LIDLESS:
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's new play at Trafalgar Studio 2
If Henrik Ibsen had been alive in the era of Guantanamo,
he'd surely have written a play every bit as scintillating as Lidless.
The Scotsman, August 2010
Lidless, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's devastating first play, transfers to the Trafalgar Studios on Whitehall after a sold out run at this year's Edinburgh Festival, where the production was awarded a Fringe First. This production reconfigures Trafalgar Studios 2 into an in-the-round auditorium for the first time, placing the audience deep within the world of the play. It is HighTide's first production in the West End and will be directed by their Artistic Director, Steven Atkinson.
"Every day I drive past strip malls and think about the kids we went to school with who died so we could shop and watch TV. Why was I so desperate to become a citizen of this?"
Fifteen years ago, Alice was an interrogator in Guantanamo Bay. The pills she took means she can't remember what she did. Fifteen years ago, Bashir was a prisoner there. Now he pays her a visit.
Lidless won the Yale Drama Series Award for Playwriting in 2009. A work of extraordinary intelligence and finely-balanced sensibility, it marries the ruthless logic of a Greek tragedy with an all-too-modern setting. The immersive in-the-round setting will make this production an intense experience for actors and audience alike, playing out the consequences of Alice and Bashir's meeting at very close quarters.
Director: Steven Atkinson
Design: takis | Lighting: Matt Prentice | Sound: Steve Mayo | Music: Tom Mills | Voice: John Tucker
Cast: Nathalie Armin, Christian Bradley, Antony Bunsee, Greer Dale-Foulkes, Penny Layden
Dates:
Trafalgar Studios, Trafalgar Studios 2, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY
Thursday 10 March - Saturday 2 April 2011
Previews - Thursday 10 - Friday 11 March, 3pm | Monday 14, 7.45pm
Monday - Saturday, 7.45pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday matinees, 3pm
Founded in 2007 with the support of patrons David Hare, Bill Nighy and Sinead Cusack, HighTide Festival Theatre produces emerging playwrights and contemporary theatre in their annual Festival in Suffolk.
About High Tide:
HighTide's work has transferred nationally and internationally, including to London with the Bush Theatre (2008), National Theatre (2009), Old Vic Theatre (2010), to the Edinburgh Festival (2010) and internationally to the Australian National Play Festival (2010).
The 5th High Tide Festival will be held in Halesworth, Suffolk, 28 April - 15 May, 201.
Image Credits: Greer Dale-Foulkes as Rhiannon. Photo by Bill Knight.
