Cast announced for Teh Internet is Serious Business

PRESS RELEASE

Tim Price’s fictional account of the true story of hacking activists Anonymous and LulzSec opens at the Royal Court Theatre from 17 September (press night 23 Sep).

The cast includes Kae Alexander, Natalie Dew, Amir Giles, Sarah Goulding, Kevin Guthrie, Hamza Jeetooa, Ferdinand Kingsley, Kerr Logan, Nathaniel Martello-White, Faith Prendergast, Quang K Van, Eileen Walsh and Sargon Yelda.

The collective first hit the headlines in 2011, after a number of big corporations were caught off-guard by the group in a series of high profile online attacks, which resulted in an international investigation and several arrests, including of two British teenagers, Mustafa Al-Bassam and Jake Davis.

Told from their point of view, Teh internet is Serious Business uses original music and physical movement to capture the energy, mischief and darkness behind the internet and bring the Anonymous community to life.

“We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.“



A 16-year-old London schoolboy and an 18-year-old recluse in Shetland meet online, pick a fight with the FBI and change the world forever.

Tim Price gets behind the code with the original Anonymous members and creates an anarchic retelling of the birth of hacktivism, Anonymous and LulzSec, – the collective swarm who took on the most powerful capitalist forces from their bedrooms.




The production is directed by Hamish Pirie, designed by Chloe Lamford, with lighting by James Farncombe, music by James Fortune, sound by David McSeveney and choreography by Emma Martin.

Teh Internet is Serious Business is the latest play from Tim Price to humanise a major current news event that captivated the world, bringing it to stage in a fictional retelling. His play Protest Song at the National Theatre’s temporary venue looked at the Occupy movement through the eyes of a homeless man and National Theatre Wales’ The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning explored the Welsh roots of the US solider, sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing classified state documents to WikiLeaks.

Tim Price’s other credits include I’m With The Band directed by Hamish Pirie at the Traverse, Praxis Makes Perfect (with Neon Neon and National Theatre Wales), Demos at the Traverse, For Once for Pentabus and Hampstead Theatre, tour), Salt Root and Roe, as part of the Donmar Warehouse’s Trafalgar Studio season, which was nominated for an Olivier Award and Will and George.

Tim is one of the founders of Cardiff’s leading fringe new writing company Dirty Protest. Launched in 2007, the company has worked with over one hundred Welsh writers, staging new sell-out plays in alternative venues, from pubs and clubs, to kebab shops, hairdressers and a forest. The company took over the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court for a night in 2013, as part of Surprise Theatre in the Open Court festival.

Hamish Pirie is Associate Director at the Royal Court and this will be his first production. He has worked with Tim Price on three of his shows, directing I’m With The Band, Demos at the Traverse, Edinburgh (where he was previously Associate) and Salt Root and Roe for the Donmar Warehouse’s Trafalgar Studio season. His credits at the Traverse include Quiz Show by Rob Drummond, Love With A Capital ‘L’ by Tony Cox, 3 Seconds by Lesley Hart, Most Favoured by David Ireland, Bravo Figaro by Mark Thomas, The Last Bloom by Amba Chevannes and 50 Plays for Edinburgh.

Listings Information:
Teh Internet is Serious Business
by Tim Price
directed by Hamish Pirie
Wednesday 17 September – Saturday 25 October 2014
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 27 September)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 25 September)
Captioned Performance Wednesday 15 October, 7.30pm
Press Night Tuesday 23 September, 7pm
Audio Described Performance Saturday 25 October, 2.30pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £32, £22, £16, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available in advance to Friends and Supporters subject to availability and on the day of the performance from 9am online)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance until Saturday 27 September, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £12 (limited availability)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Wednesday -Saturday matinee, plus midweek matinees)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Wednesday -Saturday matinee, plus midweek matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate) *ID required. All discounts subject to avail.

Cast:
Kae Alexander
Natalie Dew
Kevin Guthrie
Hamza Jeetooa
Ferdinand Kingsley
Kerr Logan
Nathaniel Martello-White
Eileen Walsh
Sargon Yelda

Dance Ensemble includes:
Amir Giles
Sarah Goulding
Faith Prendergast
Quyang K Van

Creative Team
Hamish Pirie Director
Chloe Lamford Designer
James Farncombe Lighting Designer
James Fortune Composer
David McSeveney Sound Designer
Emma Martin Choreographer

Cast Biographies:

Kae Alexander is best known for her role as Jing in BBC3’s Bad Education. Her screen credits include House of Anubis on Nickelodeon and she will appear in feature film The White Room later this year.

Natalie Dew credits include Twelfth Night at Liverpool Everyman, Fault Lines at Hampstead, Romeo and Juliet at the National Theatre, Arab Nights for Mette Theatre, Hamlet for Northern Broadsides and Arabian Nights for the RSC.

Kevin Guthrie’s credits include Macbeth for Jamie Lloyd’s season at the Trafalgar, Beautiful Burnout , Men Should Weep and Peter Pan for National Theatre of Scotland and Dunsinane, Royal Shakespeare Company. On screen, he played the lead role in the Proclaimers film Sunshine on Leith and has just finished filming for Robert Carlyle’s film The Legend Of Barney Thomson and Terence Davies’ film adaptation of Sunset Song.

Hamza Jeetooa’s credits include Sympathy for the Lemon at the Bush Theatre, Guantanamo Boy at Stratford Circus and Sweet Cider at the Arcola.

Ferdinand Kingsley’s credits includes Venice Preserv’d for Spectators’ Guild, Red Velvet for the Tricycle, York Mystery Plays and The King James Bible: The Gospel According To Mark and Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre. On screen, he was most recently seen in The Whale on BBC One and has just finished filming on the series Borgia and film Dracula Untold.

Kerr Logan’s credits include London Irish for Channel 4, BBC1’s The Crimson Field, Matthos Seaworth in Game of Thrones and the feature film Good Vibrations. On stage, his credits include White Star of the North for Out of Joint and Belfast Lyric.

Nathaniel Martello-White last appeared at the Royal Court in Gastronauts and was part of the Collaboration cast in Open Court. He also appeared in Oxford Street by Levi David Addai. Other credits include Edward II at the National Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, City Madame, Marat/Sade at the RSC and Blackta, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The Brothers Size at the Young Vic.

Eileen Walsh last appeared at the Royal Court in Sand, as part of Surprise Theatre in Open Court and also appeared there in 2001 in Sarah Kane’s Crave. Her most recent credits include The Believers for Frantic Assembly, Liola for the National Theatre, Quizshow at the Traverse, Hamlet at the Young Vic and Macbeth at the Abbey Theatre and starred alongside Cillian Murphy in Disco Pigs. On screen, her credits include Nicholas Nickleby and The Magdalene Sisters.

Sargon Yelda’s credits include Incognito at Hightide, Newcastle Live and the Bush Theatre, Moby Dick and The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari at the Arcola, Comedy Of Errors, Twelfth Night, The Tempest at the RSC, Mother Courage and her Children at the National and Stovepipe at Hightide Festival and the Bush. On screen his credits include the feature film Dead Cat.

Coutts support 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.