Cast announced for Jade City
London theatre news: Tuesday 27 August 2019
Casting - Off-West End - Shows
Casting has been announced for Alice Malseed's Jade City which follows two friends struggling with the pressures of everyday life in modern Belfast - from 2 to 21 September at The Bunker.
Image courtesy The Bunker
The cast has been announced for Alice Malseed's Jade City, coming to The Bunker from 3 to 21 September 2019.
Tackling men's mental health and the lack of opportunities faced by so many in Britain, Jade City follows two friends struggling with the pressures of their everyday lives in Belfast.
Barry Calvert (Sean, Tour; Awaiting Revolution, Lane Productions; Leaves on the Line, Off Cuts Festival) joins the production as Monty, performing alongside Brendan Quinn (A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe, Kabosh Theatre Company; Norah, The New Theatre; Death and Nightingales, BBC Two) as his best friend Sas.
Katherine Nesbitt directs the play with design by Timothy Kelly.
Inspired by a city full of heart that is straining under the weight of decades of political and social unrest, Alice Malseed brings to life the mental health issues faced by the brushed aside working classes.
One third of people in Northern Ireland live on or below the bread line, and the country has seen more suicides since the Good Friday Agreement than deaths during the Troubles.
As the government works to bring the 18-month deadlock in Northern Ireland to a close, Jade City explores the consequences of non-functional and uncaring governments and the effects on the people they have neglected.
Writer Alice Malseed explains ...
"Jade City was written as a matter of urgency.
It seeks to illuminate the effect that decades of austerity and economic and societal side-lining has had on masculinity, particularly in working class communities such as the one in east Belfast in this story.
It is full of the storytelling, generosity, kindness and dark humour of Belfast; things that provide joy in Sas and Monty's world.
Jade City has a lot of aggression and a lot of heart.
For me, that's Belfast.
The play has a really live energy, that fizzes and buzzes in the dialogue until it explodes with devastating consequences."
Director Katherine Nesbitt commented ...
"I am so pleased to be working with Barry and Brendan again on bringing this script to a new audience.
They are engaging performers and brilliant physical storytellers, and capture the complex relationship between two lifelong friends with sensitivity, energy and nuance.
Show listing information
Synopsis
"There is something undeniably powerful in this story of two men bound together by a shared childhood and the imaginary games they used to play" Lyn Gardner.
Sas and Monty are trapped in this place, and in their heads.
From the working men's to Monty's empty flat, their only escape comes from playing The Game; where they can be bin men hiding stolen cash under the mattress, seagulls snatching dogs on the high street, or just themselves, free at last, knocking back breakfast cocktails on a sunny beach in Jamaica.
But Sas doesn't want to play anymore.
He wants to talk.
About girls, his head and that summer they can't forget.
Rich in the language of Belfast, and with an original electronic score, Jade City is a lyrical and powerful exploration of growing up and growing apart, about the choices we make and the only choices we have.
Cast
Barry Calvert - Monty
Brendan Quinn - Sas
Creatives
Author: Alice Malseed
Director: Katherine Nesbitt
Designer: Timothy Kelly
Sound: Michael Mormecha
Movement: David Quinn
Production: Isy Sharman and Philippa Mannion for View From Here
Venue
London
SE1 1RU
Dates
From: Tuesday 3 September 2019
Closed: Saturday 21 September 2019
Tickets
Previews:
£10.00
Unwaged: £3.00 (10 per preview performance)
Standard: £16
Concessions:
£12.00
Under 30s: £10.00 (10 per performance)
Links
Show website
ActDrop full listing for Jade City
About London theatre news from ActDrop
We cover all kinds of news stories about theatre in the London area including items about West End, Fringe, Off West End and other venues, as well as new shows coming to the capital, theatre events like scratch nights, theatre festivals and other interesting theatre news that can't be so easily classified!
We'd love to hear from you if you have a news story we can share with theatre-goers.
Just use this form to contact us.
If you are a producer, PR agent or a representative of a theatre company, we have a special page just for you.
And thanks for visiting ActDrop!