The King’s Head have announced that their production of F*cking Men, Joe DiPietro’s serio-comic contemporary adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde set within the gay subculture of a big city, will be extending its run at the King’s Head through into September.
The play is a moving portrayal of hunger and desire as it follows the erotic encounters of 10 men in their interconnected search for sexual satisfaction. Each scene in the play is a frank, candid and sometimes brutally honest depiction of the lustful transaction between two men. It is a loose adaptation of the 19th century play La Ronde in which pairings of characters are featured in scenes preceding and succeeding sexual encounters.
This extension proves the continued popularity of the show, after the original premiere run in 2009 began at the Finborough Theatre, from which it transferred to the King’s Head to play for 9 months (the longest ever Off West End run of a play). It then transferred into the West End to the Arts Theatre. This new production by director Geoffrey Hyland, who directed the South African premiere of The Blue Room, follows on from his hit success Between, which toured internationally before playing with us in August last year and extending with a further run in January this year as well.
Now in its 45th year, The King’s Head Theatre is celebrating this anniversary with an exciting new artistic policy after the departure of OperaUpClose, becoming a crucible for new writing and critical rediscoveries. Work from Irvine Welsh, Richard Cameron, Richard O’Brien and Arthur Miller, as well as Mike Bradwell directing for the first time since the 1970s, guarantees that if it’s on here, you won’t see it anywhere else. Led by Adam Spreadbury-Maher, second artistic director following Dan Crawford (who set up the King’s Head as the first pub theatre in 1970), the theatre is the first unfunded venue to have an Equity agreement to pay theatre-makers fair wages since 2011, and continues to do so despite receiving no public funding.
Cast:
The Escort Chris Wills
The Soldier Harper James
The Graduate Student Ruben Jones
The Student Euan Brockie
The Married Guy Jonathan McGarrity
The Other Married Guy Richard De Lisle
The Porn Star Haydn Whiteside
The Playwright Darren Bransford
The Actor Johnathon Neal
The Journalist Richard Stemp
F*CKING MEN
5th August – 30th August, 7pm (3pm matinees weekends)
5th September – 26th September, 7pm and 9.30pm
(weekend matinees, see online for details)
http://www.kingsheadtheatre.com/