LOVE STEALS US FROM LONELINESS 
In partnership with Sherman Cymru
Written by Gary Owen
Directed by John E McGrath
Thursday 7th – Saturday 16th October 2010
Hobo’s Rock Club & Live Music Venue, Bridgend
For this key production in National Theatre Wales’ launch year, Gary Owen, one of Wales’s foremost playwrights, has turned his attention to the town where he spent his teens, asking what it’s like to be a teenager in Bridgend, in Wales, and in the UK today. Gary will collaborate with director John E McGrath (Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales) and a stellar cast, who include BAFTA Cymru winner Nia Roberts (for Lois), who recently appeared on BBC Wales’ Doctor Who and performed in the Oscar-nominated film Solomon a Gaenor. In Love Steals Us From Loneliness, Gary looks beyond the headlines to examine the real issues that surround adolescence – impulsiveness, uncertainty, extremes of emotion, loss and how we deal with it, longing, boredom, guilt, exuberance, and denial. The play follows a group of Bridgend teenagers as they drink together, explore their sexual identity, and contemplate their future. And when, one night, everything changes, we see how the events of adolescence irreversibly shape our adult lives. Gary Owen was born in Pembrokeshire in 1972, and moved with his family to Bridgend aged eight and a half. His plays include Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco, The Shadow of a Boy, (winner, Meyer Whitworth Award, George Devine Award), The Drowned World (winner, Fringe First and Pearson Best Play Award) and Ghost City. Most recently, he's written a new adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol for Sherman Cymru, and Mrs Reynolds and The Ruffian for Watford Palace Theatre. Other new work this autumn includes In the Pipeline for Paines Plough and Òran Mór, and Blackthorn, a new play for Clwyd Theatr Cymru. With Helen Raynor, he is co-writer and creator of the upcoming BBC Wales TV series Baker Boys. Love Steals Us From Loneliness is directed by John E McGrath, Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales. Previously Artistic Director of Contact Theatre, Manchester, John trained in New York, where he was also Associate Director of Mabou Mines. In 2005, he was awarded the NESTA Cultural Leadership Award. He directed National Theatre Wales’ inaugural production, A Good Night Out In The Valleys, in March 2010. Remy Beasley’s recent theatre credits include It's About Time (Nabokov Theatre), Spring Awakening, Harvest and Realism (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama). Television includes Tasha and film includes 20 Questions (BBC Wales). Katie Elin-Salt and trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Recent theatre credits include The Miracle, Playhouse Creatures and August: Osage County (RWCM&D), West Side Story and Singin’ in the Rain (Bridgend Youth Theatre). Television includes Perfect Summer (Fiction Factory). Nia Roberts’ stage credits include Esther (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru), Lovely Evening (Young Vic), and Cymbeline (Ludlow Festival). Recent film credits include Barafundle Bay (Western Edge Picture), Patagonia (Malacara), Theory of Flight (Paul Greengrass), Lois (Eryri Films) and Solomon and Gaenor (Film Four), which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2000. Television credits include Holby City (BBC Television), Pen Talar (Fiction Factory) and Hotel Babylon (BBC). She won the BAFTA Cymru for Best Actress in 1999, and was nominated again in 2000. Mark Sumner trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Recent theatre credits include Harvest, The Changeling, and August: Osage County (RWCM&D). Musical credits include Hello Again (RWCM&D), Fiddler on the Roof, and West Side Story (Bridgend Youth Theatre). Television includes Con Passionate (Apollo). Matthew Trevannion’s recent theatre credits include the @Virtually Real (Roundhouse), All in All (Rosencrantz, Amsterdam), Bright Unconquered Sons (Pleasance), Call Me Madam (Upstairs at the Gatehouse) Bent and Journey’s End (Broadway Theatre). Love Steals Us From Loneliness is a co-production with Sherman Cymru. The Sherman building is currently closed for a £5.4 million redevelopment, but the company is continuing to make and tour work within Wales and the UK. Their most recent production, Speechless, a co-production with Shared Experience, was received to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It won a Fringe First Award and was nominated for an Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award. |
| web site: nationaltheatrewales.org |
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Friday, September 17, 2010 |
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