Tipping the Velvet Based on the book by Sarah Waters A new adaption by Laura Wade Directed by Lyndsey Turner A Lyric Hammersmith & Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh production Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Wednesday 28 October – Saturday 14 November 2015 Press Night Thursday 29th October at 7.30pm It’s 1887 and Nancy Astley (Sally Messham) sits in the audience at her local music hall: she doesn’t know it yet, but the next act on the bill will change her life. Tonight is the night she’ll fall in love… with the thrill of the stage and with Kitty Butler (Laura Rogers), a girl who wears trousers. Giddy with desire and hungry for experience, Nancy follows Kitty to London where unimaginable adventures await. Author Sarah Waters says: “I am absolutely thrilled that ‘Tipping the Velvet’ is to be brought to life on the stage of The Lyric, Hammersmith. I can think of no better setting for the play than the lush Lyric interior or the beautiful Lyceum in Edinburgh, and no more exciting creative talents than those of writer Laura Wade and director Lyndsey Turner. The production promises to be full of energy, fun and music-hall sparkle - in other words, everything I could wish for. I am simply delighted." Sally Messham who plays Nancy recently graduated from RADA and Tipping the Velvet is her first professional lead role on stage. Full company includes Jared Ashe (Walter), Kirsty Besterman (Diana), Tamara Camacho (Young Ensemble), David Cardy (Chairman), Grace Frogley (Young Ensemble), Amanda Hadingue (General Woman), Ru Hamilton (Sweet Alice), Adelle Leonce (Florence), Georgie Lord (Young Ensemble), Sally Messham (Nancy), Andy Rush (Ralph), Laura Rogers (Kitty), Aasiyah Shah (Young Ensemble), Sarah Vezmar (Blake). Actor Musicians include Jared Ashe (Bass), Ru Hamilton (Reed), Dan Jackson (Musical Director), Sarah Vezmar (Drums). CREATIVE TEAM INFORMATION Written by Sarah Waters Adaption by Laura Wade Direction by Lyndsey Turner Design by Lizzie Clachan Choreography by Alistair David Lighting by Jon Clark Music by Michael Bruce Sound by Nick Manning Illusions by Richard Pinner Musical Direction by Dan Jackson Casting by Julia Horan For further information and image requests please contact Michelle Mangan, Press and PR Manager on 0131 248 4822 or [email protected] www.lyceum.org.uk www.lyric.co.uk ENDS> NOTES TO EDITORS CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES Sarah Waters has written six novels: Tipping the Velvet (1998, Betty Trask Award); Affinity (1999, Somerset Maugham Award, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award); Fingersmith (2002, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize, and won the South Bank Show Award for Literature and the CWA Historical Dagger); The Night Watch (2006, shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize); The Little Stranger (2009, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the South Bank Show Literature Award) and The Paying Guests (2014, shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction). She was included in Granta's prestigious list of 'Best of Young British Novelists 2003', and in the same year was voted Author of the Year at the British Book Awards and the BA Conference, and won the Waterstone's Author of the Year Award. TV and film adaptations include Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith and The Night Watch for the BBC and Affinity for ITV. For the stage, Sarah co-wrote, with Christopher Green, The Frozen Scream which premiered in December 2014 at the Cardiff Millennium Centre and Birmingham Hippodrome. Laura Wade most recently wrote the screenplay for The Riot Club, an adaption of her play Posh, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014. Directed by Lone Scherfig the film stars Max Irons, Sam Claflin and Douglas Booth. Posh, opened at the Duke of York’s in the West End in 2012 having originally played at the Royal Court in 2010. Her other work includes Alice, a new adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield) directed by Lyndsey Turner, Other Hands (Soho Theatre) and the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Kreutzer vs Kreutzer (Sydney Opera House and Australian national tour). In 2006 she won the Pearson Most Promising Playwright Award and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for her plays Colder Than Here (Soho Theatre) and Breathing Corpses (Royal Court). Lyndsey Turner’s credits include Chimerica (Almeida & West End), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), Contractions, A Miracle, Our Private Life (Royal Court); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Edgar And Annabel, There Is A War (National Theatre); Joseph K and Nocturnal (Gate Theatre); My Romantic History (Traverse, Bush & Sheffield Theatres) and The Lesson (Arcola). She has worked at the Royal Court as Trainee Associate Director and International Associate and as Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres where her work includes Alice and The Way of the World. Lyndsey is currently directing Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet at The Barbican. PERFORMANCES & PRICES 22 October -15 November 2014 Evenings: Tuesday through Saturday, 7.30pm £15 - £29.50 Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday, 2pm £13 - £25 Tickets: 0131 248 4848 www.lyceum.org.uk ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES Touch Tours for visually impaired Thursday 5 November at 6.15pm Saturday 7 November at 12.45 pm Audio-described Performances Thursday 5 November 7.30pm Saturday 7 November at 2pm BSL Interpreted Performance Wednesday 11 November at 7.30pm Captioned Performance Saturday 14 November at 2pm .