ORANGE TREE THEATRE ANNOUNCES FULL CAST FOR
WORLD PREMIERE OF ISLEY LYNN’S THE SWELL
Orange Tree Theatre (OT) today announces the full cast for the world premiere of Isley Lynn’s The Swell. Hannah Hauer-King directs Jessica Clark, Ruby Crepin-Glyne, Viss Elliot Safavi, Saroja-Lily Ratnavel, Shuna Snow, and Sophie Ward. This OT co-production with Damsel Productions and The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is a thrilling romantic drama, featuring a live vocal score, spanning decades of love, sacrifice, and betrayal, opening on 29 June, with previews from the 24 June and runs until 29 July.
Artistic Director Tom Littler said today: “The Swell is funny, romantic, and tender, with a perfectly engineered plot: I couldn’t put it down. Isley Lynn has been building a reputation as one of the most exciting playwrights around: The Swell is set to be her best yet. I’m delighted that we’ve assembled this wonderful ensemble cast.”
Director of The Swell, Hannah Hauer-King, and co-founder of Damsel Productions said today: “When Isley and I developed this play with Hightide back in 2017, we couldn’t have hoped for a better home than the Orange Tree. The in-the-round intimacy of the space is perfect for a play that manages to be both laugh-out-loud funny, and filled with tragedy and loss. And though it is a play that puts six queer female characters centre stage, it really is a play for everyone. The questions it asks about relationships, fidelity and trust, will resonate for anyone who has been in love.”
Ellie Keele, co-founder of Women’s Prize for Playwriting said today: “The Swell was one of only 40 plays shortlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Playwriting, out of a total 1162 entries. It was a sure-fire entry on the shortlist on the basis of its lyrical tenderness perfectly counterpointing its epic sweep. We don’t read many plays that can execute that combination so exquisitely. Added to that, Isley’s dialogue is perfectly pitched and compelling and her characters are some of the most interesting and plausible that I’ve ever come across in a play. I have no doubt that audiences will delight in this play just as much as our reading panel did. Isley Lynn is one of our finest writers for the stage and we (the Women’s Prize for Playwriting) are thrilled to be co-producing The Swell.”
Orange Tree Theatre, Damsel Productions and The Women’s Prize for Playwriting present
THE SWELL
By Isley Lynn
Director: Hannah Hauer-King; Designer: Amy Jane Cook; Lighting Designer: Elliot Griggs;
Sound Designer and Composer: Nicola T Chang; Assistant Director: Sam Woo
24 June – 29 July
OT On Screen Tue 1-Fri 4 August
Counting down the days to their wedding, Annie and her fiancé Bel are visited by an unexpected guest. An old friend of Annie’s: free spirit and troublemaker Flo, who announces she’ll be staying with them until their big day. This surprise reunion evolves into a complicated love triangle with dangerous consequences that threaten to destroy Annie and Bel’s happily ever after …
Isley Lynn is a multi-award-nominated playwright, best known for her 2016 breakout hit Skin A Cat. Her most recent work includes a sold-out adaptation of The War of The Worlds (New Diorama Theatre and international tour), and a critically acclaimed contribution to 15 Heroines (Jermyn Street Theatre) and Albatross (Playground Theatre).
Jessica Clark’s theatre credits include Sap (Soho Theatre), The Wife of Willesden (Kiln Theatre), Passengers (Vacuum Theatre), The Funeral Director, The Hear, And This, And Now (Southwark Playhouse), Ninas Got News (Pleasance Dome), Rotterdam (Trafalgar Studios and Theatre503), Skin A Cat (Theatre503), and Romeo and Juliet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Wind in The Willows, The Secret Garden, Macbeth, and The Comedy of Errors (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre). For television her credits include, Call the Midwife, All Creatures Great and Small, Death in Paradise, and Versailles .
Ruby Crepin-Glyne’s theatre credits include The Tempest (Pleasance), Road (Northern Stage), Measure for Measure (The Sam Wanamaker Festival), Pool (No Water) (Royal Court Theatre) and Winter Wonderland (Soho Theatre).
Viss Elliot Safavi’stheatre credits include For Services Rendered (Jermyn Street Theatre), Bitched (Kali Theatre), The Taming of The Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe), How He Lied to her Husband (Tristan Bates Theatre), The Gift (Criterion Theatre), Love from a Stranger (Jubilee Hall), Smother (Clink Hostel), and Invasion! (Soho Theatre). For television her credits include Tehran, The Split, D.I Ray, Suspicion, Not Going Out, and The Buccaneers.
Saroja-Lily Ratnavel’s theatre credits include, Chasing Hares (Young Vic Theatre), Electric Rosary (Royal Exchange Theatre), and The Key Workers Cycle: The Social Care Workers Play, and Name, Place, Animal, Thing (Almeida Theatre). For television, Bravo Two Charlies.
Shuna Snow returns to the OT having previously appeared in The Charity That Began at Home. Her theatre credits include The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs (Soho Theatre), Decisions Decisions (Pleasance Science Fiction Theatre Festival), Whisky Galore (UK tour), Brideshead Revisited (York Theatre Royal), Twelfth Night (The Rose Playhouse), Palindrome, Welcome to Ramallah (Arcola Theatre), Little Stitches (Theatre503), Iron (Old Red Lion), Hamlet (US tour), Top Girls, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Julius Cesar, Death of a Salesman, Betrayal, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Ion, Road, The Triumph of Love, All My Sons, Oh! What a Lovely War, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Macbeth (Mercury Theatre), Engaging Shaw (Vienna’s English Theatre), Separate Tables (Royal Exchange Theatre) A Shoemaker, A Gentleman (Shakespeare’s Globe), Much Ado About Nothing, Little Eyolf, Kenneth’s First Play, Cymbeline (Royal Shakespeare Company). Her television credits include Big Mood and Clink; and for film, The Boy in The Woods.
Sophie Ward’s theatre credits include The Mirror Crack’d (Salisbury Playhouse), Cancelling Socrates, Flowers of The Forest (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Exorcist, A Judgement in Stone, The Grass is Greener (UK tours), Dark Sublime (Trafalgar Studios), Paradise Circus (Playground Theatre), But It Still Goes On (Finborough Theatre), Mount Vernon (Hudson Guild Theatre, Kings Head Theatre), Brave New World (Royal and Derngate) and Go Back for Murder (Theatre Royal Windsor / UK tour). Her television credits include Troubled Blood, This Sceptred Isle, Agatha Raisin, A Very British Scandal, Picture Perfect Royal Christmas, The Moonstone and Secret State. For film her credits include, Swiperight, Jane Eyre, Book of Blood, Out of Bounds, Nobody Knows Anything!, Crime and Punishment, Bella Donna, Taking Liberty, Wuthering Heights, Waxwork II: Lost In Time, and Young Sherlock Holmes
Hannah Hauer-King directs. She is Artistic Director of Damsel Productions. Her directing credits include The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs (Soho Theatre), The Funeral Director (English Touring Theatre), Fabric and Fury (Soho Theatre).
Orange Tree Theatre
Listings
1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA
Box Office: 020 8940 3633 (Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm)
orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Ticket prices (NO BOOKING FEES)
In person tickets from: £15
Access: £15
Prices increase based on demand
SEASON AT A GLANCE
THE CIRCLE
29 April – 17 June 2023
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Tue 30 May 7.30pm
Captioned Performance: Thu 8 June 7.30pm
PRIMARY SHAKESPEARE: AS YOU LIKE IT
6 May – 16 June (schools’ performances)
Tue, Wed & Fri, 10.30am & 2pm
THE SWELL
24 June – 29 July 2023
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.30pm (from 29 June)
Captioned Performance: Tue 18 July 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Thu 13 July 7.30pm
OT On Screen: Tue 1 – Fri 4 Aug
GREENHOUSE FESTIVAL
21 August – 2 September 2023
Full details to be announced
THAT FACE
9 September 2023 – 7 October 2023
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.30pm (from Thu 14 Sep)
Captioned Performance: 27 September 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Tue 26 Sep 7.30pm
OT On Screen: Tue 10 – Fri 13 Oct
MEETINGS
14 October 2023– 11 November 2023
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.30pm (from Thu 19 Oct)
Captioned Performance: Wed 1 Nov 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Mon 30 Oct 7.30pm
OT On Screen: Tue 14 – Fri 17 Nov
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER
18 November 2023 – 6 January 2024
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.30pm (from Thu 23 Nov)
Captioned Performance: Tue 12 Dec 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Mon 11 Dec 7.30pm
OT On Screen: Tue 16 – Fri 19 Jan
SHAKESPEARE UP CLOSE: MACBETH and ROMEO AND JULIET
5 – 10 December 2023
Schools tour: 20 – 30 Nov
Schools performances at the OT: 5 – 8 Dec
Public performances at the OT: 9 – 10 Dec
TINY TIM’S CHRISTMAS CAROL
18 December – 6 January 2024
Press Performance: Wednesday 20 December 2023 at 2.30pm
Mon – Sat 11am
Mon, Wed, Fri 2.30pm (no performances Mon 25 Dec, Mon 1 Jan)
NORTHANGER ABBEY
24 January– 20 February 2024
Press Night: Wednesday 24 January 2024 at 7pm
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.30pm (from Thu 25 Jan)
Captioned Performance: Wed 14 Feb 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Tue 13 Feb 7.30pm
OT On Screen: Tue 21 – Fri 24 May 2024
FLUTE THEATRE: TWELFTH NIGHT
29 January – 20 February 2024
Mon – Sat: 10.30am
Further summer programming includes:
UNCLE VANYA
2 March – 13 April
Press Night: Wednesday 6 March 2024 at 7pm
TESTMATCH
20 April – 18 May 2024
Press Night: Wednesday 24 April at 7pm
SUITE IN THREE KEYS
24 May – 6 Jul 2024
Press Nights: Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 2.30pm: Double bill – Shadows of the Evening and Come into the Garden, Maud
Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 7pm: A Song at Twilight
Primary Shakespeare: HAMLET
3 June – 5 July 2024 (workshops and performances)
Mon, Tue & Fri
RED SPEEDO
13 Jul – 10 Aug 2024
Press Night: Wednesday 17 July at 7pm
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, it entertains 70,000 people across the UK every year.
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.
DAMSEL PRODUCTIONS
Hannah Hauer-King and Kitty Wordsworth co-founded theatre company Damsel Productions in 2015 to produce hit show Dry Land at Jermyn Street Theatre. Since then, Damsel has continued to produce work with the core aim of developing and platforming scripts written by women, and produced with primarily women-led creative teams. Damsel has produced several full-scale productions at theatres including Soho Theatre, Theatre 503, the Bunker Theatre and Jermyn Street Theatre. They have also produced sell-out live comedy and cabaret nights such as “Damsel In The Bush”; and festivals including Damsel Develops; London’s first all-women directing festival; and Damsel Outdoors, a festival of commissioned new plays written for the outdoors during the pandemic. This is their first production at the Orange Tree Theatre.
Website: www.damselproductions.co.uk Twitter: @DamselProd Instagram: @damselproductions
ABOUT THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR PLAYWRITING
Founded in 2019 by Ellie Keel and Paines Plough, The Women’s Prize for Playwriting has a simple mission statement: to secure equality in the number of male and female writers whose plays are produced on national stages in the UK and Ireland. In 2018, only 26% of new plays on main stages in Britain were by women.
The Prize’s core activity is:
· Running an open call-out for plays by women.
· Selecting the winning script(s) with the help of an experienced reading team and a prestigious judging panel of industry leaders.
· Producing the winning plays on national stages.
· Leading development work on the winning plays and some of the scripts on the shortlist.
In 2020, the Prize’s inaugural year, two First Prizes of £12,000 were awarded: to Amy Trigg for Reasons You Shouldn’t Love Me, which enjoyed a sell-out, critically acclaimed run at Kiln Theatre, directed by Charlotte Bennett and starring Amy Trigg, and to Ahlam for You Bury Me, which had its staged reading at the Lyceum Theatre, directed by Katie Posner, with a main stage tour in 2023. For the Prize’s second year in 2021, the First Prize was awarded to Karis Kelly for their play Consumed, which is now currently in development.
www.womensprizeforplaywriting.co.uk
Twitter: @WomensPlayPrize
Artistic Director Tom Littler
Executive Director Hanna Streeter
Website orangetreetheatre.co.uk | Email box.office@orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Twitter @OrangeTreeThtr | Facebook/Instagram OrangeTreeTheatre
