KATHERINE PARKINSON TO STAR
“art models reveal all in Katherine Parkinson’s smart debut…[she] delicately reveals connections that, by the end, give the play a wistful emotional weight” – Stage review
Mark Fisher, The Guardian
BAFTA Award winning Katherine Parkinson’s (Home, I’m Darling, The IT Crowd) debut play Sitting has been adapted for the screen, airing at 10.30pm on Wednesday 7th April on BBC Four. After a television directorial debut with Unprecedented followed by Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads (both BBC) in 2020, former Artistic Director of Headlong Theatre Jeremy Herrin (People, Places and Things)directs the hour-long comedy-drama forming part of BBC Lights Up, BBC Arts’ Culture In Quarantine season celebrating British Theatre.
Starring Parkinson for the first time, the one-off special follows three characters as they sit for a silent painter. In these sittings, ‘Luke’ (Mark Weinman – I May Destroy You, After Life),‘Cassandra’ (Alex Jarrett – Les Misérables, Adult Material) and ‘Mary’ (Parkinson) reveal truths in a play about love, loss and the importance of human connection.
Award winning figurative painter Roxana Halls’ (National Portrait Gallery’s B.P. Portrait Award, The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition) work will feature.
Parkinson made her debut as a playwright with Sitting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of a BBC Arts and Avalon playwright’s initiative, with the play subsequently transferring to London’s Arcola Theatre.
Sitting was commissioned for the BBC by Jonty Claypole. It is produced by Avalon with Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner as Executive Producers.
What The Press Said About Parkinson’s Stage Play, Sitting
“Parkinson paints intense, quietly devastating portraits of her characters with accomplished brush strokes”
★★★★ Heather Swain, Metro
“Sitting is a sharp, perceptive piece of work, delivered brilliantly”
★★★★ David Kettle, The List
★★★★ BritishTheatre.com ★★★★ London Box Office ★★★★ The Upcoming ★★★★ London Theatre 1
“Parkinson’s ear for the cadences of comedy is, unsurprisingly, very sharp.” Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard
“charming” Luke Jones, Daily Mail