A PLAY TO LEAVE YOU SPEECHLESS - SHARED EXPERIENCE BRING AWARD-WINNING SHOW TO THE LOWRY
BILL ELMS ASSOCIATES on behalf of THE LOWRY | PRESS RELEASE
A PLAY TO LEAVE YOU SPEECHLESS
SHARED EXPERIENCE BRING AWARD-WINNING SHOW TO THE LOWRY
In just two short weeks, Shared Experience will arrive at The Lowry with their Fringe First Award winning play Speechless. This extraordinary story comes to the theatre from Tue 22 – Sat 26 November to close its 2011 UK tour.
Described by The Times as ‘Emotionally nuanced and entirely absorbing’, and as ‘Surprisingly funny...intensely intimate, superb’ by the Independent on Sunday,’ the play has received outstanding reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike during its tour with particular commendation given to the cast and the poignant nature of the story.
Speechless tells the true story of identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons’ secret world and their struggle to find a voice against all odds. Refusing to speak to other, the twins communicate in a private language, their only relationship being the intense and turbulent bond their share with each other.
Inspired by the best-selling book The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace, Polly Teale and Linda Brogan's powerful new play is an astonishing and moving portrayal of the secret and dark world of a very special but ultimately destructive alliance between two sisters. Set against a timely backdrop of 1980s race riots and Royal Wedding, the twins’ story is touched by isolation, bullying, racism and the legacy of imperialism.
June and Jennifer’s parents were post-war immigrants to the UK from Barbados. The twins were brought up on an RAF base in Wales, where their father and mother struggled to fit in with a close-knit English military community. The twins communicated in their own private language and withdrew into an exclusive and turbulent relationship. Increasingly troubled, they were committed in their teens to high security mental hospital Broodmoor, where they were to spend 14 years as their story headed towards its eventual end.
Speechless is directed and co-written by Shared Experience's joint Artistic Director, Polly Teale. Celebrated for her potent visual and imaginative style, Polly won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director for her own play After Mrs Rochester, which also won the Time Out Award for Best West End Production
The production premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010, where it received outstanding reviews, exceptional audience response, and a Fringe First award. The touring production reunites original cast members Natasha Gordon and Demi Oyediran as Jennifer and June and Anita Reynolds as their mother.
Writer and Director Polly Teale said: “Having lived and been a student in Manchester, I am particularly excited to be bringing Speechless to the Lowry after playing to packed houses at the Arcola in London. After the extraordinary response the play received at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, it’s has been fantastic to have the opportunity to bring this challenging and provocative piece to a much larger audience across the UK. It is great to have Manchester as our final destination – feels like coming home!”
For a short preview clip of the play, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZ7pEpR5tw&feature=player_embedded
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
SPEECHLESS
The Lowry
Tue 22 – Sat 26 November
Times Tue – Thu eves 7pm, Fri & Sat eves 8pm, Wed mat 1.30pm, Sat mat 3pm.
Tickets £10 - £18, Tue 22 Nov, all tickets £10
Book In person from The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ, call 0843 208 6005 or go online www.thelowry.com
Age guideline: 14+
– ENDS –
For more information, interviews, images, review or competition tickets, please contact John Bridge at Bill Elms Associates on 0151 245 0136 | 07792463135 | john@billelms.com
For further information on Shared Experience, please contact: Madeleine Woolgar, Press & Marketing Officer
T: 01865 305388 | E: madeleine.woolgar@oxfordplayhouse.com
PRESS PERFORMANCE: TUE 22 NOVEMBER, 7pm
Image Gallery
For images, please go to The Lowry’s image library www.thelowryimages.com. New users need to register by clicking on ‘register’ on the left hand side of the page, fill in the required information (which includes creating your own password) and click ‘create account’. You will then have access to images via the log-in page by clicking on All Albums >Theatre>Drama>Speechless
Notes to Editors
Speechless is presented by Shared Experience in association with Sherman Cymru.
POLLY TEALE (director / co-writer, Speechless)
Polly is Joint Artistic Director of Shared Experience. Her productions for the company include: The Glass Menagerie, Mine (writer/director), Speechless (co-writer/director), Ten Tiny Toes, Kindertransport, Jane Eyre (director/adapter, touring and West End), After Mrs Rochester (writer/director, touring and West End; Evening Standard Award for Best Director, Time Out Award for Best West End Production), Madame Bovary, The Clearing, A Doll’s House, The House of Bernarda Alba, Desire Under the Elms; and as co-Director with Nancy Meckler: War and Peace (co-production with the National Theatre) and Mill on the Floss.
LINDA BROGAN (co-writer, Speechless)
Linda’s writing credits include Basil and Beattie, produced at the Royal Exchange and Liverpool Everyman, which won the NWP 21st anniversary commission; What’s in the Cat, produced by Contact and Royal Court, nominated for MEN Best New Play, published by Methuen; Black Crows, produced by Clean Break at The Arcola and shortlisted for The Alfred Fagon Award and The Susan Smith BlackBurn Prize, and published by Oberon.
SHARED EXPERIENCE
From acclaimed adaptations to contemporary drama, Shared Experience has given theatre a new dimension, giving form to the hidden world of emotion and imagination. The company’s rehearsal process is a genuinely open forum for asking questions and taking risks that redefine the possibilities of performance. At the heart of the company's work is the power and excitement of the performer's physical presence and the unique collaboration between actor and audience - a shared experience. Recent productions include Brontë, The Glass Menagerie, Speechless, Caucasian Chalk Circle and War and Peace. Shared Experience has been resident theatre company at Oxford Playhouse since January 2011.
Previous acclaim for Speechless:
‘A gripping, poignant, thought-provoking 90 minutes’ Daily Telegraph ****
‘emotionally nuanced and entirely absorbing’ The Times ****
‘dark, brutal and... delicate... its script captures a huge, resonating and conflicting world of colonial history, loyalties and identities... unforgettable performances’ The Scotsman ****
‘superb performances... it will leave you tongue-tied’ The Guardian
John Bridge | Communications Manager
Bill Elms Associates | Marketing and PR for Live Entertainment and Ticketed Events
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Posted on Thursday, 10 November 2011 under News Press Theatre Press