IMAGE RELEASE – Friday 9 August 2019 IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED here Twitter/ Facebook / website PRODUCTION IMAGES RELEASED FOR THE ARGUMENT • WORLD PREMIERE OF WILLIAM BOYD’S THE ARGUMENT MARKS THE FIFTH PLAY IN THEATRE ROYAL BATH’S SUMMER SEASON 2019 FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JONATHAN CHURCH • DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPER LUSCOMBE AND STARRING FELICITY KENDAL, SARAH EARNSHAW, ESH ALLADI, RUPERT VANSITTART, SIMON HARRISON AND ALICE ORR-EWING • THE ARGUMENT PLAYS IN THEATRE ROYAL BATH’S MAIN HOUSE UNTIL 24 AUGUST • IMAGES AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD HERE Theatre Royal Bath Productions today releases production images for the premiere of William Boyd’s The Argument, directed by Christopher Luscombe. The Argument is a darkly comic play that delves into what it is to dispute with those we love and offers a biting take on human dynamics, starring Felicity Kendal, Sarah Earnshaw, Esh Alladi, Rupert Vansittart, Simon Harrison and Alice Orr-Ewing. The production runs in the Main House until 24 August with opening night for press on 14 August. Pip and Meredith are having a disagreement about a film they’ve just seen when Pip’s phone rings and a full-scale row about their marriage breaks out. In the course of ten arguments, we follow the repercussions, as Meredith’s parents, Chloe and Frank, her best-friend Jane, and Pip’s best-friend Tony, take sides and end up embroiled in arguments of their own. Vitriolic, razor-sharp and veracious, the arguments rake over past prejudices, expose unjust judgements and reveal difficult truths. William Boyd OBE (writer) is a novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. His many novels include An Ice Cream War, Restless and Sweet Caress. His works have received several awards including the Whitbread Book award and Somerset Maugham Award for his novel A Good Man in Africa. His work Any Human Heart also won the Prix Jean Monnet de Littérature Européenne and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. His stage work also includes Longing, an adaptation of two Chekhov short stories. Christopher Luscombe’s (Director) recent credits include The Nightingales and Nell Gwynn, winner of the 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Other productions include Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night for The RSC, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Nell Gwynn for Shakespeare’s Globe and in the West End, Enjoy, When We Are Married and The Madness of George III. He is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Esh Alladi most recently performed on stage in Rutherford and Son at the Sheffield Crucible. He has appeared in several National Theatre productions, including Absolute Hell, The Beaux Stratagem, Dara and From Morning to Midnight. Other stage credits include Twelfth Night (RSC), Lions and Tigers (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Wit (Royal Exchange). Esh has also appeared on screen in A Confession, Apple Tree House and Houdini and Doyle. Sarah Earnshaw recently appeared in The Nightingales (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour). Previous stage credits include Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em (UK tour), Travels with My Aunt (Chichester Festival Theatre), the original cast of Wicked (Apollo), Heart of Winter (Tristan Bates) and national tours of Spamalot, Jekyll and Hyde, Scrooge and Puttin’ on the Ritz. Television appearances also include Casualty and Children in Need. Simon Harrison most recently appeared on stage in Sideways (St James Theatre) and previous credits also include The Changeling (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) and The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It and The Last Days of Troy at Shakespeare’s Globe. Film credits also include Everest, London Has Fallen and Transformers: The Last Knight. He has also appeared in television shows Outlander, Endeavour and Humans. Felicity Kendal CBE is one of the UK’s best-loved actresses, best known for her role in the BBC sitcom The Good Life. She has appeared in previous Theatre Royal Bath productions, including A Room with a View, Hay Fever and Relatively Speaking. Her roles in Much Ado About Nothing and Ivanov at the Strand Theatre won her the 1989 Evening Standard Award for Best Actress. Other stage credits also include Waste and the Seagull (Old Vic), Indian Ink (Aldwych), Heartbreak House (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Tartuffe (Playhouse) and Arcadia, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, Othello and Amadeus for the National Theatre. Alice Orr-Ewing’s stage credits include Don Juan in Soho (Wyndhams), An Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre), Hay Fever (Theatre Royal Bath) and Cabaret (Wilton’s Music Hall). She has also appeared in television series’ A Very English Scandal, Victoria and Poirot. For film, Alice has been seen in The Theory of Everything, Atonement and The Scapegoat. Rupert Vansittart was recently seen in the hit Netflix show The Crown as well as Gentleman Jack, Game of Thrones, Doc Martin, Plebs and Father Brown. Stage credits include This House (National Theatre), Democracy (Sheffield Crucible/Old Vic), An Ideal Husband (Birmingham Rep. For film, Rupert has appeared in Misbehaviour, The Children Act, The Iron Lady, Braveheart and Four Weddings and a Funeral. The Argument is the fifth production in Theatre Royal Bath’s Summer Season 2019 from Artistic Director Jonathan Church, following Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Blithe Spirit, Vienna 1934 – Munich 1938 and Uncle Vanya. The programme of eight plays will also include visiting productions Trying It On (3 – 7 September) The Life I Lead (27 August - 31 August) and The Man in the White Suit (6–21 September) immediately prior to a West End transfer. Tickets for all productions are on sale at www.theatreroyal.org.uk. The Argument is presented by arrangement with Lee Dean. For further information please contact THE CORNER SHOP PR on 0207 831 7657 Su-Ann Chow-Seegoolam | Lewis Jenkins | Lydia Aaronson LISTINGS Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET Box Office: 01225 448844 Website: www.theatreroyal.org.uk Facebook: TheatreRoyalBath Twitter: @TheatreRBath The Argument By William Boyd Directed by Christopher Luscombe Wednesday 7 August - Saturday 24 August Press night: Wednesday 14 August, 7pm Performance Schedule: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets: Between £27.00 - £41.50 .