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Preview by Jack Foley
PYRENEES, by Davig Greig, is the third production
in Paines Plough’s ambitious new writing season, This Other
England. It will be playing at London's Menier Chocolate Factory
from March 29 to April 24.
At the foot of the Pyrenees, a man is found unconscious in the
snow. He is a mystery. He has no memory and no hint to his own
identity save what appears to be a British accent.
“I am a smoker, I’m not from Yorkshire,
It’s not much but it’s a start”
Working on this single clue, a young woman is dispatched from
the British Consulate to investigate.
Over the course of a day, as the snow melts, a bond begins to
develop between the two until an elegant woman arrives claiming
to be his wife throwing these tentative beginnings into confusion,
and the man is forced to choose between a lost past and an uncertain
future.
Pyrenees is a lyrical new play about truth, cultural
identity and belonging.
David Greig is one of Britain’s most popular and prolific
playwrights, and has four productions playing in London in 2005
– including The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman
He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union at The Donmar in
the Spring and The American Pilot for the RSC in the
summer.
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His fourth production, an adaptation
of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu The King, and a co-production
between The Tron Theatre Company and Dundee Rep, will play later
in the year as part of The Barbican’s Young Genius season.
His previous work includes Caligula for The Donmar,
When The Bulbul Stopped Singing and Outlying Islands
for The Traverse and for the Tron; Casanova (a co-production
with Suspect Culture) and San Diego (a co—production
with Edinburgh International Festival)
The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in
the Former Soviet Union and Pyrenees will
both be playing concurrently in London.
They can be seen as companion pieces, and as the first two plays
in a trilogy – linked by theme and characters.
Pyrenees is directed by Vicky Featherstone, outgoing
Artistic Director of Paines Plough and first Artistic Director
of the National Theatre of Scotland.
Pyrenees will be her last production before taking up
this new role. She previously directed The Cosmonaut's Last
Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union
for Paines Plough at The Lyric Hammersmith.
The full cast is Frances Grey, Jonathan McGuiness, Hugh Ross
and Paola Dionisotti.
Paola returns to working with the Tron, following her success
in the company’s co-production with The National Theatre
of Zinnie Harris’ Further than the Furthest Thing,
a role for which she was awarded Best Actress at The Evening Standard
Awards.
Set Design is by Neil Warmington, Lighting Design by Natasha
Chivers and original music by Nick Powell.
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