Wednesday, 25 June
Young Vic debuts for award-winning young directors:
JMK and Genesis productions on-sale for winter 2014
Exhilarating contemporary dramas by two of the UK’s leading female playwrights will be directed by emerging female directors in The Clare this winter. 2014 Genesis Future Directors Award winner Tinuke Craig stages debbie tucker green’s dirty butterfly, and JMK Award winner Kate Hewitt directs Caryl Churchill’s dystopian drama Far Away.
dirty butterfly
1 – 11 October 2014, The Clare
For her Young Vic directorial debut, the 2014 Genesis Future Directors Award winner Tinuke Craig directs dirty butterfly, the compelling drama from debbie tucker green which explores fragmented truths and twisted relationships.
“You ever got that feelin in your stomach? Like butterflies gone wrong.” Jason spends his nights wide awake, his ear pressed against the bedroom wall, listening to the noises coming from next door. He’s obsessed with Jo and the snippets he hears of her deeply troubled world. Amelia knows something is very wrong next door, and soon all three of them become caught in a blur of voyeuristic confessions and tangled power trips.
Tinuke Craig was the Jerwood Assistant Director on Joe Hill-Gibbins’ acclaimed production of The Changeling at the Young Vic in 2012. She also directed the Street Singing community project and Babel workshops for the theatre. Past directing credits include Buy me Love by Rosa Connor (24 Hour Plays, Old Vic), Waiting for Lefty (Haymarket), Old Bag (Theatre 503), Unmanned (Riverside Studio) and Caryl Churchill’s Abortive (The Albany). She was assistant director on David Farr’s production of Hamlet, Nancy Meckler’s All’s Well That Ends Well for the RSC, and Hundreds and Thousands (Soho); and apprentice director on Trevor Nunn’s staging of The Tempest (Haymarket). Tinuke trained as a director at LAMDA.
debbie tucker green is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her work returns to the Young Vic for the first time since generations was staged at the theatre in 2007. Stage works include truth and reconciliation, random, stoning mary (Royal Court); trade (RSC); born bad (Hampstead) for which she won an Olivier Award in 2004. More recently she wrote and directed nut for the National Theatre in 2013. TV and film credit include random, which scooped a BAFTA for Best Single Drama in 2012, second coming and heat.
The Genesis Future Directors Award is a major award established by the Genesis Foundation as part of its longstanding partnership with the Young Vic. The Award has been created to nurture emerging young directors by providing them with an invaluable opportunity to explore and develop their craft as they create their first fully resourced production at the Young Vic. The director benefits from the support and mentorship of the theatre’s unique creative network, including Genesis Fellow Natalie Abrahami. The Genesis Foundation plays a vital role in supporting the professional development of directors in the UK and through its partnership with the Young Vic has established two further key initiatives: the Genesis Fellowship and the Genesis Directors Network. John Studzinski, Founder & Chairman, Genesis Foundation: “The real success of Genesis is embracing talent, nurturing that talent, working as a team with our partners and creating a network that continually supports every artist the foundation has worked with.”
The Genesis Foundation was established in 2001 by John Studzinski to nurture and develop artistic excellence in the fields of music, theatre and the visual arts. It works in partnership with leading arts organisations on projects designed to assist young artists at the beginning of their professional careers. Genesis Sixteen, the Genesis Directors Project at the Young Vic, and International Playwrights at the Royal Court are just three of the specially created programmes that the Genesis Foundation has been supporting over the years. In addition, the foundation funds graduate and post-graduate training programmes at LAMDA, the Royal College of Art and Welsh National Opera as well as commissioning new works. www.genesisfoundation.org.uk
dirty butterfly by debbie tucker green is directed by Tinuke Craig and designed by Hyemi Shin.
Far Away
7 – 29 November 2014, The Clare
Press performance: Thursday 13 November at 7pm
James Menzies-Kitchin Award winner Kate Hewitt directs Caryl Churchill’s Far Away in The Clare this November. Confronting our deepest fears, this dystopian drama follows one woman’s search for the truth in a senseless world.
“You’ve found out something secret. You know that, don’t you?” Joan has just seen something she shouldn’t have. Far from home, she hears screams in the night. She’s uncovered a terrible secret that will change the course of her life.
Kate Hewitt was the Jerwood Assistant Director on Wild Swans, Sacha Wares’ staging of Jung Chang’s international bestselling novel at the Young Vic and Boston ART in 2012. She is Resident Director on Sam Mendes’ production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Theatre Royal Drury Lane and was part of the original creative team in 2013. Associate director credits include Headlong’s Medea directed by Mike Bartlett (UK tour 2012-13), Electra (Gate Theatre & Latitude). As Assistant Director she worked on Clybourne Park (Wyndham’s & Royal Court), Through a Glass Darkly (Almeida) and Breathing Irregular (The Gate). Kate co-created the first two shows with You Need Me theatre company, How It Ended and Certain Dark Things. She trained in Lecoq physical theatre at the London International School of Performing Arts after studying Drama at Goldsmiths.
Caryl Churchill has written for stage, television and radio for over 40 years. Her plays include Owners (1972), Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (1976), Cloud Nine (1979), Top Girls (1982), Fen (1983), Serious Money (1987), Icecream (1989), Blue Heart (1997), A Number (2002), A Dream Play after Strindberg (2005) and Drunk Enough To Say I Love You? (2006). Her play Love and Information premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012 and received its US premier at the New York Theater Workshop in February this year.
The JMK Trust, now in its 17th year, was set up to commemorate the visionary young director James Menzies-Kitchin, whose career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28. Applicants to the JMK Award must be under 30, have directed no more than two professional productions and must apply to direct a ‘classic text’. The award affords the practical benefits of a production budget, mentoring and support, alongside the opportunity to show work to both the industry and the discerning London audience.
For many, winning is the breakthrough moment in their directing career and alumni have become major players in British theatre. Previous winners include Thea Sharrock, Orla O’Loughlin, Bijan Sheibani, Mark Rosenblatt, Natalie Abrahami, Polly Findlay, Cathal Cleary, Sam Pritchard and Alex Brown in 2013. Previous runners up include Josie Rourke, Carrie Cracknell and Charlotte Westenra. Trustee Clare Menzies-Kitchin was awarded an MBE for services to drama in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in June 2012. www.jmktrust.org
Far Away by Caryl Churchill is directed by Kate Hewitt with design by Georgia Lowe. It is produced by Ros Terry.
Notes to Editors:
Dirty Butterfly
Runs 1 – 11 October 2014
Monday – Saturday: 7:45pm
Wednesday and Saturday matinees: 2:45pm
Tickets: £15 (£10 concessions)
Far Away
Runs 7 – 29 November 2014
Monday – Saturday: 7:45pm (13 November at 7pm)
Wednesday and Saturday matinees: 2:45pm
Tickets: £15 (£10 concessions). Previews: £10
Box office: 020 7922 2922 / www.youngvic.org