THE MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY ANNOUNCES FULL CASTING FOR THE UK PREMIÈRE OF
JORDI GALCERAN’S THE GRÖNHOLM METHOD
The UK première of
THE GRÖNHOLM METHOD
By Jordi Galceran
in a translation by Anne García-Romero and Mark St. Germain
Direction: BT McNicholl; Set & Costume Design: Tim Hatley
Lighting Design: Howard Harrison; Sound Design: Gregory Clarke
The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces full casting for the UK première of Jordi Galceran’s The Grönholm Method. Making his UK directorial debut, BT McNicholl directs Jonathan Cake (Frank), Greg McHugh (Carl), Laura Pitt-Pulford (Melanie) and John Gordon Sinclair (Rick). The production opens on 22 May, with previews from 10 May, and runs until 7 July.
Set in the offices of a New York City Fortune 500 company, 4 unsuspecting candidates embark on the most testing job interview of their lives.
This taut play – which premièred in Barcelona in 2003 to great critical acclaim, exposes the psychological depths people will go to in order to get what they want.
In our age of reality TV game shows and tweeting US presidents, The Grönholm Method explores the human capacity to manipulate, lie and ‘play the game’ to get ahead in life.
Jonathan Cake plays Frank. His theatre credits include Baby Doll (National Theatre/Albery Theatre), Medea (Queen’s Theatre/US tour), Coriolanus (Shakespeare’s Globe), A Flea In Her Ear (Old Vic), Antony and Cleopatra (RSC), Cymbeline (Lincoln Center, New York), Almost an Evening and Parlour Song (Atlantic Theatre, New York), The Philanthropist (American Airlines Theatre) and Restoration(New York Theatre Workshop). For television his credits include Legends of Tomorrow, The Affair, Criminal Minds, Camping, Lawless, Doll and Em, The Killing, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, Six Degrees, Extras, Inconceivable, Empire, Fallen, Out of Ashes, Riverworld, Mosley, The Jump, Rebecca and American Embassy; and for film, Little Faith, Brideshead Revisited, Krews, The One and Only, Honest, Diamond Cake, True Blue and First Knight.
Greg McHugh plays Carl. His theatre credits include Celebrity Autobiography (Kings Theatre, Glasgow), Will & Greg: A Sketch Show (Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh), Rough Cuts Sketch Show(Comedy Unit) and The Ugly Kid Sketch Show (Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh). For television his credits include The A Word, Fresh Meat, Marvellous, Dates, Two Doors Down, Bad Education, Bob Servant, Gary: Tank Commander, Gary’s War and Tank Commander; and for film, Kicking Off.
Laura Pitt-Pulford plays Melanie. She returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory having performed in their recent production of Barnum. Other theatre credits include Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Nell Gwynn (ETT & Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, UK tour), Platinum (Hampstead Theatre), Side Show, Mack and Mabel, Parade (Southwark Playhouse), Flowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Crucible), Oliver!, The Sound of Music, Piaf, Hello Dolly! (Curve), The Smallest Show on Earth (UK tour), The Return of the Soldier (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Light Princess (National Theatre), A Man of No Importance(Salisbury Playhouse), Sweet Charity (Belfast MAC), The Little Prince (Lyric Belfast) and Guys and Dolls (Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, Clwyd Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse). For television, her work includes Father Brown and Free Rein.
John Gordon Sinclair plays Rick. He returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory having previously performed in The Invisible Man. Other theatre credits include Jeeves & Wooster (Duke of York’s Theatre), The Ladykillers (Vaudeville Theatre), The Producers (Theatre Royal Dury Lane), The Real Thing (UK tour), Absurd Person Singular (Garrick Theatre), Filumena, Kafka’s Dick (Piccadilly Theatre), She Loves Me (Savoy Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical) and Gasping(Theatre Royal Haymarket). For television his credits include Diana and I, Ill Behaviour, Siblings, Rab C. Nesbitt, Mad About Alice, Rubbadubbers, Murder in Mind, Loved by You, Nelson’s Column, An Actor’s Life for Me, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Snakes and Ladders, Hot Metal and Fraggle Rock; and for film, Gregory’s Girl, Nico 1988, World War Z, Gregory’s Two Girls, The Brylcreem Boys, Erik The Viking, The Girl in the Picture, Local Hero, Living Apart Together and Britannia Hospital.
Jordi Galceran (b1964) is a Catalan playwright, screenwriter and translator. In 1995 he submitted two scripts to play competitions – Paraules Encadenades (Word Play) (1995) won the 20th Born Theatre Award (organized by the Artistic Circle of Ciutadella, Menorca) and the Serra d’Or Critics Award for Theatre in 1997, and Dakota was awarded the Ignasi Iglésias Award in 1995 by the Institut del Teatre of the Diputació de Barcelona. His other works include Surf (1990), Fuita (1994),Gaudí (2002), Paradis (2000), Carvival (2006), Cancun (2008), Burundanga (2011) and Credit (2013).The Grönholm Method (2003) is perhaps his most recognised international success, with productions in over 60 countries. He has translated and adapted more than twenty plays, and in addition to theatre work, he has worked as a writer for several television series and has written eight feature films.
BT McNicholl is currently the director of the national tour of the Broadway hit Cabaret. Mentored by director Mike Nichols, McNicholl has served on the creative team of a dozen Broadway plays and musicals (including the Tony-winning Spamalot and Billy Elliott), with directors including Sam Mendes, Rob Marshall, James Lapine, Jerry Zaks, Stephen Daldry and David Hare. He won the Helpmann Award in Australia for Best Director for Cabaret, and has staged long-running productions of it in Paris, Madrid and Amsterdam. Regionally in the US, he has directed award-winning productions of Camilla (Walnut Street Theatre, Kleban Award), Very Good Eddie(Goodspeed Opera House; Best Musical) and The Cherry Orchard (Dorset Theatre Festival). Other work includes staging national tours for Disney, Spamalot at the Hollywood Bowl, and working with Stephen Sondheim to create a concert version of A Little Night Music. In Hollywood, he has worked on Scott Rudin films, most recently as an acting coach on the Oscar-nominated Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
A published playwright and BMI Award-winning lyricist, he wrote the book and lyrics for The It Girland The 101 Dalmatians which was staged at Madison Square Garden. McNicholl served as a Development Consultant for MGM’s theatrical division, spent three years with the Shubert Organization and is now the Producing Artistic Director of La Mirada Theatre in California.
Listings Information The Grönholm Method
Venue: Menier Chocolate Factory
Address: 53 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1RU
Press performance: 22 May at 8pm
Dates: 10 May – 7 July
Times: Tue – Sat 8pm, matinees Sat and Sun 3.30pm
Box Office: 020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)
Website: www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)
Tickets: Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on ‘the sooner you book, the better the price’:
Prices from £32.50
A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.
www.menierchocolatefactory.com
Twitter: @MenChocFactory