CAST ANNOUNCED FOR VIOLENCE AND SON

PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday 5 May 2015

The cast has been announced today for Gary Owen’s play Violence and Son at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre in London (3 June to 11 July – press night 8 June). The full cast is Morfydd Clark, Jason Hughes, David Moorst and Siwan Morris.

Directed by Hamish Pirie, Gary Owen’s intimate new play is about what parents pass on and trying to do the right thing.

“People know, you’re my boy. And they know better than to lay a fucking finger on you. See? You are safer here with me, than you have ever been.”

Liam’s 17 years old, loves Dr Who and has lost his mum. He has had to move to Wales, to the valleys, to the middle of nowhere, to live with a dad he doesn’t know. Whose nickname isn’t Violence for nothing.

Morfydd Clark will play Jen, Jason Hughes will play Rick (aka Violence), David Moorst will play Liam and Siwan Morris will play Suze.

The production is designed by Cai Dyfan, with lighting design by Lizzie Powell and music and sound design by Mark Melville.

Violence and Son will be accompanied by three Big Idea events Violence and Shame with psychologist and poet Jonathan Asser (10 June), Gary Owen in Conversation (25 June ) and Power and Consent with academics Dr Susan Hansen and Dr Jackie Gray who specialise in forensic psychology (8 July).

Welsh playwright Gary Owen makes his Royal Court debut with Violence and Son. He is winner of the Meyer Whitworth, George Devine and Pearson best play awards.  His other plays include Iphigenia in Splott, Love Steals Us From Loneliness, Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco, The Shadow of a Boy, (winner, Meyer Whitworth Award, George Devine Award), The Drowned World (winner, Fringe First and Pearson Best Play Award), Ghost City, Cancer Time, SK8, Big Hopes, In the Pipeline, Blackthorn, Mary Twice, Amgen:Broken, Bulletproof, The Ugly Truth and Free Folk. His adaptations include Spring Awakening and Ring Ring, a new version of La Ronde for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Dickens A Christmas Carol for Sherman Cymru. He is a Creative Associate at Watford Palace Theatre, where his plays We That Are Left, Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian, and Perfect Match have been produced. 

Hamish Pirie is Associate Director at the Royal Court and this will be his third production for the theatre after directing Who Cares and Teh Internet is Serious Business.
His previous directing credits include I’m With The Band and Demos, Quiz Show, Love With A Capital ‘L’, 3 Seconds, Most Favoured, Bravo Figaro and The Last Bloom at the Traverse, Edinburgh (where he was previously Associate Director) and Salt Root and Roe for the Donmar Warehouse’s Trafalgar Studio season.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

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For more information, please contact Anoushka Hay on 020 7565 5063 or email anoushkahay@royalcourttheatre.com

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Cast Biographies:

Morfydd Clark’s theatre credits include Blodeuwedd at Theatr Genedlathol Cymru. Her television credits include Arthur & George (ITV1), A Poet in New York (BBC) and New Worlds (Channel 4). Film credits include Love and Friendship, The Call Up, Pride Prejudice & Zombies, The Falling, Madame Bovary and Two Missing.

Jason Hughes last appeared at the Royal Court in A Real Class Affair and Phaedra’s Love. Other theatre credits include In The Next Room (St. James), 4:48 Psychosis (Royal Court US Tour), Caligula (Donmar), Design for Living, Fight for Barbara (Theatre Royal, Bath), A Wing and a Prayer (Battersea Arts Centre), Kiss Me Like You Mean It (Soho Theatre), In Flame (New Ambassador’s), Look Back in Anger (Lyttelton), The Herbal Bed (Royal Shakespeare Company), Snake in the Grass (Old Vic), The Illusion (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Badfinger (Donmar); Nothing to Pay (Thin Language); The Unexpected Guest (Theatre Royal, Windsor), Macbeth (Theatre Clwyd), A Slice of Saturday Night (Theater Auf Tournee). His television credits include Midsomer Murders, Dead Long Enough, Mine All Mine, Plain Jane, The Flint Street Nativity, Harry Enfield and Chums, Strangers in the Night, This Life, King Girl, Casualty, Castles, Peak Practice, The Bill and London’s Burning.

David Moorst is a recent LAMDA graduate. He has recently appeared in Wonderland at Hamsptead theatre. His television credits include Partners in Crime and Holby City.

Siwan Morris last appeared at the Royal Court in Gas Station Angel. Other theatre credits includes Tonypandemonium, A Good Night Out in the Valleys (National Theatre Wales), Cloakroom (Sherman Cymru), Knives in Hens (Bath Theatre Royal), Midsummer Nights Dream, Suddenly Last Summer (both at Theatr Clwyd), The Seagull (Bristol Old Vic), Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night (UK Tour), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter’s Tale (Ludlow Festival), Feast of Snails (Lyric), The Rabbit, King Lear, Flora’s War, Hosts of Rebecca, The Journey of May Kelly, Rape of the Fair Country, Equus (all at Theatr Clywd). Her television credits include Pishyn Glo (S4C), Doctor Who, Our Girl, Wolfblood, Holby City, Whites (BBC), Caerdydd (Fiction Factory), Miss Marple (ITV) and Skins (Channel 4/E4). Her film includes Dark Signal, the Devils Vice and The Machine.

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The Big Idea: Violence and Son
Violence and Shame
Psychologist and poet Jonathan Asser in conversation with Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie about the impulses that drive men to commit acts of violence.
Wednesday 10 June, 6pm
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
£5 (or free with a ticket for that evening’s performance)

Gary Owen in Conversation
The playwright talks to Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie
Thursday 25 June, post-show
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Free with a ticket for this performance

Power and Consent
With Dr Susan Hansen and Dr Jackie Gray academics specialising in forensic psychology at the University of Middlesex.
Wednesday, 8 July, 6pm
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
£5 (or free with a ticket for Violence and Son)

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Listings Information:

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Violence and Son
by Gary Owen
directed by Hamish Pirie
Wednesday 03 June – Saturday 11 July 2015
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs , Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday – Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday matinees (from 13 June) 3pm
Thursday matinees (from 11 June) 3pm
Captioned Performance Tuesday 07 July 2015, 7.45pm
Press Night Monday 08 June, 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20
Mondays all seats £10 (available on the day from 9am online)
Concessions £15 (available in advance until 13 June, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)*
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (available Wednesday – Saturday matinee, plus midweek matinee)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

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The Big Idea is a strand of work launched during Open Court, offering audiences radical thinking and provocative discussion inspired by the work on stage. The Big Idea seeks to foster debate and collaboration, bringing together leading thinkers and artists from all walks of life to engage with the big ideas of our times, through a series of debates and events. AlixPartners support The Big Idea at the Royal Court Theatre.

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Coutts is the wealth division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. 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 Coutts managing the finances of many of today’s top writers, actors and musicians, but also through our arts sponsorship programme. We are delighted to support The Royal Court and it’s diverse range of ground-breaking performances. For further information please visit coutts.com

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