Eric Bogosian’s gritty drama of small town dreams, SubUrbia, is to be staged by LOST Theatre at the Southwark Playhouse in June.
Set in suburban America, Bogosian’s play follows a group of dissolute 20-somethings whose lives are fuelled by sex, drugs and alcohol. The group gathers outside a local convenience store to await the return of school friend Pony, who has found success as a musician. But as the evening progresses, bitterness, anger and jealousy bubble to the surface.
Originally written in 1994, SubUrbia, was released as a film in 1997 with a cast including Parker Posey, Giovanni Ribisi and Steve Zahn.
This new production, directed by Matthew Hahn, stars a cast including Alister Barton, Claire Chate, Kate Bishop, Nicholas Dawkes, Saskia Fischer, Rahim Galia, Mandeesh Gill, Steve Lennon and Giles Roberts.
Writer and actor Bogosian is best known for Talk Radio, which he wrote, starred in and adapted as a film. He was nominated as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the process. On stage, he has written and appeared in six one-man shows to have been staged off-Broadway; Men Inside, FunHouse, Drinking In America, Sex Drugs Rock & Roll, Pounding Nails In The Floor With My Forehead and Wake Up And Smell The Coffee.
LOST Theatre, which presents SubUrbia at the Southwark Playhouse, has helped launch the careers of actors Jamie Ballard and Ralph Fiennes, and writer Dennis Kelly. Founded in 1979, it aims, through its productions, to develop young professional actors, writers and directors.
SubUrbia runs at the Southwark Playhouse from 10 to 28 June (press night 12 June).
MA