The Jericho House will present Katrina, a promenade production composed entirely of accounts provided by both survivors and those responsible for the failed relief effort following the hurricane which destroyed the city of New Orleans in 2005. Written and directed by Jonathan Holmes, Katrina will be performed by Andrew Dennis, Andrea Harris, Stephanie Langton, Wunmi Mosaku, Joe Speare and Orlando Wells. The newly composed score and immersive sound design, featuring indigenous New Orleans music, is by Peter Readman and Peter Nash.
To be performed at the Bargehouse at Oxo Tower Wharf, Katrina previews from 01 September with press night on 04 September and runs for a strictly limited season until 26 September 2009.
In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina narrowly missed New Orleans. The resulting storms breached rotting levees and emptied neighbouring Lake Pontchartrain into the city. Marooned by floodwater that swamped over 80% of their homes, the inhabitants had to wait a week without food or clean water before their own government came to their aid.
Virgil, a decadent old New Orleanian, dies during Hurricane Katrina. Trapped by the rising floodwater his partner Beatrice determines to take his body to safety at City Hall. During her journey she encounters a number of other survivors; New Orleans residents Miranda, Daniel and Cal as well as trapped visitors Larry and Lorrie Robinson; and hears their stories.
Katrina uses survivor testimonies and the rich musical tradition of New Orleans to tell the story of the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, shedding light on some of the more extraordinary and under-reported aspects of the situation. The audience will be transported into the world of New Orleans through an immersive set and aural design, encompassing the whole of the Bargehouse. The soundscape will run for the duration of the show, incorporating the rich culture and musical traditions of New Orleans. Both live and pre-recorded music feature heavily, feeding into a 90-minute score which includes voice-overs from John Hurt, among others.
Andrew Dennis plays Cal. His theatre credits include Don Quixote at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Three Sisters at the Birmingham Rep, Bouncers in the West End, Tales From Ovid, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Timon From Athens for the Royal Shakespeare Company, BlueBird for the Royal Court and Une Tempete for the Gate Theatre. His television credits include Doctors, My Hero, The Bill, Hale and Pace and Shelley. His film credits include Mothers and Daughters and Rhythm and Blue.
Andrea Harris plays Beatrice. Her recent theatre credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost for the Royal Shakespeare Company, To Kill a Mockingbird for the Birmingham Rep, A Streetcar Named Desire for Theatre Clwyd Cymru and New Lives for Scarlet Theatre. Her television credits include Doctor Who IV, Doctors, My Hero, Casualty and Walking with Beasts. Her film credits are Last Chance Harvey and True Stories.
Stephanie Langton plays Lorrie. Her recent theatre credits include A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Things Good Men Do at the Lyric Hammersmith, The Country at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, The Comedy of Errors for the Oxford Shakespeare Company and The Changeling at Shakespeare's Globe. Her television credits include Holby Blue, Jekyll and The Government Inspector. Her film credits include A New Beginning and Imagining Ithaka.
