Finborough Theatre Presents ALL GOOD MEN, Now thru May 14

The Finborough Theatre presents the first UK production in nearly 40 years of Trevor Griffiths' All Good Men, last seen at the Young Vic in a production by The National Theatre in 1975, and opening at the Finborough Theatre for a limited run of eight Sunday and Monday evening performances tonight, 29 April 2012. Tickets £14, £10 concessions.

The cast includes Ben Deery, Sophie Steer, David Weston and Ben Whybrow. Directed by Rania Jumaily. Designed by James Turner. Lighting by Gareth Wide. Sound Design by Lydia Samuels. Presented by The Last Refuge Theatre Company in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre.

A country house in Surrey, the home of Edward Waite, former miner and aging Labour grandee who served his apprenticeship during the General Strike. A young television producer prepares Waite for an interview on his past as a miner, union leader and politician. As Waite and his family wade deeper into the swamp of his past, the question is asked if the radical politician is all he seems... Does one bad judgement mean you are not a good man?

Originally a BBC Play for Today in 1974, All Good Men was Trevor Griffiths’ first television work, rewritten for the stage by Griffiths for the 1975 production at The Young Vic produced by The National Theatre.

All Good Men is presented alongside a short play by Trevor Griffiths, Thermidor, which was first performed by 7:84 Theatre Company at the 1971 Edinburgh Festival. Moscow 1937. Anya, a young mother, has offended the powers that be with her casual connections to betrayers of the ‘party’. As she is interrogated, it becomes clear her verdict is already decided, until a glimpse of human feeling penetrates the questioner’s authoritarian armour...

Playwright Trevor Griffiths has been writing for theatre, film and television for more than forty years. His stage plays include Comedians, Occupations, The Party, Piano, Real Dreams, Thatcher’s Children, a version of The Cherry Orchard, Who Shall Be Happy …? and The Gulf Between Us. Recent London productions include A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine (Shakespeare's Globe, 2009), a revival of Comedians (Lyric Hammersmith, 2009), The Wages of Thin (Old Red Lion, 2010), and Habaccuc Dreams (Bush Theatre's "66 Books", 2011). His television work includes All Good Men, Through The Night, Country, Sons and Lovers, The Last Place on Earth, Hope in the Year Two, the celebrated political series Bill Brand and Food for Ravens. Cinema films include Reds, with Warren Beatty, and Fatherland, directed by Ken Loach. Awards include the BAFTA Writers Award, the Writers Guild of America Best Screenplay award, and an Oscar nomination for Reds.

Director Rania Jumaily is Artistic Director at The Last Refuge. She trained at Bristol University and Birkbeck College. Her directing includes Oh! What a Lovely War (Oval House), Much Ado About Nothing (Oval House) The Threepenny Opera (Lost Theatre), West End Glee Club (Edinburgh Festival), Over The Moon (Wimbledon Studio Theatre), First Lady Suite (UK Premiere at the Union Theatre) and The Bully Composition (Southwark Playhouse). As Assistant Director, theatre includes The Flags (directed by Greg Hersov), A Conversation (directed by Jacob Murray), An Ideal Husband (directed by Braham Murray), Roots (directed by Jo Combes), The Children’s Hour (directed by Sarah Frankcom), Three Sisters (directed by Sarah Frankcom), Everybody Loves a Winner (directed by Neil Bartlett) (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) and Kafka’s Dick (directed by Sarah Esdaile) (Watford Palace Theatre). As Associate Director, forthcoming theatre includes Wonderful Town (directed by Braham Murray) (The Lowry, Manchester, and National Tour).

Designer James Turner is Resident Designer at The Last Refuge. He trained on the Motley Theatre Design Course. Theatre design includes Execution of Justice (Southwark Playhouse), Oh What a Lovely War and Much Ado About Nothing (British American Drama Academy), Thrill Me (Charing Cross Theatre), Plain Jane (Royal Exchange Studio Theatre, Manchester), That Moment (Underbelly, Edinburgh), Some Stories (Templeworks, Leeds), Over the Moon (New Wimbledon Studio Theatre), Hair (Playbox Theatre), Matryoshka (Landor Theatre), No Wonder (Library Theatre, Manchester) and A Man of No Importance (Arts Theatre). James has worked extensively as a design assistant, regularly assisting Bunny Christie, and also working with Christopher Oram, Ultz, Tom Cairns, Jeremy Herbert, Miriam Buether and Soutra Gilmour. Work as a Design Assistant includes The Comedy of Errors (National Theatre), Haunted Child and Get Santa (Royal Court Theatre), Il Trittico (Royal Opera House), Evita (Broadway), Reasons to be Pretty and The House of Bernarda Alba (Almeida Theatre) and If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush Theatre). James is currently assisting Lucy Osborne on designs for The Recruiting Officer (Donmar Warehouse). Forthcoming work includes assisting Ultz on designs for Gloriana (Royal Opera House).

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