Artistic Directors James Grieve and George Perrin announce the cast for The Angry Brigade, co-produced with Theatre Royal Plymouth, as part of Paines Plough’s 40th Anniversary season. James Grieve directsPatsy Ferran (Anna/Henderson), Scarlett Alice Johnson (Hilary/The Girlfriend/Parker/ The Expert/Miss World), Harry Melling (Morris/Commander/Prophet/Snitch/Manager/Jim) and Felix Scott (Smith/John). The production opens on the 23 September at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth, with previews from 19 September, and run until 4 October. Following performances in Plymouth, the production will tour to Oxford Playhouse (8 - 11 October), Warwick Arts Centre (14 - 17 October), and Watford Palace Theatre (21 - 25 October).
The Angry Brigade is co-produced with long standing partner Theatre Royal Plymouth – an association which began in the 1980s. Previous co-productions include The Straits (2003), Mercury Fur (2005) and Love, Love, Love (2010).
A bold new play by James Graham, writer of sell-out smash hit This House.
“...its government has declared a vicious class war.
A one-sided war...
We have started to fight back...
...with bombs.”
Against a backdrop of Tory cuts, high unemployment and the deregulated economy of 1970s Britain, a young urban guerrilla group mobilises: The Angry Brigade.
Their targets: MPs. Embassies. Police. Pageant Queens.
A world of order is shattered by anarchy. The rules have changed. An uprising has begun. No one is exempt.
As a special police squad hunt the home-grown terrorists whose identities shocked the nation, James Graham's razor-sharp, thrilling new play lures us into a frenzied world that looks much like our own.
James Graham is a playwright and film and television writer who won the Pearson Playwriting Bursary in 2006 and went on to win the Catherine Johnson Award for the Best Play in 2007 for his play Eden's Empire.His play This House premièred at the Cottesloe Theatre in September 2012, directed by Jeremy Herrin, and transferred to the Olivier in 2013. His other theatre work includes Tory Boyz for the National Youth Theatre, and The Whisky Taster which premièred at the Bush Theatre. His television work includes Caught in a Trap. His film X and Y is being produced by Origin Pictures and BBC Films and was on the prestigious 'Brit List', the list of the best unproduced screenplays in the UK. He is currently adapting the bestselling book Gypsy Boy as a feature film also for BBC Film and working with the Weinstein Co. on an adaptation of Mrs Queen Takes the Train.
Patsy Ferran plays Anna/Henderson. Ferran recently graduated from RADA. Her theatre credits includeBlithe Spirit (Gielgud Theatre), Stop the Clocks (Tin Box Theatre Company), and The Kidnapper’s Guide,Last Easter (Article 19). For film, her work includes Tulip Fever andThe National Phobia Association's Day Out.
Scarlett Alice Johnson plays Hilary/The Girlfriend/Parker/ The Expert/Miss World. Her theatre credits include The Saints (Nuffield Theatre), Slaves (Theatre503), Aunt Dan and Lemon (Royal Court Theatre),Romeo and Juliet (Stafford Gatehouse Theatre), Daisy Miller (national tour), Under Milk Wood (National Theatre), Yehundi Menhuin’s 80th Birthday Concert (Royal Albert Hall/BBC2 Live), and La Boheme – Centenary Performance (Royal Albert Hall). For television her credits include Pram Face, Big Bad World,Babylon, Nightshift, Beaver Falls, Pete Versus Life and Freaks; and for film, Panic Button, Pimp, The Reeds, and Adulthood.
Harry Melling plays Morris/Commander/Prophet/Snitch/Manager/Jim. His theatre credits include peddling (Hightide/New York), King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre/New York), The Hot House, When Did You Last See My Mother? (Trafalgar Studios), Smack Family Robinson (Rose Kingston), I Am a Camera(Southwark Playhouse), School For Scandal (Barbican), Women Beware Women(National Theatre) and Mother Courage and Her Children (National Theatre). For television his credits includeJoe Mistry, Garrow’s Law, Merlin, Just William and Friends and Crocodiles; and for film, he played Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films.
Felix Scott plays Smith/John. His theatre credits include Gruesome Playground Injuries (Gate Theatre), The Country Wife (Royal Exchange), The Under Room (Lyric Hammersmith), The Maddening Rain (Old Red Lion/59E59 Theatre), Women Power & Politics (Tricycle Theatre), Suddenlossofdignity.com (Bush Theatre),The Man Who Had all the Luck (Donmar Warehouse), In the Heart of America (John Gielgud Theatre),Sentenced (Union Theatre), 16 Minutes (nabakov), Breaktime (Pleasance Theatre) and Lost Yet Found(Hampstead Theatre). For television his credits include Walter, Wolf Hall, The Interceptor, Sirens, Doc Martin, Missing, Plus One, Wire in the Blood, Victoria cross Heroes, Synchronicity, Family Affairs (series regular Nathan Fletcher), Bombshell and Watch Over Me; and for film Blitz, Inception, Artifacts, and Till Something Better Comes Along.
James Grieve is the Joint Artistic Director of Paines Plough. He was formerly co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of nabokov and Associate Director of the Bush Theatre. Directing credits for Paines Plough includeJumpers For Goalposts by Tom Wells (Watford Palace / Hull Truck / National Tour / Bush Theatre),Hopelessly Devoted by Kate Tempest (Birmingham Rep), The Sound Of Heavy Rain by Penelope Skinner (Roundabout Season - Sheffield Theatres / Shoreditch Town Hall), You Cannot Go Forward From Where You Are Right Now by David Watson (A Play, A Pie, and a Pint season - ÒranMór / Traverse / Manchester Royal Exchange / Belgrade Coventry), Wasted by Kate Tempest (Birmingham Rep / Latitude Festival / National Tour / Roundhouse), Love, Love, Love by Mike Bartlett (Drum Theatre, Plymouth / National Tour / Royal Court), Tiny Volcanoes by Laurence Wilson (Liverpool Everyman / Latitude Festival / National Tour), Fly Me To The Moon by Marie Jones (A Play, A Pie, and a Pint season - ÒranMór / Live Theatre Newcastle / Traverse / Belgrade Theatre Coventry / Bewley’s Theatre Cafe Dublin). Further directing credits includeTranslations by Brian Friel (Sheffield Crucible / ETT / Rose Theatre Kingston), A Number – 66 Books by Laura Dockrill, The Whisky Taster by James Graham, St Petersburg by Declan Feenan and Psychogeographyby Lucy Kirkwood (all for the Bush Theatre), Artefacts by Mike Bartlett (nabokov/Bush Theatre/UK Tour/59E59, New York).
The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth
19 September - 4 October
Box Office:01752 267222
Oxford Playhouse
8 - 11 October
Box Office: 01865 305305
Warwick Arts Centre
14 - 17 October
Box Office: 024 7652 4524
Watford Palace Theatre
21 - 25 November
Box Office: 01923 225671
