• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides

Casting Announced for Steven Berkoff Double Bill

September 7, 2016 by Tom Bailey Leave a Comment

Shaun Dooley (Broadchurch, Cuffs, Misfits) and Emily Bruni (Peep Show, Life in Squares) are to star in a major West End season of Steven Berkoff one-act plays, Lunch and The Bow of Ulysses, directed by Nigel Harman, at Trafalgar Studios for five weeks from Thursday 6 October – Saturday 5 November.

Lunch (1983) and it’s sequel The Bow of Ulysses (2002) are two of Berkoff’s finest small pieces, examining the relationship between a couple when they first meet and have, what appears to be, an abortive one-night-stand; and how they are years later after two decades of marriage.

Berkoff Double Bill Shaun Dooley and Emily Bruni

The creative team includes Olivier Award-nominated sound designers Ben & Max Ringham, designer Lee Newby (Grand Hotel, Dogfight), lighting designer Joshua Carr (Hangmen, West End) and Offie Award Best Choreographer Alistair David as movement director.

Producer Jimmy Jewell said: Berkoff‘s plays are always physically demanding for the actors involved. In Lunch and The Bow of Ulyses, intentional vulgarity sits cheek by jowl with passages of poetic clarity, allowing the characters to reveal the most painful and ugly aspects of their lives. Lunch is a black comedy of errors that is as universal as it is bizarrely peculiar.

It is a psychological and sexual struggle for power. Berkoff’s writing is astounding in its unrelenting physicality. Yet it skips from Shakespearian verbosity, allusion and surprising imagery to tiptoeing indecision. The Bow Of Ulysses avoids any hint at conversation, with each character speaking in long soliloquies, before passing the baton to the other. The man feels he has wasted years married to the woman, she believes he’d have been nothing without her support. The truth, as truth always is, is more complicated and the sides switch around and explore one another, without ever touching in conversation. This is a rare opportunity to see two of Berkoff’s finest small pieces.”

BerkoffLunchUlysses_web

Author: Tom BaileyTom is a theatre maker and writer based in London, England. He covers news and interviews for Theatre Bubble.
T: Twitter F: Facebook

Filed Under: Featured, News

Join the discussion Cancel reply

NEWS / ZU-UK presents Radio Ghost

ZU-UK presents Radio Ghost, a walking game for three participants journeying through a haunted shopping mall. Premiering at LIFT Festival [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Sophie Leydon on Rapture at Pleasance London

Sophie Leydon (She/Her) is a Writer and Director whose practice centres staging LGBTQIA+ experience through interdisciplinary forms. She tells us [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Claire Cunningham talks 4 Legs Good in BE festival

Garden State (8 – 11 June) is an art installation made up of hundreds of houseplants lent by local residents [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Paul Bourne talks about Bliss at the Finborough Theatre

Written by Fraser Grace (Breakfast with Mugabe, RSC), Bliss is based on a short story by censored writer Andrey Platonov. It’s at Finborough [Read More]

NEWS / Japanese Romeo and Juliet to the songs of Queen announced

Coming to Sadler’s Wells in September as part of its world tour, A Night At The Kabuki is a retelling [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • 5 Stage Elements to Consider for a Rousing Theatrical Production
  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • Amit Lahav - Artistic Director of Gecko Theatre
  • ZU-UK presents Radio Ghost
  • Cinderella at Hounslow Arts Centre
  • Ameena Hamid on Tales from the Tombstone Tavern
  • After All This- Ovalhouse
  • Romeo and Juliet- Rose Theatre, Kingston Sublime Shakespeare.
  • Is this the real location of Ambridge?
  • Tamburlaine at the Arcola Theatre
  • Tom Bailey
    Editor

  • September 7th, 2016
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2022 · Blue Pie Media

     

    Loading Comments...
     

      Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

      Email sent!