Download PressPortraits - Finborough Theatre

Press Information
The Finborough Theatre is now FULLY AIR CONDITIONED
Summer Season
June to August 2011
Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents
Portraits
by William Douglas Home.
Directed and Designed by Alex Marker. Lighting by Elliot Griggs. Music by William Morris. Sound by George Dennis.
Cast includes: Matt Barber. David Gooderson. Peter Marinker. Kristin Milward. Hayward Morse.
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of artist Augustus John, the first production in 24 years of William
Douglas Home's Portraits opens at the Finborough Theatre for a limited run of six Sunday and Monday performances
from Sunday, 7 August 2011 (Press Night: Monday, 8 August 2011).
Augustus John’s ability as portrait artist won him the admiration of fellow artists, public recognition and the Order of
Merit. William Douglas Home’s play presents various points in the Bohemian artist’s turbulent life from 1944 – 1961
through a reconstruction of sittings with three of his subjects (all played by the same actor) – General Bernard
Montgomery, fellow artist Mathew Smith and designer Cecil Beaton. This keenly observed, sensitive play is finely
interwoven with the thread of John’s gradually developing pacifism – from his certainty in spring 1944 that Monty’s young
ADC will not survive the second front, to war’s devastating effect on Matthew Smith, to John’s vibrant fear of the nuclear
nightmare and his own approaching death.
In a theatrical year that has seen the successful reappraisal of successful West End playwrights such as Terence Rattigan
and the Finborough Theatre's own rediscovery of Emlyn Williams, Portraits rediscovers the work of William Douglas
Home, one of the West End's most successful post-war dramatists. As always, the Finborough Theatre has avoided the
more obvious anniversaries of writers such as Rattigan and Tennessee Williams to commemorate the life and work of
leading artist Augustus John.
Directed by the Finborough Theatre's acclaimed Resident Designer in his directorial debut, this is the first production of
Portraits since its world premiere at Malvern and its subsequent West End transfer in 1987, when it was directed by John
Dexter, and starred Keith Michell, Simon Ward and Stephen Boxer.
Playwright William Douglas-Home (1912-1992) was one of the West End's most successful post-war dramatists. His
plays include Now Barabbas (1947), The Chiltern Hundreds (1947), The Thistle and the Rose (1948), The Reluctant
Debutante (1955) (which was twice filmed, most recently in 2003 under the title What a Girl Wants, starring Colin Firth
and Kelly Preston), The Reluctant Peer (1964), Betzi (1965), A Friend Indeed (1965), The Secretary Bird (1967), The
Queen's Highland Servant (1967), The Jockey Club Stakes (1970), Lloyd George Knew My Father (1972), At the End of
the Day (1973), The Dame of Sark (1974), The Kingfisher (1978), and After the Ball is Over (1985). The younger brother
of Prime Minister Alec Douglas Home, he regularly stood for Parliament himself. He was court-martialled and imprisoned
during the Second World War for his refusal to obey orders during the Allied operation to capture the port of Le Havre in
September 1944 because French civilians had not been permitted to evacuate.
Director and Designer Alex Marker makes his professional directorial debut with this production. Previous directing
includes a staged reading of Iain Finlay MacLeod's Atman, starring Jasper Britton and Alan Cox, as part of Vibrant – An
Anniversary Festival of Finborough Playwrights , and he is also Director of the Questors Youth Theatre, the largest youth
theatre in London. Alex Marker has been Resident Designer of the Finborough Theatre since 2002 where his designs have
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
e-mail [email protected]
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.
Press Information
included Charlie’s Wake, The Women’s War, How I Got That Story, Soldiers, Happy Family, Trelawny of the ‘Wells’,
Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams, Albert’s Boy, Lark Rise To Candleford, Red Night, The Representative, Eden’s
Empire, Love Child, Little Madam, Plague Over England, and its West End transfer to the Duchess Theatre, Hangover
Square, Sons of York, Untitled, Painting A Wall, Death of Long Pig, Molière or The League of Hypocrites and Dream of the
Dog and its West End transfer to the Trafalgar Studios. Trained in Theatre Design at Wimbledon School of Art, he has
designed over fifty productions including King Arthur (Arcola Theatre), The Schools’ Theatre Festival (Young Vic), Origin:
Unknown (Theatre Royal, Stratford East), My Real War 1914-? (Trafalgar Studios and National Tour), An Eligible Man
(New End Theatre, Hampstead), The Viewing Room (Arts Theatre), Sweet Charity (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), The Pink
Bedroom (Courtyard Theatre), Oklahoma! (New Wimbledon Theatre) and Cooking With Elvis (Lyceum Theatre, Crewe).
His work has been extensively featured in exhibitions, most recently as part of the Collaborators: UK Design for
Performance in Nottingham.
Matt Barber trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Stage includes You Can’t Take it With You (Southwark
Playhouse), Pygmalion directed by Sir Peter Hall (The Old Vic, Theatre Royal Bath and International Tour), Human by
Default (Old Red Lion), Twelfth Night (Birmingham Stage Company and International Tour), The Misanthrope (Bristol Old
Vic) and Edward II (Rose Theatre Bankside). Television includes The Heart of Thomas Hardy and Being Human (BBC)
and S’ N’ M’ – The British Dream. Film includes Vivaldi (Condor Pictures) and The Alchemistic Suitcase (B Good Pictures).
David Gooderson. At the Finborough Theatre, David wrote and directed The Killing of Mr Toad (2009), and appeared in
The Potting Shed (2010 and 2011). Theatre includes Saint’s Day, The Neighbours, Overboard, The Simpleton of the
Unexpected Isles, A Penny for a Song (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariadne on Naxos,
Die Fledermaus (English Touring Opera),The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, King Lear (Ludlow Festival), A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Macbeth, The Boys from Syracuse, Lady Be Good and The Taming of the Shrew (Open Air Theatre,
Regent’s Park). Film includes Limited Edition. Television includes Doctors, A Touch of Frost, Casualty, Footballer’s Wives,
Hidden City, Searching, Just William, Rumpole, Murder Most Horrid, Lovejoy, Bluebell, Dr Who and Seaview. Writing
includes The Wind in the Willows (West End), Walk or Die, Waste of Glory, Death of a Village and So Great a Crime (all
BBC Radio Four).
Peter Marinker is a highly experienced stage, TV and film actor whose credits include Waiting for Godot (The Godot
Company at the Finborough Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (The Old Vic), The Big Idea, The Seduction Of Almighty
God and Ragman (The Wrestling School). Film includes Love Actually, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Event Horizon,
Judge Dredd, The Russia House Easy Access and The Emerald Forest. Television includes Bugs, Bodyguards and
Casualty.
Kristin Milward's previous appearances at the Finborough Theatre include Child of the Forest (2000), I Wish to Die
Singing (2005), Natural Inclinations (2002) and Love Child (2007). Other theatre includes Huis Clos (King’s Head
Theatre), The Illustrious Corpse (Soho Theatre), Woman of Troy (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Soap Opera (The
Caird Company), The Snow Palace (Sphinx Theatre at the Tricycle Theatre), Wounds to the Face (The Wrestling School –
National Tour), Uncle Vanya (The Wrestling School), The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (Latchmere Theatre), La Chunga
(Old Red Lion Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Royal Shakespeare Company, West End and Broadway), Burleigh
Grimes (Bridewell Theatre) and The Chance (Belfast Festival). Film includes Arabs in London (EBLA International Film)
and Freestyle (Film London Microwave). Television includes New Tricks, Poppyland, To the Lighthouse and EastEnders
(all BBC).
Hayward Morse trained at RADA and after working with regional theatres made his London debut in the original
production of What the Butler Saw (Queen’s Theatre). He remained in the West End for the musicals Canterbury Tales
and the original production of The Rocky Horror Show (King’s Road Theatre) and received a Tony Award nomination for
his performance in Butley (Morosco Theatre) on Broadway. He subsequently played in seasons with Canada’s Shaw and
Shakespeare festivals, the films Tam Lynn, Agency and Death Wish 3, an English tour of Travels With My Aunt and at The
English Theatres of Hamburg and Frankfurt. More recent UK work includes several Shaw plays at Shaw’s house in Ayot
St. Lawrence, Sherlock Holmes in an open-air version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, leading roles in London
productions of Moliére’s The School for Wives, Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy and three previous plays at the Finborough
Theatre. Lately he has been seen on television in Footballers Wives and James May’s Manlab. He has also recorded over
a hundred unabridged audiobooks.
The Press on the original production of Portraits
“This charming literate…and often touching study of the man who invented Bohemianism… splendid dialogue from
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
e-mail [email protected]
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.
Press Information
William Douglas Home … one of the best new plays to hit the West End in some time.” Time Out
“The gentle play carries a hopeful message of self- realisation and consolation.” Financial Times
PRESS NIGHT: MONDAY, 8 AUGUST 2011 AT 7.30PM
PHOTOCALL: BY ARRANGEMENT. PLEASE EMAIL [email protected]
Finborough Theatre, The Finborough, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652. www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Sundays and Mondays, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22 August 2011
Evenings at 7.30pm. Tickets £13, £9 concessions.
For more information, interviews and images, please contact
Neil McPherson on e-mail [email protected] or 07977 173135
Download press releases and images from http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/press-resources.php
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
e-mail [email protected]
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.