, BBC1; Sleep with Me, ITV; Ghost Squad, Channel 4; Being Human, BBC1; Ballet Shoes, BBC1; Bonekickers, BBC1; Empire's Children, Channel 4 and award-winning drama Storm Damage for BBC1. Adrian was last on stage in the award-winning Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre. Other theatre credits include Hamlet for Peter Brook
at the Bouffes du Nord/Young Vic; Sweeney Todd at The National Theatre (Olivier Award Nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role); Company at the Donmar Warehouse (Olivier Award for Best Actor); Six Degrees of Separation (Time Out Award) at the Royal Court/Comedy
Theatre; As You Like It at the Lyric Hammersmith/Noel Coward Theatre/National Tour; and Henry V at The National Theatre. Adrian will be playing the title role in Othello at The National Theatre in
2013. His film credits include Primary Colours; The Day After Tomorrow; Born Romantic; Love's Labour's Lost; Starting Out in the Evening; Dust; Final Curtain; Scenes of a Sexual Nature; As You Like It; Doomsday; Best; and Case 39. All is By My Side will be released in 2013.

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS (30 NOVEMBER – 12 JANUARY)

The Arabian Nights is written by Mary Zimmerman, adapted from The Book Of The Thousand Nights and One Night and is directed by Lu Kemp. The Arabian Nights runs at The Tricycle from 30 November until 12 January with press night on 6 December. Design is by Ben Stones, with lighting by Richard Howell, sound by Elena Pena and projection design by Andrzej Goulding.

In the land ruled by the brutal King Shahryar, every unmarried girl fears for her life. When young Scheherazade is summoned to marry the King, she must use the power of her captivating story-telling to survive. Night after night, the new Queen weaves tales of seduction and suspense: from a madman on the hunt for Perfect Love, to a tortoise curing a King with soup, a Jester with marriage trouble, and many more. How long can Scheherazade's imagination save her?

The Arabian Nights is The Tricycle's first family festive show, suitable for ages 9+.

Mary Zimmerman is a multiple award-winning writer and director. Work she has adapted and directed includes The White Snake for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Argonautika for Lookingglass Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company and the McCarter Theatre,
Candide at the Goodman and Shakespeare Theatre Company, Mirror of the Invisible World at the Goodman, Journey to the West at Goodman, Huntington and Berkeley Rep and a new opera with Philip Glass called Galileo Galilei at the Goodman, Barbican and BAM. She also directed Lucia di Lammermoor, Armida and La Sonnambula for the Metropolitan Opera.

Lu Kemp is Associate Artist with Inspector Sands for whom she directed If That's All There Is, which won the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Award in 2009 and has since toured nationally. Lu is currently directing Inspector Sand's next production which opens at the Almeida
Summer Festival this year. She is a director and dramaturg of new writing, physical theatre and dance. Recent work includes One Thousand Paper Cranes (winner of Edinburgh Guide Best Scottish Contribution to Drama on the Fringe), Titus, an adaptation of the Flemish play by Jan Sobrie currently on an international tour and The 13 Midnight Challenges of Angelus Diablo by Carl Grose for the RSC at Latitude. In 2013 Lu will be directing a new production for The National Theatre of
Scotland, The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean.

ONE MONKEY DON'T STOP NO SHOW (16 JANUARY – 9 FEBRUARY)

One Monkey Don't Stop No Show is an Eclipse Theatre production, directed by Dawn Walton, and runs at The Tricycle from 16 January until 9 February with opening night on 17 January. One Monkey Don't Stop No Show received its UK premiere in a co-production between Eclipse Theatre and Sheffield Theatres in October 2011.

In 1970's Philadelphia suburbs, the Harrisons are the most respected middle-class Black family. However, the arrival of their young niece and her radical ideas from the rural South, turns their polite, Christian life on its head. The Cosby Show meets Restoration Comedy in this hilariously outrageous play about how hard we try to hide who we really are.

Don Evans was a noted African-American playwright, theatre director, actor and educator. He was a contemporary of August Wilson and was a founding member of the Black Theatre Network and the African Grove Institute for the Arts. His principal works include Sugarmouth Sam Don't Dance No More, The Trials and Tribulations of Staggerlee Brooker T. Brown, The Prodigals, Orrin, Matters of Choice, It's Showdown Time, A Lovesong for Miss Lydia, Louis and Mahalia. Evans was Artistic
Director of Karamu House in Cleveland from 1983 – 1988.

Dawn Walton's credits for Eclipse Theatre include One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, The Hounding of David Oluwale and Michael X. For Sheffield Theatres Dawn has directed There's Only One Wayne Matthews." Other theatre credits include Oxford Street, 93.2pm, Drag-On and The Shining all for the Royal Court; Winners and The Blacks for the Young Vic; Urban Legend for Liverpool Everyman Theatre; and Of Mice and Men at Southwark Playhouse and Splinters for Talawa Theatre Company. Dawn Walton began her directing career at The Royal Court Theatre, going on to be awarded the first Jerwood Young Director's Award at the Young Vic. After a year as Acting Head of Studio at The National Theatre, Dawn was appointed the Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre in 2008. Dawn is currently directing 10by10 – ten short films for The Space, an ACE/BBC commission.

Eclipse Theatre Company is the only black-led national touring company delivering an annual middle-scale tour across the regions. Previous tours include Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Errol John, Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht, adapted by Oladipo Agboluaje, Little Sweet Thing by Roy Williams, Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Mustapha Matura, Angel House by Roy Williams, The Hounding of David Oluwale by Kester Aspden, adapted by Oladipo Agboluaje and SUS by Barrie Keeffe (co-production with Young Vic Theatre).

WORLD PREMIERE

PAPER DOLLS (28 FEBRUARY – 13 APRIL)

A NEW PLAY WITH MUSIC

Paper Dolls is written by Philip Himberg and is adapted from the documentary film by Tomer Heymann, which has won multiple awards including three at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. This production, directed by Indhu Rubasingham runs at The Tricycle from 28
February until 13 April with opening night on 6 March.

In Tel Aviv, Israel, a group of Filipino immigrants work as live-in care-givers for elderly Orthodox Jewish men. Six days a week, they provide dedicated support to their employers. But on the seventh day, they transform into a homespun, sassy musical drag act. Meet the Paper Dolls! An extraordinary true story exploring an unlikely collision of cultures and the universal desire to find 'home'.

Philip Himberg is a writer and director and is the Producing Artistic Director of The Sundance Institute Theatre Program: one of the U.S's foremost theatre development organisations. He directed the World Premiere of Terrence McNally's Some Men at the Philadelphia Theatre
Company, and co-wrote and directed the world premiere of Carry It On, starring Maureen McGovern. His other directing credits include William Finn's Songs of Innocence and Experience at the Allen Room and for Sundance he directed revivals of Fiddler on the Roof, Funny Girl, and a revised version of Jerry Herman's musical Dear World.

In May 2012 Indhu Rubasingham became Artistic Director of The Tricycle. She was recently awarded the Arts & Culture Award at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards for astounding achievements in theatre. Indhu was awarded the Carlton Multi-Cultural Achievement Award for Performing Arts and in 2010 she jointly received the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award for The Great Game: Afghanistan.

Most recently, Indhu directed Bola Agbaje's Belong at the Royal Court Theatre and is currently working with Sundance Theatre Lab, developing a new piece called Africa Kills her Son and also a musical called Kwa Maji Rise.

Indhu's most recent Tricycle production was a new production of Stones In His Pockets in December 2011. Her previous work at The Tricycle includes The Great Game: Afghanistan; Women, Power and Politics; Detaining Justice as part of the Not Black and White season; Fabulation; Starstruck; and Darfur: How Long Is Never? Additional directing credits include the Pulitzer Prize winning Ruined at The Almeida Theatre. For the Royal Court she has directed numerous productions, including: Disconnect, Free Outgoing, Sugar Mummies, Lift Off (which received the George Devine Award) and Clubland (which received the Evening Standard award for most promising play). For the National Theatre, she has directed The Waiting Room (which received the John Whiting Award) and The Ramayana. For Hampstead Theatre, Rubasingham has directed Yellowman (with Liverpool Everyman, which received a TMA nomination for best new play and was shortlisted for the Pulitzer prize) and Anna In The Tropics (which won the Pulitzer prize). Her Chichester Festival Theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet, The Misanthrope and Secret Rapture. She has also directed at Birmingham Rep, Soho Theatre, the Young Vic, and numerous productions at Theatre Royal, Stratford East. Rubasingham has held Associate Director posts at The Gate Theatre, Birmingham Rep, and the Young Vic.

Tickets are available by phone 020 7328 1000, in person, or online www.tricycle.co.uk from £5-22 with group discounts and consessions available.

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