Press Information ! ! ! VIBRANT NEW WRITING | UNIQUE REDISCOVERIES June–August Season 2018 The UK premiere of Arthur Miller’s final play FINISHING THE PICTURE by Arthur Miller. Directed by Phil Willmott. Set Design by Isabella Van Braeckel. Costume Design by Penn O’Gara. Lighting Design by Rachel Sampley. Sound Design by Nicola Chang. Presented by Nastazja Somers for The Phil Willmott Company in association with the Finborough Theatre. Cast: Patrick Bailey. Stephen Billington. Jeremy Drakes. Nicky Goldie. Rachel Handshaw. Oliver Le Sueur. Tony Wredden. "She is frightened and resentful and angry – and we’ve got about half an hour to cure all three.” Following his critically acclaimed, up-close reinvention of Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy and sell-out revival of The American Clock, multi-award-winning director Phil Willmott brings the intense focus of the intimate Finborough Theatre to bear on Miller’s final work, Finishing The Picture, opening for a four week limited season on Tuesday, 12 June 2018 (Press Nights: Thursday, 14 June 2018 and Friday, 15 June 2018 at 7.30pm.) As the women of today’s Hollywood campaign for dignity and equality, Finishing the Picture is a razor sharp psychological study of an abused, misunderstood female star and the havoc her unpredictability brings to a film set in 1961. Inspired by the filming of The Misfits, the screenplay Miller wrote for his then wife, Marilyn Monroe, and focused on the bemused and exasperated director, screen writer, producer, acting coaches and crew that closely mirror the real life production team of The Misfits – and whilst leading lady Kitty shares many characteristics with Monroe herself, Finishing the Picture – Arthur Miller’s very final play – is a devastating indictment of how a male-dominated movie industry inadvertently destroyed a vulnerable young woman, even as they transformed her into a screen goddess, and how they were unable to deal with the wreckage they caused. This UK premiere is only the play’s second production anywhere in the world, following its original large-scale premiere at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in 2004, shortly before the playwright’s death. 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 ! Playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was inarguably one of the greatest American dramatists of the twentieth century with a career that spanned over seven decades. His plays include The Man Who Had All The Luck (1940), All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge (1955), A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1964), Incident at Vichy (1964), recently presented at the Finborough Theatre also directed by Phil Wilmott, The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), The Archbishop’s Ceiling (1977), The American Clock (1980), also recently presented at the Finborough Theatre also directed by Phil Wilmott, Playing for Time (1980), The Last Yankee (1991), The Ride Down Mount Morgan (1991), Broken Glass (1994), Mr Peter’s Connections (1998), Resurrection Blues (2002) and Finishing the Picture (2004). Director Phil Willmott is a multi-award winning director, artistic director, playwright, composer, librettist, teacher, dramaturg, arts journalist and performer. He trained as an actor at Rose Bruford in the 1980s and was made a fellow of the college in 2012. Alongside his innovative reinterpretations of the classics, musical theatre revivals and new musical development his notable productions of contemporary and recent drama include F**cking Men (Finborough Theatre, Kings Head Theatre and West End), Liza, Liza, Liza (UK tour for Bill Kenwright), Billy Liar, Athol Fugard's Master Harold... and the Boys (Liverpool Playhouse), Angels in America and Kiss of the Spider Woman (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), The American Clock, The Notebook of Trigorin, Country Magic, Crime and Punishment, The Lower Depths, The Grapes of Wrath, Trelawny of the Wells and Loyalties (Finborough Theatre), Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, Three Sisters in a version by Tracy Letts, Heartbreak House and The Cherry Orchard (Union Theatre) and Encounter, a new gay love story inspired by Brief Encounter (Above the Stag Theatre). As a writer, many of his plays, musicals and adaptations have been published and are regularly produced around the world. The adaptation of Lysistrata he wrote with Germaine Greer was presented as part of the Almeida's Greek Season starring Tamsin Grieg, and his adaptation of Gorki's The Lower Depths is published by Oberon Books. The cast: Patrick Bailey | Terry Case Trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Theatre includes Single Spies (National Theatre), The Maids, Deathwatch (Royal Shakespeare Company), Everyman (Soho Theatre), Cabaret (Frank Theatre, Minneapolis), Ghosts (Library Theatre, Manchester), Great Expectations (Park Square Theatre, Minneapolis), Six Degrees of Separation (Theater Latté Da, Minneapolis) and All is Calm (US Tour). Television includes The Bill, Death of a Ghost and Secret Weapon. Stephen Billington | Derek Clemson Productions at the Finborough Theatre includes Pains of Youth, F***ing Men and The Notebook of Trigorin. Trained at Drama Centre London. Theatre includes Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, The White Devil (Royal Shakespeare Company), Romeo and Juliet (Ludlow Festival), Far From the Madding Crowd (National Tour), Much Ado About Nothing (Liverpool Playhouse), Who Killed Mr Drum? (Riverside Studios), Mean Tears (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), The Miser, Persuasion (Salisbury Playhouse), Strangers on a Train (Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and National Tour), Corpus Christi (Pleasance Edinburgh), Our Betters (Chichester Festival Theatre), Parlour Song, The Crucible (York Theatre Royal) and Gabriel (Soho Theatre). Film includes Exorcismus, Oh Happy Day, Exitz,The Tulse Luper Suitcases: From Sark to the Finish, The Prophecy: Uprising, Resident Evil, Callas Forever, Dracula 2: Resurrection, Braveheart, Where Hands Touch and Enemy of England. Television includes Wild West: Custer’s Last Stand, Doctors, The Inquisition, Young Arthur, Relic, Hunter, Queen of Swords, Highlander: The Raven, Coronation Street, Jonathan Creek, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Out of the Blue, Rules of Engagement, Space Precinct and The Buccaneers. Jeremy Drakes | Paul Trained at Drama Studio London. Theatre includes Gold Coast (Theatre503), Hope (Southwark Playhouse), A Doll’s House (National Tour), Richard III (Greenwich Theatre), Nobody’s Business (King’s Head Theatre), Measure for Measure (Courtyard Theatre), Widowers’ Houses (Park Theatre), A Clockwork Orange, Romeo and Juliet (Action to the Word), The Dance Hall (Blue Elephant Theatre), Clap Hands (Hackney Downs Studios), In My Head (Brockley Jack Studio Theatre) and Mary Stuart - The Musical (Paul Clements Theatre). Film includes The Drummond Will, Who Will Buy?, The Hand of the Creator, The House of Silence and My Saviour. Television includes Psychopath Night, Bloody Tales and UFO UK. Radio includes Great Expectations, Wild Elusive Butterfly and Zombies, Run!. Nicky Goldie | Flora Fassinger 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 ! Productions at the Finborough Theatre include Alfie and Lark Rise to Candleford. Trained at Drama Studio London. Theatre includes Everybody Loves a Winner (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), The Arbor, Battina and The Moon (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), The Road (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith) Dry Rot, A Doll’s House, Roma and the Flannelettes (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick), The Mother (The Scoop, London), Secrets (Polka Theatre), The Twits (Octagon Theatre, Bolton) Richard III, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, All’s Well That Ends Well (The Tobacco Factory, Bristol) and Ant Street (Arcola Theatre). Film includes Lucid and Shadows in the Wind. Television includes Call the Midwife, Doctors, Coronation Street and No Angels. Rachel Handshaw | Edna Meyers Productions at the Finborough Theatre include Dolphins and Sharks. Trained at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Sarah Lawrence College. Theatre includes Primetime (Royal Court Theatre), Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes (Simple8 Theatre Company at the Park Theatre), A Doll’s House (The Space), The Lonely Soldier Monologues (Cockpit Theatre), Crowd (Theatre503), The Helen Project (LOST Theatre), Penelope Who Really Cried (White Bear Theatre), Rhinegold (The Yard), Liberty Equality Fraternity (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and Tron Theatre, Glasgow), Lethe and The Rise And Fall Of Lucas Petite (The Arches, Glasgow) and The Wars Of The Roses Trilogy (Scottish Youth Theatre). Film includes Snowden, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Edge of Tomorrow and The Fifth Estate. Oliver Le Sueur | Philip Oschner Trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Theatre includes