Improbable in co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse and Northern Stage presents
OPENING SKINNER’S BOX
Great psychological experiments of the twentieth century
OPENING SKINNER’S BOX
Great psychological experiments of the twentieth century
- Casting announced for new production co-directed by Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson
- Production will play at Bristol Old Vic as part of Mayfest in addition to previously announced dates at Northern Stage and West Yorkshire Playhouse
- Opening Skinner’s Box is a landmark production in the year that marks Improbable’s 20th anniversary year
- Based on the fascinating psychology book by Lauren Slater
Rehearsals start this week for Opening Skinner’s Box, a new production adapted by Improbable and marking 20 years since the company’s inception. Directed by Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson, co-founders of Improbable, this production will play at Northern Stage, West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Bristol Old Vic. Previewing from 22 April at Northern Stage. The full cast is; Alan Cox, Stephen Harper, Tyrone Huggins, Morven Macbeth, Kate Maravan and Pashcale Straighton.
Alan Cox trained at LAMDA. His recent theatre includes The Divided Laing (Arcola), City Stories (St James Studio), Kingmaker (Arts Theatre), Playing with Grown Ups (Brits off Broadway) and Cornelius (Finborough). In the US, he has toured in Frost/Nixon and The Caretaker and appeared on Broadway in Translations (MTC). TV and film includes The Good Wife, Lucan, John Adams, Housewife 49, Not Only But Always, Mrs. Dalloway, An Awfully Big Adventure and Young Sherlock Holmes. He is a regular improviser with Ken Campbell’s School of Night.
Stephen Harper is an associate with Told by an Idiot and works on many of their education projects. Recent acting work includes Get Happy (Told By An Idiot), Don Quixote (Little Soldier), One Snowy Night (Discover in Stratford), The Mouse and his Childand Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC), Mass Observation (Almeida Theatre), Inspector Sands, We Love You City (The Belgrade Theatre), War Horse (National Theatre and West End).
Tyrone Huggins is a founding member of early eighties visual/experimental theatre company Impact Theatre Co-operative, co-devising thirteen productions over five years. His recent credits include Richard III, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (both Citizens Theatre), Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War (both National Theatre), Beatification of Area Boy (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Fences (Liverpool Playhouse and Garrick Theatre).
Morven Macbeth is a core member and performer with acclaimed multi-media theatre company imitating the dog. Her work with the company includes: The Train (UK premiere), A Farewell to Arms (UK and European Tour), The Zero Hour (UK Tour), Six Degrees Below the Horizon (UK Tour), Tales from the Bar of Lost Souls (UK Tour),Kellerman (UK and European Tour) and Hotel Methuselah (UK, European and International Tour).
Kate Marvan’s recent credits include Four Minutes, Twelve Seconds (Trafalgar Studios and Hampstead Theatre), Enduring Song (Southwark Playhouse), Angel Filth, Passion and A Doll’s House (Tristan Bates Theatre), Hay Fever (Belgrade Coventry). TV appearances include New Tricks, Miranda, The Politician’s husband, Lip Service, Lewis, Whitechapeland Trial and Retribution.
Paschale Straighton is a performer, dramaturg and director. She is Artistic Director of Red Herring, creators of Funny Peculiar – A Guide to Eccentric Britain and That’s The Way To Do It!. At The New Vic Theatre, Stoke on Trent, she has been puppetry director or assistant director on Robin Hood & Marion, The Borrowers, 101 Dalmatians and Alice in Wonderland.
Inspired by the mesmerising book by Lauren Slater (published in 2004), Opening Skinner’s Box is a whistle-stop tour of the scientific quest to make sense of what we are and who we are, told through ten great psychological experiments and the stories of the people who created them.
‘Why do we love? When would we kill? How do we learn? Why do we believe in the unbelievable? What is memory? Why do we keep doing things that hurt us?’
These were religious and philosophical questions until about a hundred years ago; then science joined the conversation. According to science, pretty much everything we think about ourselves is wrong.
Following recent success with their first ever Shakespeare production, The Tempest, Improbable returns to Northern Stage before taking this brand new production to West Yorkshire Playhouse and at Bristol Old Vic as part of Mayfest.
The Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University is lead commissioner of Improbable’s Opening Skinner’s Box through its Artist Residency Award programme. The work is co-commissioned by Lincoln Center Festival, New York and the Brisbane Festival where the production will tour later this year.
Improbable is one of the UK’s most inventive companies with recent projects ranging from the hugely successful opera Akhnaten at ENO to their first ever Shakespeare production inThe Tempest at Northern Stage. From intimate, small scale works such as the seminal 70 Hill Lane, to the pioneering and hugely influential Lifegame and massive outdoor spectacles like Sticky, Improbable’s work is always highly original and entirely unpredictable. The range of projects in their 20th year shows there is no let up in the search for new and theatrically exciting ways to tell stories making these shows a fitting celebration of their many achievements.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
OPENING SKINNER’S BOX UK DATES:
OPENING SKINNER’S BOX UK DATES:
22 – 30 April: Northern Stage, Newcastle
Northern Stage Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RH
Times: 19:45
Tickets: £14.50 / £12.50 (concs.)
Booking: www.northernstage.co.uk / 0191 230 5151
Press Night: Wednesday 27 April
Northern Stage Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RH
Times: 19:45
Tickets: £14.50 / £12.50 (concs.)
Booking: www.northernstage.co.uk / 0191 230 5151
Press Night: Wednesday 27 April
5 – 14 May: West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UP
Times: 14:00 /14:30 / 19:45 (see website for details)
Tickets: £10 – £29
Booking: www.wyp.org.uk / 0113 213 7700
Press Night: Friday 6 May
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UP
Times: 14:00 /14:30 / 19:45 (see website for details)
Tickets: £10 – £29
Booking: www.wyp.org.uk / 0113 213 7700
Press Night: Friday 6 May
20 – 21 May: Bristol Old Vic Theatre
Bristol Old Vic Theatre, King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED
Times: 19:30
Tickets: £16/ £5 Booking: www.bristololdvic.org.uk / 0117 987 7877
Bristol Old Vic Theatre, King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED
Times: 19:30
Tickets: £16/ £5 Booking: www.bristololdvic.org.uk / 0117 987 7877
Opening Skinner’s Box is supported by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award