LACE AKPOJARO TO JOIN CAST OF JUDY UPTON’S CONFIDENCE
Boundless Theatre presents
CONFIDENCE
by Judy Upton
Director: Rob Drummer; Designer: Amelia Jane Hankin; Sound: Father; Lighting Designer: Zoe Spurr
Southwark Playhouse
Wednesday 23 May – 16 June 2018
Press night: Friday 25 May
Boundless Theatre today announces Lace Akpojaro to join the company for a major revival of Judy Upton’sConfidence. Akpojaro takes on the role of Edwin, replacing Vauxhall Jermaine who has left the company due to unforeseen circumstances. First performed in 1998 at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Artistic Director of Boundless, Rob Drummer, directs the previously announced Tanya Burr in the role of Ella. The full cast are Anna Crichlow (Ruby), Will Pattle (Dean) and Rhys Yates (Ben). The production opens at Southwark Playhouse on 25 May with previews from 23 May.
Mixtapes, Argos catalogue Christmas lists, VHS. Crop tops, chokers, disposable cameras, Boundless Theatre is bringing the 90s back. As another summer season on the seafront gets underway Ella is turning up the heat in a high stakes game to get as far away as possible. Whilst Ruby keeps the café going and Dean mans the ice cream kiosk, Ella learns there’s no fast track to success.
‘If you’re not interested in earning a new pair of Nikes by the end of the day…complete designer wardrobe by the end of the week…all the beers you can drink…if you don’t want to meet Uma Thurman…then okay, stay here, as King of the Slackers, that’s fine by me.’
Confidence, will explode back on to stage, for a new generation of dreamers.
Judy Upton is an award-winning playwright and her stage plays include Ashes and Sand (George Devine Award), Bruises (Royal Court), Sunspots and People On The River, (Finborough Theatre), To Blusher With Love(Channel Theatre), Know Your Rights (Red Room at Battersea Arts Centre), Sliding With Suzanne (Royal Court/Out Of Joint), Team Spirit (National Theatre), The Girlz (Orange Tree Theatre), Gaby Goes Global (New Wimbledon Theatre), Flick To Kick (Cambridge Hotbed Festival), Noctropia (Hampstead Theatre) and Come To Where I’m From (Paines Plough).
Lace Akpojaro plays Edwin. His theatre credits include One Man Two Guvnors (National Theatre), The Lady Killers (Gielgud Theatre) and Egusi Soup (Soho Theatre/Menagerie). Television credits include Wagstaffe, Apple Tree Yard and Sherlock and for film, A Christmas Prince and Hampstead.
Anna Crichlow plays Ruby. Her theatre credits include Common (National Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and The Lost Art of Lost Art (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). For film her credits include Memento Amare.
Tanya Burr makes her professional stage debut as Ella. This year, she has starred in Go90’s Love and Cheese as part of the Love, Daily series. She has appeared in pilot series, Making It, appears in the forthcoming Bulletproof and plays the lead in the forthcoming Disconnect – a short film. Tanya also runs a successful YouTube channel.
Will Pattle plays Dean. As a recent graduate of The Brit School this will be Pattle’s professional stage debut.
Rhys Yates plays Ben. His theatre credits include Rockstar (Lyric Hammersmith), Table (Stratford Circus). Television credits include Britannia, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Plebs; and for film Postcards from London and Common People.
Rob Drummer joined Boundless Theatre in July 2016 as Artistic Director and his previous work for the company includes Natives by Glenn Waldron. He previously worked as co-director on the company’s production of Sense by Anja Hilling at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), alongside Andrea Ferran. He was a mentor to emerging playwrights from the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Norway on the European Writers’ Lab component of the company’s Theatre Café Festival. Prior to becoming Artistic Director of Boundless Theatre he was Associate Dramaturg at the Bush Theatre where he ran the Literary Department, responsible for all playwriting work including the commissioning and development of new plays for production. He has established ongoing partnerships with Playwrights of New York (PoNY), delivered projects with Kudos Film & Television and established a partnership with Drama Centre London and Oberon Books on the Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting. Before joining the Bush he was the first Literary Manager for HighTide Festival Theatre where he supported the expansion of the festival, doubling the number of productions and for HighTide he also directed Eisteddfod, Endless Poem and Perish. As a Dramaturg and director he has worked with playwrights at theatres including the National Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Contact, York Theatre Royal and Theatre503. He was one of the first recipients of an Artists’ International Development Fund from the Arts Council and British Council and spent time working in South Africa with playwrights and theatre makers at the Baxter and Market Theatres.