PRESS RELEASE – Friday 10th January CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CHLOË MOSS’ RUN SISTER RUN, A CO- PRODUCTION FROM PAINES PLOUGH, SHEFFIELD THEATRES AND SOHO THEATRE IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE Casting has today been announced for a new play by award-winning playwright Chloë Moss. RUN SISTER RUN, a co-production between Paines Plough, Sheffield Theatres and Soho Theatre, explores the lives of two sisters and the different directions life takes them in as they desperately hold onto their unbreakable bond.

The production is directed by Paines Plough co-Artistic Director Charlotte Bennett and the cast includes: Lucy Ellinson; Helena Lymbery; Lucas Button; Silas Carson. The show will open at Sheffield Theatres on 27 February with a Press Night on 4 March before transferring to Soho Theatre from 25 March with a Press Night on 27 March. The production runs until 2 May. ‘You can’t pick your family but if you could I’d still pick you’

Connie and Ursula are sisters, connected by the same beginning but heading in different directions. Spanning four decades up to the present day, nurture competes with nature as the pair navigate their unbreakable bond. From award-winning playwright Chloë Moss, this story of family, love and dependence asks who gets it right?

Lucy Ellinson’s theatre credits include: MACBETH (Royal Exchange Theatre); TOP GIRLS (National Theatre); JUBILEE (Lyric Hammersmith/Royal Exchange Theatre); KINGDOM COME, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: PLAY FOR THE NATION (RSC); THE RESISTABLE RISE OF ARTURO UI (Donmar Warehouse); GROUNDED, THE CHRISTIANS, TROJAN WOMEN, TENET (The Gate); WORLD FACTORY (Metis Arts//New Wolsey); MAD MAN (Chris Goode/Theatre Royal Plymouth); Television includes: BRITANNIA; NEW TRICKS. Helena Lymbery’s theatre credits includes: MR GUM AND THE DANCING BEAR; TREASURE ISLAND; THIS HOUSE; THE CAT IN THE HAT; ...SOME TRACE OF HER; WOMEN OF TROY; ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE; IPHIGENIA AT AULIS; HIS DARK MATERIALS; WICKED YAAR; HENRY V (National Theatre); DEAR ELIZABETH (Gate Theatre); QUEEN MARGARET (Royal Exchange Theatre); PITY; ROUGH CUTS: GOD BLESS THE CHILD; THE LAWS OF WAR (Royal Court); THE WOLVES ARE COMING FOR YOU (Pentabus); HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (West End); WE WANT YOU TO WATCH (RashDash/National Theatre); THE SECRET AGENT (Young Vic/Theatre O); AFTER DIDO (Young Vic/ENO); SLEEPING BEAUTY (Young Vic); COASTING (Bristol Old Vic). Television includes: DOCTOR FOSTER, FATHER BROWN, OLIVER TWIST, ALASTAIR MCGOWAN'S BIG IMPRESSION, THE INSPECTOR LYNLEY MYSTERIES, , NIETTA'S FARM, ORANGES AND LEMONS. Film includes: ROAD. Lucas Button’s stage credits include WAR HORSE (UK Tour & National Theatre), THE BUTTERFLY LION (Chichester Festival Theatre), KES (), ALAN, WE THINK YOU SHOULD GET A DOG (New Diorama Theatre), THE WINTERS TALE (English National Opera), PINOCCHIO and A TENDER THING (The Dukes Theatre), THE LOST PALACE (Fuel Theatre and Uninvited Guests) His short film credits include BILLY AND JAKE (Andrew Jonathan Smith).

Silas Carson’s recent theatre credits include: THE CAPTIVE QUEEN (Shakespeare’s Globe); OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD; DRAWING THE LINE (); HALF LIFE (Theatre Royal Bath); A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Royal & Derngate Northampton); THE PROPHET (Gate Theatre); (National Theatre); RUINED; MACBETH (Almeida Theatre); ARABIAN NIGHTS (RSC) MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre). Recent film credits include: THE CORRUPTED; POSTCARDS FROM LONDON; MISS YOU ALREADY. Recent television includes: THE ACCIDENT; SICK OF IT; SILENT WITNESS; TRUST; EASTENDERS; UNFORGOTTEN; INDIAN SUMMERS; THE CASUAL VACANCY; THE 'C' WORD; GLUE.

Chloë Moss is an accomplished playwright and screenwriter. Her celebrated play THIS WIDE NIGHT (Clean Break, Soho Theatre, 2008) won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn prize and was subsequently produced off-Broadway, starring Edie Falco. She has written numerous other plays including THE GATEKEEPER (Royal Exchange Theatre, 2012), FATAL LIGHT (for Clean Break at Soho Theatre, 2010 and 2011), CATCH (, 2006), and HOW LOVE IS SPELT (Bush Theatre, 2004, and New York’s Summer Play Festival, 2005). She has also written extensively for television, including SIX WIVES (BBC One) and DICKENSIAN (Red Planet Pictures), and written episodes for NEW TRICKS (BBC One), THE SMOKE (Kudos), and PRISONER’S WIVES and THE SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL (Tiger Aspect). She has also written CARE, a single drama for Warp Films and Sky Arts, and an original series SWITCH, co-written with Tim Price, for Touchpaper / ITV2.

Charlotte Bennett directs. She is Joint Artistic Director of Paines Plough. Previously she was Associate Director at Soho Theatre where she led the new writing department, developing artists and commissions and programming the upstairs studio. For Soho she has directed WHITEWASH by Gabriel Bisset-Smith, HAPPY HOUR by Jack Rooke, curated a six-month off-site arts festival in Waltham Forest and led playwriting competition the Verity Bargate Award. Prior to this she was Artistic Director of Forward Theatre Project; an artists’ collective she founded. For Forward Theatre Project she made and directed new plays which toured nationally inspired by working in partnership with different communities around the UK and at venues including National Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Northern Stage, , Live Theatre and The Lowry. As a freelance director she has worked extensively for Open Clasp Theatre , creating new plays inspired by marginalised women in the North-East. She also held the role of Creative Producer for theatre company RashDash where she toured experimental new theatre around the UK.

Set and Costume design by Rosie Elnile, Lighting design is by Zoe Spurr, Composition and Sound Design by Arun Ghosh, Casting by Nadine Rennie CDG and dramaturgy by Sarah Dickenson.

-ENDS- For further information about Paines Plough please contact Maisie Lawrence at The Corner Shop PR: [email protected] / 0207 831 7657

For further information about Sheffield Theatres please contact Kate Morley: [email protected] / 07970465648

LISTINGS

Paines Plough, Sheffield Theatres and Soho Theatre Production RUN SISTER RUN By Chloë Moss Directed by Charlotte Bennett Design by Rosie Elnile Composition and Sound Design by Arun Ghosh Lighting Design by Zoe Spurr Casting by Nadine Rennie CDG Dramaturgy by Sarah Dickenson

Sheffield Theatres 27 February – 21 March Press Night Sheffield Theatres 4 March, 7.45pm Tuesday – Saturday, 7.45pm. Thurs and Sat matinee, 2.15pm. Crucible Lyceum Studio 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA Box Office 0114 249 6000 – Mon – Sat 10am to 8pm On non-performance days the Box Office closes at 6pm. www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Soho Theatre 25 March – 2nd May Press Night Soho Theatre Friday 27 March Wed 25 Mar – Sat 2 May 2020, 2.30pm, 7.30pm 21 Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE Tickets from £10 https://sohotheatre.com/shows/run-sister-run/

ABOUT PAINES PLOUGH

"The lifeblood of the UK’s theatre ecosystem." The Guardian

Paines Plough was formed in 1974 over a pint of Paines Bitter in the Plough pub. Since then we’ve produced more than 150 new productions by world renowned playwrights like Stephen Jeffreys, , Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, , Mike Bartlett, Kate Tempest and Vinay Patel. We’ve toured those plays to hundreds of places from Bristol to Belfast to Brisbane.

"That noble company Paines Plough, de facto national theatre of new writing." The Daily Telegraph

In the past three years we’ve produced 30 shows and performed them in over 200 places across four continents. We tour to more than 30,000 people a year from Cornwall to the Orkney Islands; in village halls and Off-Broadway, at music festivals and student unions, online and on radio, and in our own pop- up theatre ROUNDABOUT. Our Programme 2019 premieres the best new British plays on tour the length and breadth of the UK in theatres, clubs and pubs everywhere from city centres to seaside towns. ROUNDABOUT hosts a jam- packed Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme and brings mini-festivals to each stop on its nationwide tour. Our COME TO WHERE I’M FROM app features 180 short audio plays available to download free from the App Store and GooglePlay. "I think some theatre just saved my life." @kate_clement on Twitter www.painesplough.com @PainesPlough www.facebook.com/painesploughHQ

ABOUT SHEFFIELD THEATRES

Sheffield Theatres is home to three theatres: the world-famous Crucible, a Sheffield landmark with a distinctive stage and a reputation for producing brilliant drama; the Studio, an intimate, versatile space that puts you right at the heart of the action; and the beautiful Lyceum, the gleaming traditional theatre that hosts the best of the UK’s touring shows. It’s a place to try your hand at acting; a space for artists to practise and hone their craft; a place to play, explore, imagine, create. It’s a place for everyone.

Sheffield Theatres has a reputation for bold new work, and this year has produced new musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge, with music and lyrics by Mercury Prize nominated Richard Hawley, which was awarded Best Musical Production at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards.

This was followed by the dazzling new adaptation of Life of Pi, which delighted sold out audiences and critics alike and won four awards at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards. It was announced in October that Life of Pi will be transferring to London’s Wyndham’s Theatre from June 2020.

Next came My Mother Said I Never Should presented in co-production with fingersmiths in both British Sign Language and spoken English; and a major musical production of the spectacular .

For 2020, is directed by Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Robert Hastie and stars Tom Bateman; the world premiere of Run Sister Run by Chlöe Moss in a co-production with Paines Plough and Soho Theatres in the Studio; Here’s What She Said to Me in co-production with Utopia Theatre, and the world premiere of Oscar and the Pink Lady adapted by .

ABOUT SOHO THEATRE

Soho Theatre is London’s most vibrant theatre for new theatre, comedy and cabaret. They are a charity and social enterprise, driven by a passion for the work they produce, the artists they work with and the audiences they attract. Soho Theatre’s home is in the heart of the West End - three performance spaces, a busy bar, and a fast-changing festival programme with up to six shows a night. Firmly established on the London cultural scene, they’re now expanding into an additional 1,000 seat venue in Walthamstow, touring across the UK, India and Australia, and creating digital content.