Fortune Theatre presents Punk Rock by Simon Stephens
MEDIA RELEASE
FORTUNE THEATRE
27 June – 18 July, 2015
A FORTUNE THEATRE
& UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO THEATRE STUDIES COLLABORATION
TRUE GRIT SERIES
PUNK ROCK
Written by Simon Stephens
Directed by Lara Macgregor
Featuring: Hamish Annan, Taylor Barrett, Andrew Coshan, Sinead Fitzgerald, Ross Johnston, Jared Kirkwood, Ailis Oliver-Kerby, Ripeka Templeton and Lana Walters
Fortune Theatre is proud to collaborate with the University of Otago Theatre Studies Programme on the South Island premiere of Punk Rock by award-winning playwright, Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime).
PUNK ROCK is Simon Stephens’ most successful play to date. It was a major hit for the Lyric Hammersmith in London, and Manhattan Class Company went on to produce a sell-out season on Broadway:
“…a marvelous young cast that dares to go places most grown-ups like to forget exist” – NY Times
Based on the playwright’s experience as a teacher, the play explores the underlying tensions and potential violence in a group of affluent, articulate seventeen-year-old students.
Director Lara Macgregor said, “The desire to tackle the themes prevalent in this script and the idea of working in collaboration with the University of Otago formed a perfect synergy. There are nine characters in the play, four of which are cast with third year theatre students, alongside professional actors from around the country. The remaining third year theatre students are interning across all departments at the theatre – wardrobe, set, marketing, education and production. In unison, we’re about to bring to life this riveting new work, which is both funny and shocking, and sadly, all too familiar.”
Powerful and compelling, Punk Rock explores the pressures of teenage life as a group of educated, intelligent young people begin to plan for college and the rest of their lives. When a new classmate arrives, suddenly friendships are tested and allegiances shift amidst the pressures of everyday adolescence.
With hormones raging and minimal adult supervision, nothing can mask the underlying and increasing tension in the group. These privileged grammar school students are suddenly faced with a very real danger that could swallow them whole.
“A stark, bracing and eventually brutal portrait of adolescent relationships” – Daily Express
WARNING: Contains coarse language, loud noises and mature content.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CAST Hamish Annan, Taylor Barrett, Andrew Coshan, Sinead Fitzgerald, Ross Johnston, Jared Kirkwood, Ailis Oliver-Kerby, Ripeka Templeton, and Lana Walters
CREW
Writer Simon Stephens
Director Lara Macgregor
Directing Intern Jordan Dickson
Production Manager Lindsay Gordon
Production Manager Intern David Scott
Set Designer Martyn Roberts
Set Consultant/Builder Peter King
Lighting Designer Martyn Roberts
Lighting and Set Intern Macmillan Veitch
Costume Designer Maryanne Wright-Smyth
Costume Intern Georgia Davenport
Stage Manager Monique Webster
Properties George Wallace
KEY EVENTS / DATES
Lunchtime Bites / Thursday, 18 June meet at 12.15pm in the Dunedin Public Library, ground floor. The actors will perform an excerpt from Punk Rock with an opportunity to win tickets. Reading will commence at 12.30pm followed by afternoon tea. This is a FREE event.
Opening Night / Saturday, 27 June 7.30pm, Fortune Theatre.
Members’ Briefing / Sunday, 28 June meet at the Fortune bar at 3.00pm and join Fortune Theatre Artistic Director Lara Macgregor and Designer Marty Roberts for a lively informal chat about Punk Rock.
Forum / Tuesday, 30 June - join the cast and crew for an open question and answer session following the 6.00pm show.
About the author
Simon Stephens’ early work at the Royal Court includes Bluebird (1998), Herons (2001), Country Music (2004) and Motortown (2006). In 2008 his play Harper Regan opened at the National Theatre, and Sea Wall, starring Andrew Scott, played at the Bush. Stephens then had success with his plays Pornography (Deutsches Schauspielhaus and Hanover, 2007; Edinburgh Festival/Birmingham Rep, 2008; and Tricycle Theatre, 2009) and Punk Rock (Lyric Hammersmith/Manchester Royal Exchange in 2009) which won the 2009 Manchester Evening News Award for Best Production. In 2011, I Am The Wind, an adaptation from Jon Fosse’s original, opened at the Young Vic. 2012 saw Three Kingdoms performed in London, Tallinn and Munich, Morning at the Lyric Theatre, and a new version of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Young Vic which subsequently transferred to the Duke of York’s Theatre in 2013.
His adaption of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time won the Oliver Award for Best New Play (National Theatre, 2012; Apollo Theatre, 2013; Gielgud, 2014 – present; Barrymore Theatre in Broadway, 2015). In 2014 Stephens premiered Carmen Disruption at Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, followed by Almeida Theatre in London in 2015, and Birdland at the Royal Court. His adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard also opened at the Young Vic in 2014. Stephen’s new play Songs From Faraway, directed by award-winning Belgian director Ivo van Hove, will receive its UK premiere at the Young Vic in September 2015. Also in 2015, Heisenberg opens at MTC in New York, and The Funfair, Stephens new version of Ödön von Horváth’s Kasimir And Karoline, opens at Home Theatre in Manchester.
Simon also writes for radio. Plays include Five Letters Hometo Elizabeth (2001) and Digging (2003), both BBC, Radio4. Simon’s screenwriting includes a two-part serial Dive (with Dominic Savage) for Granada / BBC (2009), a short film adaptation of Pornography for Coming Up: Channel 4 (2009) and Cargese for Sprout Pictures (Sky Arts, 2013).
Other awards include the 2001 Pearson Award for Best Play for Port and the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play for On The Shore Of The Wide World. Stephens has won the Theater Heute’s Award for Motortown in 2007, Pornography in 2008 and Wastwater in 2011.
Stephens is Artistic Associate at the Lyric Theatre and Associate Playwright at the Royal Court. He was also on the board for Paines Plough between 2009 and 2014, and was a Writers’ Tutor for the Young Writers’ Programme at the Royal Court between 2001 and 2005.
Additional Information:
Production Dates 27 June – 18 July, 2015
Running Time Approx: 1 hour 45 mins (no interval)
Venue Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin
Directed by Lara Macgregor
Cast Hamish Annan, Taylor Barrett, Andrew Coshan, Sinead Fitzgerald, Ross Johnston, Jared Kirkwood, Ailis Oliver-Kerby, Ripeka Templeton, and Lana Walters
Performances Tuesday, 6.00pm, Wednesday - Saturday, 7.30pm, Sunday, 4.00pm
(no show Monday)
Tickets Gala (first 5 shows) $34, Adults $42, Senior Citizens $34,
Members $32, Tertiary Students $20, High School Students $15, Group discount (10 +) $34
Bookings Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin
Box Office 03 477 8323 or visit www.fortunetheatre.co.nz
For further information, imagery or interview/photo opportunities please contact:
Lucy Summers, Marketing Manager
T: (03) 477 1292 ext. 2 M: 021 108 3046