Roland Schimmelpfennig's WINTER SOLSTICE Takes To The Road

When Actors Touring Company's English language version of Winter Solstice received its world premiere at Orange Tree Theatre in early 2017, it received rave reviews and played to sell out audiences. From February to March 2018, the company takes Roland Schimmelpfennig's startling drama to the road for a national tour of the UK.

Winter Solstice tells the story of what appears to be a normal family Christmas in a western middle class home. Bettina and her husband Albert aren't happy. Bettina's mother is staying for the holidays. Which is awkward. Not least because Bettina's mother met a man on the train. A charismatic man whose words carry echoes of a sinister past.

As a new - or maybe old? - kind of politics rises up around the world, this razor sharp comedy exposes the betrayals at the heart of family and society and sheds light on the insidious shifting of the boundaries of acceptable political discourse.

Winter Solstice is directed by ATC's Associate Director Alice Malin (Birthday Suit - Old Red Lion Theatre, Daddy's Girl - Vault Festival, Fiji Land - Southwark Playhouse) and cast by Sophie Parrott. It is a co-production between Actors Touring Company and the Orange Tree Theatre Richmond. The cast comprises David Beames (The Golden Dragon - ATC, A Month In the Country - Salisbury Playhouse, As You Like It - Shakespeare's Globe), Kirsty Besterman (Betrayal - Salisbury Playhouse, They Drink It In The Congo - Almeida Theatre, Tipping the Velvet - Lyric Hammersmith), Felix Hayes (Peter Pan - National Theatre, Jane Eyre - Bristol Old Vic / National Theatre), Gerald Kyd (North by Northwest - Theatre Royal Bath Productions, Three Winters, Children of the Sun, The Cherry Orchard and Blood and Gifts - National Theatre) and Marian McLoughlin (The Girls - Phoenix Theatre, Henry V, Bartholomew Fair and After the Fall - National Theatre). The play is a specially commissioned translation by David Tushingham.

The author of Winter Solstice Roland Schimmelpfennig is the most performed playwright in Germany and one of the country's most original voices, with productions of his work worldwide in over 40 countries. Winter Solstice (Wintersonnenwende) was premiered to great acclaim at the Dramaten, Stockholm in 2015. Previous plays include The Golden Dragon and Arabian Night, both presented by Actors Touring Company. Other plays performed in the UK include The Woman Before and Push Up at the Royal Court.

Actors Touring Company (ATC) makes international, contemporary theatre that travels. The company creates shows with a global perspective: activating and entertaining the audience whilst asking questions of the world around us. Placing the actor at the heart of our work, and employing a lean aesthetic which promotes environmental sustainability, ATC has toured the UK and internationally since we were founded in 1977, reaching audiences far and wide. Current projects include Living with the Lights On written and performed by Mark Lockyer and The Suppliant Women, which received its London premiere in a co-production with Young Vic last autumn. The Suppliant Women is originally a co-production with The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh where it premiered in 2016 before touring to Dublin, Belfast, Newcastle and Manchester. Other recent work includes The Events by David Greig (Traverse and Young Vic and UK and international tours 2013-6); The Golden Dragon by Roland Schimmelpfennig (Traverse & UK tour); and Martyr by Marius von Mayenburg (co-production with Unicorn Theatre and UK touring).

The Orange Tree Theatre aims to delight, challenge, move and amaze with a bold and continually evolving mix of new and rediscovered plays produced in its intimate in-the-round space. Since its inception in 1971 it's had an exceptional track record in discovering writers and promoting their early work, as well as rediscovering artists and plays from our rich dramatic past. The OT has been recognised with major industry awards including the Alfred Fagon Audience Award, Peter Brook Empty Space Award, the UK Theatre Award for London's Most Welcoming Theatre and 11 Off West End Awards. Since 2016, the work of the Orange Tree has toured nationally to 27 venues across the UK. Last year, the OT produced three British premieres of international work including Winter Solstice, Poison by Lot Vekemans and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, which transfers to the National Theatre in July 2018.

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