FULL CAST AND TITLES ANNOUNCED FOR OUTSIDE – THE SECOND INSTALMENT OF INSIDE/OUTSIDE
Following the success of Inside,streamed last month and watched by audiences around the world, Orange Tree Theatre today announces the full cast and titles for Outside– the second instalment of Inside/Outside, a collection of world premiere short plays by emerging and established writers. Georgia Green directs Zainab Hasan (Asha)and Ashna Rabheru (Bettina)in Two Billion Beats by Sonali Bhattacharyya, Temi Wilkey (Lou) in The Kiss by Zoe Cooper, and Fiston Barek (Kasujja) and
Robinah Kironde (Rita) in Prodigal by Kalungi Ssebandeke. The trio of short plays will be performed and livestreamed from the Orange Tree Theatre’s auditorium from 15-17 April.
Outside presents three stories of finding connection in the darkness and coming together after so long apart.
The designer is Camilla Clarke, lighting designer Rajiv Pattani and Sound Designer & Composer Max Pappenheim. and Casting by Sarah Murray.
The Inside/Outside series is curated by OT Literary Associate Guy Jones.Inside/Outside is part of OT On Screen, the Orange Tree Theatre’s digital project launched in January 2020 with Maya Arad Yasur’s play Amsterdam, watched by over 25,000 people worldwide. The productions, filmed in collaboration with The Umbrella Rooms, mark the company’s first live-streamed project, and the first live performances at the Orange Tree Theatre since lockdown began on 16 March 2020.
The six world premiere plays are available now as a collection published by Nick Hern Books. Bookers for the livestream will receive an exclusive half-price offer on the published collection.
All rehearsals and filming will be conducted in a Covid secure environment in line with current government guidelines.
With thanks to the Hayburn Trust, and to DCMS and Arts Council England for support through the Culture Recovery Fund.
TWO BILLION BEATS
by Sonali Bhattacharyya
Asha and Bettina are smart teenagers. They’ve become very aware that they’re not being allowed to be themselves.
Sonali Bhattacharyya was 2018 Channel 4 writer in residence at the Orange Tree, where she wrote Chasing Hares, winner of the Sonia Friedman Production Award. Her credits include Megaball (National Theatre Learning for ‘Let’s Play’), Slummers (Bunker Theatre), 2066 (Almeida Theatre), The Invisible Boy (Kiln Theatre) and White Open Spaces (Pentabus Theatre – South Bank Show award-nominated). She was one of three playwrights selected for the inaugural Old Vic 12, and is currently under commission to Fifth Word and Kiln Theatre, writer in residence at National Theatre Studio and recently shortlisted for the Woman’s Playwriting Award for her play Deepa the Saint.
Zainab Hasan plays Asha. Her previous theatre credits include Living Newspaper (Royal Court), The Welkin (National Theatre), [BLANK], Shakespeare Trilogy (also St Ann’s Warehouse, New York)(Donmar Warehouse), Timon of Athens, Tartuffe, Tamburlaine (RSC), Hijabi Monologues (Bush Theatre), Boy (Almeida Theatre), Cataline (Untold Theatre, Ovalhouse), Tory Boyz, Romeo and Juliet, The Prince of Denmark (National Youth Theatre, Ambassadors Theatre), On the Dole (Lyric Theatre), Othello (Brockley Jack Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, D, The Boyfriend (Ovalhouse), and Totally Over You (Kiln Theatre).
Ashna Rabheru plays Bettina. Her previous theatre credits includeLiving Newspaper (Royal Court), Santi & Naz (The Vaults/The Thelmas), [BLANK] (Donmar Warehouse), Top Girls (National Theatre), and Trojan Horse (LUNG/Leeds Playhouse). Her television credits include All the Small Things, Pickle Jar, Sex Education, Year of the Rabbit, Bounty, Indian Summers, and Is This Thing On?.
THE KISS
by Zoe Cooper
Lou and Soph have recently moved, and while Soph goes off to work at the local primary school, Lou is stuck at home and the thought of doing anything is becoming too much.
Zoe Cooper’s Out of Water had its world première at the Orange Tree in 2019 and was a finalist in the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She was also shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards 2019, and nominated for the Best New Production of a Play Award in the Broadway World UK Awards. Her playwrighting credits include Jess and Joe Forever (Orange Tree Theatre/Traverse Theatre/UK tour – Off West End Award for Most Promising Playwright Award 2017, longlisted for the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award) and Nativities and Utopia (Live Theatre).
Temi Wilkey plays Lou. Her previous theatre credits include Land Without Dreams (Gate Theatre), Jubilee (Royal Exchange Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith), Cymbeline, Hamlet (RSC), The Comedy of Errors (National Theatre), and How to Hold Your Breath (Royal Court). Her television credits include Years and Years, and Manhunt.
PRODIGAL
by Kalungi Ssebandeke
Relations have always been strained between siblings Kasujja and Rita, but the death of their mother forces them together.
Kalungi Ssebandeke was selected for the BBC Writersroom London Voices, and Soho Theatre’s Writers Lab. He was also selected for the Lyric Hammersmith Ten Week Writers Programme and has written for the Young Vic, Bush Theatre and Talawa, his credits include Assata Taught Me (Gate Theatre). As an actor, his credits include Blood Knot (Orange Tree Theatre).
Fiston Barek plays Kasujja. His previous credits for Orange Tree Theatre include Amsterdam, and The Rolling Stone. Other theatre credits include King Lear (The Old Vic), Routes, Truth and Reconciliation (Royal Court), Little Baby Jesus (Ovalhouse), and Love the Sinner (National Theatre). His television credits include Silent Witness, Holby City, and Doctors. For film, credits include TAU, and Don’t Look Back.
Robinah Kironde plays Rita. Her previous theatre credits include Julius Caesar (Sheffield Theatres), and Attempts on her Life (In Tandem Theatre Company). Her television credits include Anthony, Carnival Row, and The Widow.
Georgia Green directs. Her previous credits include The Mikvah Project (Orange Tree Theatre/BBC Radio 4) for which she was nominated for Best Director at The Stage Debut Awards. Also: Blue Stockings and You Got Older (LAMDA).
Orange Tree Theatre
Listings
1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA
INSIDE/OUTSIDE
Box Office: 020 8940 3633
Outside: Thursday 15 – Saturday 17 April 2021
Performance Times: 7.30pm (Evenings) & 2.30pm (Saturday Matinees)
Tickets: from £15 on sale now
Audio described performance: 16 April, 7.30pm
Captioned performance: 17 April, 2.30pm
ABOUT THE ORANGE TREE THEATRE
The Orange Tree (OT) is an award-winning, independent theatre. Recognised as a powerhouse that creates high-quality productions of new and rediscovered plays, entertaining 70,000 people across the UK every year. Since March 2020, the OT has been in hibernation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. An independent theatre and registered charity that relies on ticket income, closure poses significant risk to the OT.
The OT’s home in Richmond, South West London, is an intimate theatre with the audience seated all around the stage: watching a performance here is truly a unique experience. We believe in the power of dramatic stories to entertain, thrill and challenge us; plays that enrich our lives by enhancing our understanding of ourselves and each other.
As a registered charity (266128) sitting at the heart of its community, we work with 10,000 people in Richmond and beyond through participatory theatre projects for people of all ages and abilities.
The Orange Tree Theatre’s mission is to enable audiences to experience the next generation of theatre talent, experiment with ground-breaking new drama and explore the plays from the past that inspire the theatre-makers of the present.
Artistic Director Paul Miller
Executive Director Hanna Streeter
Website orangetreetheatre.co.uk | Email [email protected]
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