The Hampstead Theatre has announced this year’s Spring season for its Main Stage, featuring two world premieres, a UK premiere of a text which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and direction from Edward Hall, Simon Godwin and Michael Longhurst.
The season opens with the world premiere of Ryan Craig’s fiery new family comedy Filthy Business, directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall and led by Sara Kestelman, who returns to the venue following her starring role in The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide… The Scriptures, in the lead role of Yetta. This new production takes a closer look at the entrepreneurial outsiders who became part of the beating heart of Modern Britain.
Filthy Business at Hampstead Theatre
Set in 1968, East London, over the years and against all the odds, Yetta Solomon builds a thriving business from nothing through sheer grit and passion. Ignoring all the obstacles – insufficient capital, economic downturns, aggressive competition – she finds a way to survive everything adversity could throw at her – but her family unexpectedly begin to dream of leaving it behind. How far will she go to keep the business in the family – and visa versa? Find out when previews begin on 10 March, with press night on Wednesday 16 March, and performances running until 22 April.
The world premiere of Stephen Brown’s new play Occupational Hazards, based on Rory Stewart’s critically acclaimed memoir of the same name, then follows from 28 April-3 June, with press night on 8 May.
Occupational Hazards at Hampstead Theatre
Directed by Simon Godwin (Associate Director at the National Theatre), this new play tells an extraordinary story about the moral conflicts, the dangers and the comic absurdities inherent in any foreign occupation, centring on a governor posted to serve in a province of the newly liberated Iraq. But the sharp local realities of occupation plunge Stewart into a dangerous whirlpool of political intrigue in which the double-dealing of opposing interest groups creates intensifying confusion and chaos – Washington may have to rethink its dreams of Iraqi democracy…
The UK premiere of Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ Gloria, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2016, closes the season, directed by Michael Longhurst (Amadeus at the National Theatre). Therazor-sharp comic drama focuses on ambition, office warfare and hierarchies, where the only thing that matters is moving up the ladder and selling out to the highest bidder, and plays from 15 June – 22 July (press night Wednesday 21 June).
Gloria at Hampstead Theatre
Set in New York, a city that runs on ambition – and coffee – a group of ruthless editorial assistants vie for their bosses’ jobs at a notorious Manhattan magazine and a book deal before they’re thirty. But trapped between Starbucks runs, jaded gossip and endless cubicle walls, best-selling memoir fodder is thin on the ground – that is until inspiration arrives with a bang…
Meanwhile, previewing Downstairs at the Hampstead Theatre in 2017 are Experience (20 January – 18 February), written by Dave Florez, directed by Tom Attenborough and starring Christian Cooke, Kirsty Besterman and Charlotte Lucas, as well as Scarlett (23 February – 25 March).
Public booking for the new season opens on Monday 30 January at 10.30am, with priority booking for Friends of the venue on Monday 23 January at 10.30am. For more information, please visit the venue’s website.