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E M M A H O L L A N D P R SACHA WARES RETURNS TO THE ALMEIDA THEATRE FOLLOWING LAST YEAR’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION OF MIKE BARTLETT’S GAME TO DIRECT THE WORLD PREMIERE OF BOY A NEW PLAY BY LEO BUTLER FROM 5 APRIL – 28 MAY 2016 AND A COMPLEMENTARY OUTREACH PROGRAMME FUNDED BY THE ARSENAL FOUNDATION SEES THE ALMEIDA PARTNER WITH ARSENAL IN THE COMMUNITY TO FURTHER ENGAGE WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE LONDON BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON Sacha Wares will be returning to Almeida Theatre to direct the world premiere of Leo Butler’s new play Boy, after her directorial success with the critically acclaimed production, Game, by Mike Bartlett, in 2015. Boy will run at the Almeida Theatre from 5 April until 28 May 2016, with press night on 12 April 2016. Director Sacha Wares is joined by a formidable creative team, including two powerhouse contemporary designers, Miriam Buether for set design (Wild Swans, Sucker Punch, My Child, Generations), who worked with Sacha on Game at the Almeida in 2015, and Ultz for costume (Jerusalem, Hobson’s Choice, Fallout, Pied Pier), who will be collaborating with Miriam, on design, for the very first time. Further creative credits include movement by Leon Baugh, lighting by Jack Knowles and sound by Gareth Fry. A boy At a bus stop. Easily missed. Playwright Leo Butler casts a sharp eye over the city and picks someone for us to follow. Sacha Wares (Director) is associate director at the Young Vic and was previously Associate Director of the Royal Court from 2007-2013. Most recently Sacha directed Game by Mike Bartlett at the Almeida. Her other previous director credits include Wild Swans and Generations at the Young Vic, Sucker Punch, My Child and Credible Witness at the Royal Court, Random at the Royal Court and UK Tour, Trade at the Swan Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Soho Theatre, Platform at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London, A Number for the Theatre Project, Tokyo, Guantanamo: “Honour Bound to Defend Freedom” at the Tricycle Theatre, Ambassador’s Theatre and Lafayette Theater, New York, Bintou at the Arcola Theatre, Six Degrees of Separation at the Sheffield Crucible and Pera Palas at the Gate Theatre. Leo Butler’s (Writer) playwriting credits include Alison! A Rock Opera at the Royal Court, King’s Head Theatre and the Spread Eagle Theatre, Could You Please Close The Door Please at the FIND Festival and Schaubuhne, Berlin, Sixty-Nine at The Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival, Juicy Fruits at Paines Plough, Traverse Theatre and Royal Exchange, Come to Where I’m From at Paines Plough and Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, The Early Bird at the Queen’s Theatre, Belfast and Finborough Theatre, I’ll Be The Devil which was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Tricycle Theatre, Heroes which toured for the National Theatre, Devotion at the Theatre Centre and Do It!, Airbag, Faces in The Crowd, Lucky Dog, Redundant and Made of Stone at the Royal Court Theatre. Leo’s screen credits include Jerusalem the Golden and Self Made. Leo Butler won the George Devine Award in 2001 for Redundant and was the Writer’s Tutor for the Royal Court’s Young Writers programme from 2006 – 2014. Leo has had plays performed in countries across the world, including South Africa, Hungary, Russia, the United States, Brazil and Australia. PARTNERSHIP WITH ARSENAL IN THE COMMUNITY Alongside Boy, a project funded by The Arsenal Foundation between the Almeida and Arsenal in the Community will see the partners work together over coming months to reach young people in Islington who haven’t previously been involved in theatre, encouraging them to create and share their own stories. Rupert Goold, Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre said “As a die-hard Arsenal fan I’m well aware of the established and respected track record the club has in supporting our local community. It’s great to be able to partner with Arsenal in the Community on a project of such relevance and importance”. Four professional playwrights will work with 40 young people recruited through Arsenal in the Community networks over the course of 10 weeks to encourage them to develop ideas for short plays and monologues. The plays will respond to the themes in Boy, giving young people a voice. The resulting plays will then be presented by professional directors and actors on the set of Boy in the Almeida Theatre. We are commissioning a professional filmmaker to document the entire project. Young people will also be invited to participate in a panel discussion led by young people for young people interrogating questions determined by the participants themselves to explore their views on the world they live in. Arsenal Football Club Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis said “Community has always been at the heart of Arsenal Football Club. It is a fundamental part of what we do and what we represent. “Arsenal has a unique relationship with its local community through the work of our Arsenal in the Community team and a variety of projects and causes supported by funding from The Arsenal Foundation. We’re thrilled that Arsenal in the Community will be working with a fellow Islington organisation to help young people thrive by finding their own voice.” NOTES TO EDITORS INFORMATION ON ALMEIDA PARTICIPATION We are committed to ensuring that every child and young person, whatever their circumstances, has the opportunity to access our unique theatre and the activity it has to offer. We offer a high quality and innovative programme for, by and with young people, aged 5 – 25. Our participation team works primarily with the young people of Islington and its surrounding boroughs. Islington is a complex, culturally diverse, socially and economically deprived inner city borough. It has the second highest level of child poverty in London, where 15,000 children live in families where nobody works. In all, we aim to work with over 3,000 young people a year in structured programmes to inspire, challenge and engage them as audience members, participants and theatre makers; creating opportunities that work to increase confidence, communication and team-work. We want to ensure that we are reaching everyone – not just those who are already keen and committed, and that our work is accessible for a diverse range of young people. ARSENAL IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE ARSENAL FOUNDATION: Arsenal in the Community was established in 1985, when Arsenal became one the first clubs in the UK to set up a dedicated community team. Through the diverse programmes that have developed over time such as social inclusion, employability, education and sport initiatives, Arsenal in the Community has made a real, positive impact on the lives of over a million young people in its community. The Arsenal Foundation was launched in May 2012 and uses the Arsenal name to change lives through the projects and causes it supports. The Arsenal Foundation goes from strength to strength, expanding its local impact through a global partnership with Save the Children. Most recently, The Arsenal Foundation has worked with the charity to fund two football pitches in refugee camps in Iraq for displaced young people, giving them a safe place to play. The Arsenal Foundation works hand in hand with Arsenal in the Community to inspire and support young people in its local community. www.arsenal.com/thearsenalfoundation ALMEIDA QUESTIONS Dramatising Poverty - Thursday 12 May at 6 pm Does modern drama have a responsibility to put stories of the poor and disadvantaged on stage and screen? Is there a danger of cultural voyeurism? To discuss, Boy playwright Leo Butler will be joined by Selina Todd (author, fellow and vice principal of St Hilda’s College, Oxford), with further panellists to be announced. Answers Back: Young People’s Panel - Thursday 5 May at 6 pm This panel for young people will explore ideas raised in our production of Boy. CURRENTLY AT THE ALMEIDA THEATRE… UNCLE VANYA BY ANTON CHEKOV A NEW VERSION CREATED BY ROBERT ICKE FROM 5 FEBRUARY 2016 Jessica Brown Findlay (Sonya), Vanessa Kirby (Elena), Richard Lumsden (Telegin), Hilton McRae (Serebryakov), Tobias Menzies (Astrov), Ann Queensberry (Nanny) and Susan Wooldridge (Maria) join the previously announced Paul Rhys (Vanya) in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, a new version created by and directed by Associate Director, Robert Icke, at the Almeida Theatre. Running from 5 February until 26 March 2016, with press night on 12 February, Uncle Vanya is Icke’s next production following the critically acclaimed Oresteia, which ran at the Almeida Theatre, transferred to the West End, and recently won him the Evening Standard Award for Best Director. Things your life could be: (1) a farce. (2) a tragedy. (3) pointless. (4) all of the above. Things you could do about it: (1) keep living. (2) stop living. (3) stop someone else living. (4) nothing. Even so, what has your life been worth? Chekhov’s late masterpiece examines human behaviour in all of its beautiful, terrible, laughable contradiction. AND ELSEWHERE… KING CHARLES III A NEW PLAY BY MIKE BARTLETT DIRECTED BY RUPERT GOOLD WITH WHITNEY MOSERY UK TOUR FROM 4 SEPTEMBER 2015 Following critically acclaimed sell-out runs at the Almeida Theatre and in the West End, King Charles III is currently on a UK Tour. Robert Powell takes on the role of King Charles. The company includes Penelope Beaumont, Jennifer Bryden, Richard Glaves, Dominic Jephcott, Geoffrey Lumb, Lucy Phelps, Ben Righton, Giles Taylor, Tim Treloar, Beatrice Walker and Paul Westwood. Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook, lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti.