Press Information 1 1980-2010 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FINBOROUGH THEATRE The Finborough Theatre presents Vibrant – An Anniversary Festival of Finborough Playwrights 30 NEW PLAYS TO CELEBRATE 30 YEARS OF THE FINBOROUGH THEATRE IN JUST UNDER 30 DAYS Van Badham Mike Bartlett Bekah Brunstetter Claire Dowie Christopher Dunkley David Eldridge John A.D. Fraser James Graham Sarah Grochala Titas Halder Steve Hennessy David Hutchison Nicholas de Jongh Aram Kouyoumdjian Brian Logan Anders Lustgarten Iain Finlay MacLeod Alistair McDowall Colleen Murphy Peter Oswald Nick Payne Mark Ravenhill Simon Vinnicombe Laura Wade Jane Wainwright Naomi Wallace Michael Louis Wells Joy Wilkinson Phil Willmott Alexandra Wood Directors include Adam Barnard. Zena Birch. Ellie Browning. Daniel Burgess. Claire Dowie. Helen Eastman. Clive Judd. John Kachoyan. Stephen Keyworth. Ben Kidd. Adam Lenson. Clare Lizzimore. Michael Longhurst. Chris Loveless. Tim Luscombe. Alex Marker. Jo McInnes. Blanche McIntyre. Rae Mcken. Caitlin McLeod. Wilson Milam. Nick Philippou. Eleanor Rhode. Alexander Summers. Kate Wasserberg. Colin Watkeys. Phil Willmott. Robert Wolstenholme. Curated by Finborough Theatre Artistic Director Neil McPherson Produced by Dara Gilroy, Lucy Jackson, Rachel Lambert and Sarah Loader. 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439 Fax +44 (0)20 7835 1853 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 2 Vibrant – An Anniversary Festival of Finborough Playwrights 30 NEW PLAYS TO CELEBRATE 30 YEARS OF THE FINBOROUGH THEATRE IN JUST UNDER 30 DAYS To celebrate its 30th anniversary year, the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre presents an anniversary festival of thirty new works for the stage by thirty UK and international playwrights, discovered, developed or championed by the Finborough Theatre, featuring many premieres of brand new plays by some of the famous playwrights who began their careers at the Finborough Theatre. Artistic Director Neil McPherson says: “Instead of celebrating our birthday by just reviving all our old successes, and following the great success of Vibrant A Festival of Finborough Playwrights in October 2009, we decided to celebrate by presenting another festival, but this time featuring staged readings of brand new plays by some of the well-known names who began their careers at the Finborough Theatre over the last thirty years including Mike Bartlett, Claire Dowie, David Eldridge, James Graham, Nicholas de Jongh, Peter Oswald, Nick Payne, Mark Ravenhill, Laura Wade, Naomi Wallace, Phil Willmott and Alexandra Wood, alongside some of the new writers we have discovered, developed or championed in recent years.” “We hope that our anniversary festival will be a broad celebration of both the past and the future of our work with a fascinating and idiosyncratic selection of new plays, ranging from the startlingly contemporary to drama in blank verse, from hard hitting political work to two new pieces of British musical theatre, from intimate monologues to ambitious epics. The writers’ ages vary from their early 20s to their 60s (building on our commitment to nurture new writers over 30 who continue to be neglected by other new writing organisations) and they come from a wide variety of backgrounds including playwrights from all over England (including a brand new British Asian playwright and debuts from writers from the North East and the East Midlands), Scotland (including an English language world premiere by Scotland’s leading contemporary Scots Gaelic writer, and a new play in the Scots language itself) as well as playwrights from Australia, Canada and from all over the United States (including a European premiere from one of the USA’s leading Armenian- American playwrights).” Despite remaining completely unfunded, the Finborough Theatre has an unparalleled track record of discovering new talent who go on to become leading voices in British theatre and entertainment. In the 1980s, the Finborough Theatre featured the first work of many comedians, writers and artists such as Clive Barker, Neil Bartlett, Jo Brand, Rory Bremner, Nica Burns, Kathy Burke, Ken Campbell, Julian Clary, Claire Dowie, Jenny Éclair, Harry Enfield, Jeremy Hardy, Ainsley Harriott, John Hegley, Wendy Houstoun of DV8, Mark Lamarr, Paul Merton, Neil Mullarkey, Mike Myers, Mark Rylance, Arthur Smith, Mark Steel, Mark Thomas and Benjamin Zephaniah. “I cannot recommend strongly enough a visit to the Finborough” Michael Coveney, Financial Times 1984. In the 1990s, it became a “hotbed of new writing” with first plays by such well known names as David Eldridge, David Farr, Conor McPherson, Tony Marchant, Anthony Neilson, Mark Ravenhill, Naomi Wallace and Phil Willmott, and actors such as Rachel Weisz and Nicola Walker. “Over the last three years, the Finborough has seriously rivalled the Royal Court, Hampstead and the Bush as a venue for new writing" Michael Billlington, The Guardian 1994. Since 2000 – under Artistic Director Neil McPherson – the Finborough Theatre has discovered some of the UK’s most exciting new talent including playwrights Mike Bartlett, James Graham, Sarah Grochala, Nicholas de Jongh, Chris Lee, Anders Lustgarten, Nick Payne, Al Smith, Jack Thorne, Simon Vinnicombe, Laura Wade, Joy Wilkinson and Alexandra Wood. It is the only theatre without public funding to be awarded the prestigious Pearson Playwriting Award bursary (2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010) as well as twice winning Pearson’s Catherine Johnson Award for Best Play written by a bursary holder. During this time, the Finborough Theatre has also expanded its repertoire to include music theatre and an unwavering commitment to the rediscovery of neglected drama from the past. ”One of the most stimulating venues in London, fielding a programme that is a bold mix of trenchant, politically thought-provoking new drama and shrewdly chosen revivals of neglected works from the past.” Paul Taylor, The Independent 2007. The festival is also an opportunity to see the fruits of the work that happens behind the scenes at the Finborough Theatre as we continue to discover and develop a new generation of theatre makers through our hugely successful 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439 Fax +44 (0)20 7835 1853 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 3 internship programme, our Resident Assistant Director Programme, our partnership with the National Theatre Studio – the Leverhulme Bursary for Emerging Directors, and our Literary Department. Working closely with the Artistic Director, the Finborough Theatre’s Literary Department – Literary Manager Van Badham, Senior Reader Laura Jessop and Literary Assistant Daniel Burgess – discovers and nurtures new playwrights, both in the UK and internationally, and is evolving a new model for “literary management”. “It says a great deal about the systems and structures of new writing in UK theatres that [Sarah] Grochala's nugget of a play has been lying around for two years unproduced. At its best it reminds us of Pinter and Bond.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian, 2009. Working in the text-based tradition, the unique energy of the Finborough Theatre is the paradox sustained by staging ambitious and epic work within the confines of a boutique space. We seek to develop new work that is: Thematically expansive: In the words of our Artistic Director, the Finborough Theatre is interested in “plays that matter on subjects that matter, regardless of fashion”. We are interested in playwrights and plays that present unique challenges to ideological assumptions about community, nation and world. Ideologically Brave: The Finborough Theatre has developed an enviable reputation as an intellectual hot-house of ideas and confrontation. We are a theatre that programmes plays to challenge the vanities, hypocrisies and oppressions of our times. We actively bring fresh voices into social debates and the world into a 50-seat space in Earl’s Court. Artistically Ambitious: We actively seek playwrights who have moving and unusual insights into the nature of our social world, and whose theatrical voice and vision are unique. We do hope that you will come and help us celebrate our 30th birthday… 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439 Fax +44 (0)20 7835 1853 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 4 The festival includes – and is centred around – a month long run of award-winning Finborough Theatre Playwright-in- Residence James Graham’s new play, The Man… Tuesday, 25 May – Saturday, 19 June 2010 Tuesday