Press Information The Finborough Theatre is fully air conditioned, and offers STAGETEXT captioned performances. July to September Season 2012 Jamil Jivanjee for Jackdaw Theatre in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents The first London production in more than 30 years Hindle Wakes by Stanley Houghton. Directed by Bethan Dear. Designed by Holly Seager. Lighting Design by Chris Withers. Sound Design by Max Pappenheim. Original Composition by Craig Adams Cast: Anna Carteret. Harriet Creelman. Richard Durden. Peter Ellis. Sidney Livingstone. Graham O’Mara. Susan Penhaligon. Ellie Turner. Sarah Winter. The centenary production of Stanley Houghton's classic Hindle Wakes opens at the Finborough Theatre from Tuesday, 11 September 2012 (Press Night: Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 7.30pm) for a strictly limited three-week season. It's holiday week in the Lancashire town of Hindle, just before the First World War. Fanny Hawthorn, a spirited, determined mill girl, has just returned from a weekend in Blackpool with her friend Mary Hollins. At least that's what she tells her parents. In fact, she's been spending the weekend with Alan Jeffcote, a wealthy mill owner's son who is engaged to someone else. When Fanny's parents discover the truth, they set out to ensure that Alan will do the decent thing and marry her – only to discover that Fanny has her own ideas on the matter... One of the first plays to have a working class female protagonist. Hindle Wakes was hugely controversial at the time of its writing, and is now widely acknowledged as a feminist classic. Playwright Stanley Houghton (1881- 1913) was born in Ashton-upon-Mersey, Sale, Cheshire. Educated at Manchester Grammar School, he went into his father's cotton business where he worked until the success of Hindle Wakes in 1912 allowed him to finally achieve his ambition to become a professional writer. He died just a year later of meningitis. One of the acclaimed 'Manchester School' of playwrights, championed by Annie Horniman of the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, and including such writers as Harold Brighouse and Allan Monkhouse, Houghton's other works include The Intrigues, The Reckoning ,The Dear Departed, Independent Means (recently revived by the Library Theatre, Manchester), The Younger Generation, The Master of the House, Fancy-Free, Trust the People and The Perfect Cure. Hindle Wakes received its world premiere one hundred years ago at the Aldwych Theatre in June 1912. Director Bethan Dear returns to the Finborough Theatre where she directed the world premiere of The Goodnight Bird by Colleen Murphy in May 2011, and was Resident Assistant Director at the Finborough Theatre in 2010 where she assisted Blanche McIntyre and Adam Lenson. Trained at Middlesex University. Directing includes What Will Survive of Us (National Theatre Platform), Count Down To The Happy Day (Tristan Bates Theatre), Autumn in Arcadia (The Castle Theatre and Arts Centre, Wellingborough) , They May Not Mean To But They Do (The Lion) and. Pandora's Box (Curious Festival at the Barbican). Assistant Direction includes Festival of the Dead (Nabakov at BAC) and for theatre company Tangled Feet. Bethan has also worked extensively in British and international youth theatre including productions for Islington Community Youth Theatre, as well as companies in both Namibia and Uganda. The cast includes: Anna Carteret Theatre includes Salt Foot and Roe (Donmar Warehouse), Lingua Franca (Theaters 59E59, New York City), Shraddha (Soho Theatre), Tom and Viv (Almeida Theatre), Nathan the Wise (Hampstead Theatre), Sitting Pretty (Watford Palace Theatre), Donna Rosita (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Absolutely Perhaps (Wyndham's Theatre), Naked Justice (West Yorkshire Playhouse and Tour), Heartbreak House (Chichester Festival Theatre), Death of a Salesman (Birmingham Rep), Richard III (Royal Shakespeare Company), Semi Detached (Chichester Festival Theatre), Major Barbara (Piccadilly 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439 e-mail [email protected] www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk Artistic Director Neil McPherson The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268. Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council. Press Information Theatre), Waste and King Lear (The Old Vic), An Ideal Husband (Theatre Royal Haymarket and New York), On Approval (Playhouse Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Royal Shakespeare Company National and South Africa Tour), Single Spies (National Theatre Tour), A Doll’s House (Riverside Theatre), A Piece of My Mind (Apollo Theatre), The Beaux Stratagem (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), Burnt in the Sun, Never So Good, Sisterly Feelings, Man and Superman, Saturday Sunday Monday for which she won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actress, John Gabriel Borkman, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Merchant of Venice, Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The National Health, Jumpers, The Advertisement and Danton’s Death (National Theatre). Television includes Doctors, Casualty, Poirot, Holby City, Peak Practice, Eskimo Day/Cold Enough for Snow, Sherlock Holmes, Ashenden, The Shell Seekers, In the Heat of Day, Being Normal, Juliet Bravo, The Pallisers, Fathers and Families and Glittering Prizes. Harriet Creelman Theatre includes Bush Bazaar (Bush Theatre), Tell Tales (Bussey Building), Weekender (Barbican Centre), 101 (Tristan Bates Theatre and Nu:write, Croatia), 'Ave It! (Old Vic Tunnels), Pericles (Rose Theatre Studio, Kingston), One on One (BAC) and Scratch Interact (Soho Theatre). Harriet is also a spoken-word poet and has performed her work at venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre and Ronnie Scotts. Richard Durden Theatre includes The Emperor and Gallilean (National Theatre), Once Bitten, The Madras House (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Garsington Opera), Shadowlands (Wyndham’s Theatre), Orpheus Descending (Donmar Warehouse), Ugly Rumours (Tricycle Theatre), Birdy (Comedy Theatre), Casablanca (Whitehall Theatre), Hamlet (The Old Vic), All My Sons (Wyndham’s Theatre), The Beggar's Opera (Edinburgh Festival and Apollo Theatre) and 'Erb (Strand Theatre). From 1976-1978, he was a leading member of the Royal Shakespeare Company under Trevor Nunn performing in The Alchemist, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, Troilus and Cressida, Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. Film includes The Awakening, Anonymous, From Paris with Love, Agora, National Treasure 2, Oliver Twist, The Jacket, The Vicar, Morality Play, The Innocent, Atlantic, The Best Man, Bobbie's Girl and Batman. Television includes World Without End, Silk, The Borgias II, Lewis, Hidden, The Last Days of Lehman Brothers, Spooks, Hotel Babylon, Confessions Of A Diary Secretary, Nuremburg, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, Poirot , Hex 2, Derailed, York Minster, Fingersmith, Miss Marple, Commander, Not Only But Always, Trial & Retribution I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII, Rosemary and Thyme, Dunkirk, Hear The Silence, Foyle's War, Helen of Troy, Daniel Deronda, Midsomer Murders, Peak Practice, The Worst Witch, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, Highlander - The Raven, Bugs, The Bill, 2 Point 4 Children, Dressing For Breakfast, Wycliffe, Madson, McCallum, Zoya, Seaforth, Minder, The House of Eliott, Lovejoy, To Play The King, Headhunters, Boon, Warburg, A Woman At War, Sleepers, Fight Terminal, Chimera, A Wanted Man, Piece Of Cake, The Man Who Lived At The Ritz, Maigret, Gentlemen and Players, Final Run, Noble House, Inspector Morse, Hedgehog Wedding, Terra Nova, Amy, Country, The Day of the Janitor, Shoestring, Family Affair and Hazell. Peter Ellis Theatre includes As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Pride and Prejudice (Theatre Royal and National Tour), Puntila (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry), Dick Whittington (Queen’s Theatre Barnstable), Topless Mum in Dead Hero Shocker (Tobacco Factory), Aggravated Trespass (Turning Point Theatre Company), The Seagull (Bristol Old Vic), Something’s Afoot and Educating Rita (Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton), The Mikado (Carl Rosa Opera), Wallflowering (Charles Stephens Theatre), Funny Money (Theatre of Comedy), Crusade (Theatre Royal Stratford East), O Architect (New End Theatre), First Blush (Bush Theatre), Distant Point (Greenwich Theatre), Frozen Assets (Half Moon Theatre), Force and Hyprocrisy, Julius Caesar and The Enemies Within (The Young Vic), Night Watch, The Witch of Edmonton, All’s Well That Ends Well, Our Friends in the North, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Twin Rivals (Royal Shakespeare Company), Peter Pan (Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre), Trafford Tanzi (Mermaid Theatre), The Beggars Opera (Lyric Theatre), The Tulip Tree (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Henry IV and Romeo and Juliet (The Old Vic Company). Film includes Romeo and Juliet, This Sporting Life, Agatha, An American Werewolf in London, Mix Me A Person and Foreign Body. Television includes Z Cars, Emmerdale Farm, Edward and Mrs Simpson, Coronation Street, The Spongers, Lytton’s Diary, The Victoria Wood Show, but he is best known for his playing of Chief Superintendent Brownlow in The Bill which he played for ten years. 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439 e-mail [email protected] www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk Artistic Director Neil McPherson The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and