solid and creatives introduced for revival of Barney Norris’ Visitors – There Ought To Be Clowns

Casting has been introduced for VISITORS the key new UK revival of Barney Norris’ award-winning play that may run at The Watermill Theatre Friday 31 March till Saturday 22 April.

Edie’s thoughts is beginning to falter and Arthur’s legs aren’t what they had been however, from the consolation of their armchairs, they dive right into a kaleidoscope of reminiscences from their life collectively. In their sleepy farmhouse on the fringe of Salisbury Plain, they await the arrival of a younger customer and a reunion that may expose a household whose closeness is fraying on the seams.

Nathalie Barclay, whose stage credit embrace Boeing Boeing (UK tour), Positive (Park Theatre) Antigone (The Lowry & UK tour), and whose display screen credit embrace Killing Eve (BBC America/AMC) and Trigonometry (BBC), will play ‘Kate’.

Tessa Bell-Briggs, whose in depth stage credit embrace Steaming (Harold Pinter Theatre); Situation Comedy (The Ambassadors Theatre); The Daughter-in-Law (Arcola Theatre);; The Outsider and As Good a Time as Any (The Print Room on the Coronet), and whose display screen credit embrace This Way Up and Skins (Channel 4); The Brittas Empire (BBC), Poirot: The Third Girl (Granada), will play ‘Edie’

Christopher Ravenscroft, finest recognized for his position as Inspector Mike Burden in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, and whose current stage credit embrace Witness for the Prosecution (County Hall), Humble Boy (Orange Tree Theatre) and lots of roles on the Royal Shakespeare Company will play ‘Arthur’.

Patrick Toomey, whose current display screen credit embrace Nolly (ITV) and The Crown (Netflix) and whose in depth stage credit embrace The Sugar House(Finborough Theatre); The Remains Of The Day(Out Of Joint); The Exorcist(Bill Kenwright UK tour); will play ‘Stephen’.

It can even be directed by Barney Norris (The Wellspring – Royal and Derngate, Nightfall – The Bridge Theatre), an Associate Artist at The Watermill.  His tender portrayal of a household on the cusp of main change, studying to dwell and love with dementia, is ready in his beloved rural Wiltshire. Barney Norris is an award-winning playwright and acclaimed writer of novels Undercurrent, Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain and The Vanishing Hours.

A life-affirming tribute to like and gratitude for a life well-lived, VISITORS premiered on the Arcola Theatre in March 2014. Following a nationwide tour and a switch to the Bush Theatre later that 12 months, it was chosen by Henry Hitchings for the Evening Standard and Mark Lawson for the Guardian as probably the greatest productions of 2014 and received the Critics’ Circle Award and the OffWestFinish Award for Most Promising Playwright for Norris. It was additionally nominated the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Best New Play Award, and the Evening Standard Theatre Awards Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright, and Best New Play from the Offies Awards

Barney Norris mentioned, “VISITORS is a narrative about love, the way in which that love shapes a life, the way in which that love extracts a toll, the way in which that love defines us. It’s additionally a play about individuals clinging on to methods of life, making an attempt to make the world work for them because it appears to be making an attempt to disintegrate. And a play about what it’s prefer to dwell within the nation. I wrote it fifteen years in the past, a love track to the world I come from, and with this manufacturing I’m bringing it residence. The play’s set outdoors the north Wiltshire village of Pewsey, and the Watermill, I believe, is the closest producing theatre to the play’s precise panorama. When Paul Hart, the Watermill’s inventive director, requested if I’d love to do it there, I jumped on the probability.

Revisiting tales as we undergo our lives is a pleasure practically all of us know – all of us see a number of productions of the identical Shakespeare, re-read our favorite novels, re-watch our favorite movies. Returning to a play I wrote as a youthful man has been a captivating means of marking the passing of my very own time. When I first staged this play, nothing had ever actually gone mistaken in my life. Now, a decade older, having survived some troublesome instances, and been a carer myself – care and caring are central to the imaginative and prescient of affection provided in VISITORS – I look again at this play and I can see how I’ve modified. That’s thrilling and intriguing – it should result in a distinct manufacturing, and I can’t wait to see the way it develops.”

VISITORS might be directed by Barney Norris, with design from Good Teeth (a theatre design studio based by James Perkins and Victoria Smart, Associate Artists on the Lyric Hammersmith), with lighting design by James Whiteside and with sound design and composition from Anna Clock. The stage administration workforce are Caitlin Ravenscroft (DSM), Gracie Adlington (ASM) and Natalie Toney (ASM).

The Watermill is a 200-seat regional powerhouse, with an unparalleled repute for producing daring, world-class theatre with native and nationwide attain from its residence in West Berkshire. It additionally has an in depth programme of neighborhood outreach, and colleges touring work, and a agency dedication to variety, schooling, and expertise improvement. 

In the wake of the shock information that The Watermill Theatre had 100% of its annual funding from Arts Council England minimize, the Newbury venue has launched a brand new fundraising marketing campaign – THRIVE. Individuals can donate from as little £1 to point out their help and be sure that the work of The Watermill, and everybody who’s a part of its neighborhood, can proceed to thrive. There can also be the choice of turning into a Friend of the Watermill, from as little as £30 per 12 months.