Cast Announced for If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep at Royal Court

PRESS RELEASE

Friday 11 January 2013

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR IF YOU DON’T LET US DREAM, WE WON’T LET YOU SLEEP

The cast has been announced for Anders Lustgarten’s new play If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep. Susan Brown, Ben Dilloway, Laura Elphinstone, Daniel Kendrick, Damien Molony, Lucian Msamati, Ferdy Roberts and Meera Syal will all appear in the production, directed by Simon Godwin from 15 February (press night 20 February) until 9 March.

“I believe that open markets and free enterprise are the best imaginable force for improving human wealth and happiness. And I would go further: where they work properly, they can actually promote morality.”
David Cameron, Jan 2012

As the financial world issues its shock treatment, what happens when the City’s agenda is taken to its ultimate conclusion?

Anders Lustgarten’s passionately argued new play explodes the ethos of austerity and offers an alternative.

Anders Lustgarten won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwright’s Award in 2011 which is given annually by Pinter’s widow, Lady Antonia Fraser, to support a new commission at the Royal Court.

His first produced play A Day at the Racists about the workings of the British National Party premiered at the Finborough Theatre in March 2010. Since turning to playwriting in 2007, he has completed writing attachments at Soho Theatre, National Theatre and Bolton Octagon. He read Chinese Studies at Oxford and alongside his writing, he works as a political activist across the world, focusing on the actions of multi-national corporations in developing countries.

Simon Godwin will direct. Associate Director at the Royal Court, his credits include NSFW by Lucy Kirkwood, The Witness by Vivienne Franzmann, Luke Norris’ Goodbye to All That, Anya Reiss’ The Acid Test, and Nick Payne’s Wanderlust. Other credits include A Kind of Alaska and Krapp’s Last Tape, Faith Healer and Far Away at Bristol Old Vic.

Susan Brown last appeared at the Royal Court in Luke Norris’ Goodbye to All That. Other stage credits include Making Noise Quietly at the Donmar Warehouse and Saved at the Lyric Hammersmith.

Ben Dilloway’s recent credits include King Lear at the Almeida, Step 9 of 12 and Mercury Fur at Trafalgar Studios.

Laura Elphinstone was last at the Royal Court in Love and Information. Her other credits include Chalet Lines at the Bush Theatre, Utopia at Soho and Live theatre Newcastle, A Month in the Country and Top Girls (also in the West End) at Chichester Festival Theatre and Pains of Youth at the National

Daniel Kendrick’s credits at the Royal Court include Ding Dong The Wicked and Vera Vera Vera.

Damien Molony’s credits include Travelling Light at the National Theatre, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore at West Yorkshire Playhouse and Being Human on BBC3.

Lucian Msamati’s credits at the Royal Court include Belong and Clybourne Park. His other credits include The Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre, Ruined at the Almeida and Death and the King’s Horseman at the National. On screen, he appears in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones and is JLB Matekoni in the BBC/HBO TV adaptation of The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency. He is Artistic Director of Tiata Fahodzi.

Ferdy Roberts is co-Artistic Director of Filter Theatre and his recent theatre credits include Three Kingdoms, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Three Sisters at the Lyric Hammersmith and Silence at Hampstead Theatre.

Meera Syal’s credits include Much Ado About Nothing at the RSC, Killing of Sister George at the Arts Theatre, Shirley Valentine at the Menier Chocolate Factory. On screen, she is perhaps best known for The Kumars at Number 42 and Goodness Gracious Me.

If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep will be presented as a production without décor in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. A regular fixture at the Royal Court on Sunday evenings in the 1960s, a production without décor gave an emerging playwright the opportunity to have their play showcased on the main stage, in a full production but with minimal setting.

If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep is part of the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights programme, which aims to discover and support the next generation of world class playwrights, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

ends
(11/01/13)

For more information, please contact Anna Evans on 0207565 5063 annaevans@royalcourttheatre.com

Notes to Editors:

Cast

Susan Brown
Ben Dilloway
Laura Elphinstone
Daniel Kendrick
Damien Molony
Lucian Msamati
Ferdy Roberts
Meera Syal

Creative Team
Director Simon Godwin
Design Consultant Lucy Sierra
Lighting Designer Jack Williams
Sound Designer David McSeveney

Listings Information:

If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep
By Anders Lustgarten
Directed by Simon Godwin
Fri 15 Feb – Sat 9 Mar 2013
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 23 Feb)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 7 Mar)
Press Night Wednesday 20 February, 7pm
Post-Show Talk Tuesday 5 March
Captioned Performance Wednesday 6 March, 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance Saturday 2 March, 2.30pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £28, £20, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available on the day of the performance from 9am online)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance for all performances until Sat 23 Feb inclusive and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £8* (available on £20 and £12 tickets)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Tue-Fri, plus matinees)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Tue-Fri)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability

Jerwood New Playwrights is a longstanding partnership between the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and the Royal Court. Each year, Jerwood New Playwrights supports the production of three new works by emerging writers, all of whom are in the first 10 years of their career. The Royal Court carefully identifies playwrights whose careers would benefit from the challenge and profile of being fully produced either in the Jerwood Downstairs or Jerwood Upstairs Theatres at the Royal Court.

The Jerwood Charitable Foundation supports the Jerwood New Playwrights programme and is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting emerging artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of its funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information visit www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org