Finborough Theatre Presents DREAM OF THE DOG, Opens April 27

By: Mar. 24, 2010
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Meeting Point Productions Ltd in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents The European Premiere DREAM OF THE DOG by Craig Higginson. The show is directed by Katie McAleese, designed by Alex Marker, with lighting Design by Michael Nabarro and sound Design by Andrew Pontzen and costume Design by Penn O'Gara. The cast is starring Ariyon Bakare, Gracy Goldman, Bernard Kay, and Janet Suzman.

Janet Suzman stars in the UK premiere of an acclaimed new South African play, opening for a four week limited season on 27 April 2010 (Press Night: Thursday, 29 April) at London's Finborough Theatre in its 30th anniversary year.

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, shortly after the millennium. Patricia and Richard Wiley, an elderly white couple, are packing up to leave The Farm they've sold to developers. Their preparations are interrupted by the arrival of a young man - ‘Look Smart' - who used to be one of the black workers on their estate until he disappeared fifteen years ago.

The Day Before ‘Look Smart' left, something terrible happened on the Wileys' farm. But everyone has a different memory of the dreadful event and their own role in it. As the different accounts of their shared past are unravelled, they are all forced to confront their own versions of the truth - with shocking ramifications for their lives today.

Dream of the Dog is a richly textured and complex story of South Africa's emerging democracy, and its continued negotiation with its past in order to find a workable identity for its future. Critically acclaimed in South Africa, this new play takes an unflinching look at the twin mantras of the post-Mandela age - reconciliation and forgiveness - as it asks whether black and white can ever live together peacefully.

Dream of the Dog received its world premiere in South Africa in 2007, playing at the Grahamstown Festival and the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, where it was nominated for four Naledi Awards (South Africa's equivalent of the Olivier Awards) including Best New South African Play.

South African born Janet Suzman is a critically acclaimed actress who has previously played many leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, culminating in a memorable Cleopatra, and, most recently, Volumnia for The Complete Works Festival. Her films include The Draughtsman's Contract, The Singing Detective, Fellini's The Boat Sails On, and Nicholas and Alexandra for which she was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar®), the BAFTA and the Golden Globe awards for Best Actress. Janet is a founding Patron of the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, where she appeared in the Market's opening production in 1976 - The Death of Bessie Smith, directed by Market co-founder Barney Simon; and in 1987 she returned to direct her long-time colleague John Kani in Othello . Janet has been actively involved in developing the script of Dream of the Dog with Craig Higginson.

Ariyon Bakare's credits include Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Servant of Two Masters (Royal Shakespeare Company), To Kill A Mockingbird (Salisbury Playhouse), The Merchant of Venice (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield). Film credits include The Dark Knight, After The Rain and Secret Laugher of Women. Ariyon was nominated for Best Actor at the Royal Television Society Awards for his role as Ben Kwarme in Doctors.

Gracy Goldman's credits include The Lost Voice (Royal FestivAl Hall), Great Expectations (New Vic Theatre), You Can't Take It With You (Southwark Playhouse), Chasing The Moment (Arcola Theatre). Television credits include The Bill, Doctors, The Detectives and The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

Bernard Kay's many credits include After Haggerty (Finborough Theatre), An Inspector Calls (Garrick Theatre), Death of a Salesman (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 (Royal Shakespeare Company), Spring Awakening, The Nun (BAC), Platonov (Almeida Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (King's Head), Galileo (Young Vic Studio), Halpern and Johnson (New End Theatre), Nobody's Fool (National Tour). Film credits include Dr Zhivago, A Ghost at Monte Carlo, Joy Division, Puritan, The Sewers of Gold, Dinner Date and Carry On Sergeant. Television credits include Casualty, Casualty 1909, Foyle's War, Jonathan Creek, Robin Hood, A Very British Coup, Century Falls, Kremlin Farewell, The Bill and Pierrepoint.

Award-winning playwright Craig Higginson is the Literary Manager of Johannesburg's famous Market Theatre. He worked as Barney Simon's assistant at the Market Theatre, and has also worked in the UK where he worked as a Director, Dramaturg and Assistant Director for such companies as the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Young Vic, The Hampstead Theatre and The Almeida Theatre. Craig's first play, Laughter in the Dark, was premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2000, and he later adapted the script for BBC Radio 3 where it won the prestigious Gold Sony Award for 2004. He has adapted The Lord of the Flies (Market Theatre), written and directed The Perfect Circle (Wits Theatre and Grahamstown Fringe), co-wrote Truth in Translation and Ten Bush (Grahamstown Main Festival and the Market Theatre) and co-adapted The Jungle Book and Brer Rabbit (both Market Theatre). Craig has also published two novels - Embodied Laughter (Pan MacMillan, 1998) and The Hill (Jacana, 2005) - his next two novels, Last Summer and The Landscape Painter, will be published by Picador Africa in February 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Director Katie McAleese was Associate Director on the Olivier Award winning West End production of La Cage Aux Folles, where she directed casts including Roger Allam and John Barrowman. Previous credits as director include The Pope's Wedding (Young Vic), The Importance of Being Earnest (Derby Playhouse), The Wall (The Junction) and The Revenger's Tragedy (St Andrew's Crypt, Holborn). She was also Associate Director on Animal Farm (Derby Playhouse), and an Assistant Director at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Northampton, Derby Playhouse, Theatr Clwyd, English Touring Theatre and in the West End, with directors including Terry Johnson, Terry Hands, Stephen Unwin and Simon Curtis. She trained at the National Theatre Studio, Birkbeck and Cambridge University. Katie has also worked extensively in TV script development, and was Head of Development for Alchemy TV.



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