Cast Announced for Rachel De-Lahay's Routes

Cast Announced for Rachel De-Lahay’s Routes

The cast has been announced for Rachel De-lahay’s new play Routes, which opens in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court from 20 September (press night 25 September). The cast is Peter Bankolé, Fiston Barek, Calvin Demba, Claire Lams, Anamaria Marinca and Seun Shote.

“- I don’t understand. I’m British
Technically, you’re not”

Anka got in and is here for good.
Olufemi is being coached to break back in.
Bashir has been here forever but he’s just been sent to limbo.
Lisa wants to send them all home.
Welcome to England.

A journey into to the heart of what it is to be a citizen, and finding a place where you belong.
A cutting new play about immigration and exile, and what happens when people fall through the cracks, Routes opens up the borders of friendship and family.
Rachel De-lahay’s debut play at the Royal Court was The Westbridge, which opened at the Bussey Building in Peckham in 2011 as part of Theatre Local, before playing to full houses in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. It was awarded the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Theatre Play. Rachel was part of the Royal Court’s Unheard Voices Writers Programme, which aims to support and develop writers whose voices are under-represented on British stages. Rachel was part of the group in 2009 aimed at young Muslim writers.

Simon Godwin directs. Associate Director at the Royal Court, his credits include Anders Lustgarten’s If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep, 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. Elsewhere, his credits include Strange Interlude at the National Theatre, A Kind of Alaska and Krapp’s Last Tape, Faith Healer and Far Away at Bristol Old Vic.

Routes 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. This is the second time Jerwood New Playwrights have supported Rachel’s plays, after her first play The Westbridge in 2011 was also selected to be part of the Jerwood New Playwrights programme.

ends
(16/08/12)

For further information and images, please contact Anna Evans on 020 7565 5063 annaevans@royalcourttheatre.com

Notes to Editors:

Cast:
Peter Bankolé Olufemi
Fiston Barek Bashir
Calvin Demba Kola
Claire Lams Lisa
Anamaria Marinca Anka
Seun Shote Abiola

Creative Team:
Simon Godwin Director
Paul Wills Designer
Oliver Fenwick Lighting Designer
Stuart Earl Composer
David McSeveney Sound Designer

Cast Biographies:

Peter Bankolé’s recent theatre credits include Fences on tour and in the West End, The Complaint at the Hampstead, In The Land of Uz (66 Books) at the Bush and Volpone at the Greenwich Theatre. His television credits include Death in Paradise and Spooks.

Fiston Barek’s last appeared at the Royal Court in truth and reconciliation by debbie tucker green. His theatre credits include Little Baby Jesus at Oval House and Love the Sinner at the National Theatre.

Calvin Demba’s television credits include Youngers, Casualty and Hollyoaks. The part of Kola in Routes is his first major stage role.

Claire Lams last appeared at the Royal Court in Harvest by Richard Bean. Her theatre credits include One Man, Two Guvnors at the National, in the West End and on Broadway, W11 at the Gate, While You Lie at The Traverse and Educating Rita at the Watermill. On television she has appeared in Obsessed, Casualty and Random.

Anamaria Marinca’s theatre credits include The Seagull for the Theatre Studio Alfortville, 4.48 Psychosis at the Young Vic and Measure for Measure for Complicité. Her film credits include Europa, The Countess and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 3 Days, which won the Palm D’Or at Cannes. Anamaria won a Best Actress BAFTA in 2005 for her performance in Sex Traffic.

Seun Shote’s theatre credits include Our Country’s Good for Original Theatre, Pinching for my Soul for Focus Theatre, Salome for Headlong and Death and the King’s Horseman for the National Theatre. On television he has appeared in MI High, Little Miss Jocelyn and The Cut.

Listings Information:
Routes
by Rachel De-lahay
directed by Simon Godwin
Fri 20 Sep – Sat 12 Oct 2013
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday matinees (from Sat 28 Sep) 3pm
Thursday matinee (from 3 Oct) 3pm
Captioned Performance Wednesday 9 October
Press Night Wednesday 25 September, 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until 28 Sept incl, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Wed-Sat and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

Coutts supports Innovation at the Royal Court Theatre

Coutts is the UK private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Coutts has a long history of supporting the arts going back 200 years, having looked after the financial affairs of many famous clients connected with the arts such as Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens and Chopin. In 1816, Thomas Coutts married Harriot Mellon, a popular actress of her day, and together they became partners of a number of London Theatres, including the Drury Lane and the Royal Opera House. Coutts has even featured in a number of artistic works including The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the new millennium, this tradition has continued not only through managing the finances of many of today’s top writers, actors and musicians, but also through our arts sponsorship programme and we are delighted to support The Royal Court and its diverse range of ground-breaking performances.

Routes by Rachel De-lahay is supported by Jerwood New Playwrights

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 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