Ralph Watson, Nick Waring and Patience Tomlinson lead the cast of the The Heart of Things by Giles Cole, which premieres at Jermyn Street Theatre this Spring. Giles is joined by director Knight Mantell, to reform the team that created the hugely acclaimed The Art of Concealment about the life of Terence Rattigan, which was staged at the same theatre in 2012. With impeccable timing, as the 2015 election campaign goes into overdrive and the political parties are once again at each other's throats, Close Quarter Productions presents this poignant and gripping family drama set against the background of the 2010 general election. The production runs from March 10 to April 4 as part of the theatre's twenty-first anniversary year.
Over a weekend in May 2010, in the aftermath of the last general election, the political parties are wrangling over who will form the coalition government. Meanwhile, in a village near the Norfolk coast, a disillusioned English teacher and part-time election volunteer comes home for a rare visit and tries to put his life in order. However, the politics of family life can be every bit as vindictive and unpredictable as the Whitehall variety, and alliances can be made or broken without warning. In the course of one weekend, Peter, the English teacher, comes to a shattering realisation about himself, his relationships and his career.
The Heart of Things explores the themes of family, ambition, love and loyalty. And birthdays. It examines the conundrum that exists in sexual identity and the 'minor disturbances' that have far-reaching effects in people's private lives.
Ralph Watson's theatre appearances have included
The Hotel in Amsterdam (Royal Court),
Close the Coalhouse Door (Garrick),
King Lear and
Love's Labour's Lost (Prospect Theatre) and
The School of Night (Chichester). He has featured in many TV classics from
Porridge to
Reggie Perrin, Z Cars to Doctor Who and his films include roles in
Shooting Fish, Reds and
The Anniversary. Nick Waring's work includes Romeo in
Romeo and Juliet, D'Artagnan in
The Three Musketeers and Konstantin in
The Seagull - for which he was nominated for the
Ian Charleson Award. In the West End he has appeared in
Hay Fever, (Wyndhams),
The Trials of Oscar Wilde(Gielgud),
Star Quality (Apollo), and
Antony and Cleopatra with
Vanessa Redgrave (World Tour).
Patience Tomlinson has played Annie in
The Norman Conquests, Miss Skillen in
See How They Run, The Abbess in
A Comedy of Errors, and both Cecily and (a little later) Miss Prism in
The Importance of Being Earnest. Completing the cast are
Keith Parry,
Amy Rockson and
Ollo Clark.
The Heart of Things was written in tandem with
The Art of Concealment, which transferred to
Riverside Studios from Jermyn Street Theatre in May 2012, following wide critical acclaim. As with the earlier play, the text of
The Heart of Things is being published by Oberon Books.
Giles Cole's other recent stage plays include
The Weatherman (a winner of the Pint Size Plays competition 2014),
The Romance of The Century and
Frail Blood. A former actor, Giles has also worked in the BBC TV Script Unit, and has served on the script panel for the Croydon Warehouse Theatre, where his first stage play,
Old Schoolboys, was seen. He has been on the judging panel for the London Fringe Theatre Awards and in the 1990s was chairman of the theatre judging panel for the Writers' Guild Awards.
A graduate of Manchester University's drama department,
Knight Mantell has more than 40 years experience as an actor, director, writer and theatre producer - most recently he directed R C Sheriff's
The White Carnation at the Finborough, transferring to Jermyn Street, and
The Art of Concealment at both Jermyn Street and
Riverside Studios. He was founder director of Channel Theatre Company and Lyceum Productions, mounting productions of
Therese Raquin,
The Norman Conquests,
Everyman and
Don Juan in Hell. He has directed opera in Hong Kong. His work with the British Actors Theatre Company includes Coupler in
The Relapse as well as directing
The Dresser with
Ian Lavender and most recently
The Rivals. Television work includes
Lillie,
Dempsey and Makepeace,
Martin Chuzzlewit and
Game On. Film work includes
The Fool with
Derek Jacobi and
Wild Justice with
Roy Scheider.
In 2015 Jermyn Street Theatre celebrates its twenty-first anniversary. The spring season also includes London's first professional production for over a century of St John Hankin's
The Last of the De Mullins. The season builds on the theatre's other recent successes, which include the acclaimed production of
Flowers of the Forest by John van Druten, Maltby & Shire's
Closer Than Ever, Arthur Wing Pinero's
The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith,
Steven Berkoff's
Religion & Anarchy and
William Inge's
Natural Affection.
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