The Tricycle theatre’s forthcoming season will see actors Lia Williams and Lucian Msamati showcase their directing talent for two productions set to open at the Kilburn venue later this year.
Williams’ production of Frank McGuinness’ The Match Box will open the season from 2 May (press night 8 May) to 1 June following its premiere at the Liverpool Playhouse last year. Starring Theatre Awards UK nominated actress Leanne Best, the one-woman show shines the spotlight on Sal, who, following a family tragedy with far-reaching consequences, looks back at the circumstances that caused her to leave England for the island of Valentia on the coast of County Kerry.
Olivier Award nominated actress Williams, who is currently appearing alongside Kristin Scott Thomas in Old Times at the Harold Pinter theatre, has enjoyed an extensive acting career having appeared in productions including Skylight in the West End and on Broadway, Earthquakes In London at the National Theatre and My Child at the Royal Court. Though she has previously directed a number of short films, including McGuinness’ The Stronger, The Match Box’s 2012 run at the Merseyside venue marked Williams’ stage directorial debut.
Following Williams’ production, the world premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s dark new play Bracken Moor, directed by Shared Experience’s Polly Teale, will play from 6 June (press night 14 June) to 20 July. Set in 1930s Yorkshire, Bracken Moor is a compelling tale of grief and denial about two families coming together to rediscover their lost friendship.
Best known for his debut play The Pride, which won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre following its run at the Royal Court theatre in 2008, Campbell’s other writing credits include The Faith Machine and Apologia.
Later in the season, Msamati will direct The Epic Adventures Of Nhamo The Manyika And His Sexy Wife Chipo from 1 August (press night 5 August) to 17 August. The debut play from Arabian Nights actor Denton Chikura tells the story of Nhamo, a goatherd who must save a company’s production when the cast are tasked with creating the ultimate African fable in just 24 hours.
The production will mark Msamati’s first production in his role as Artistic Director of leading British African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi. As an actor, he has previously starred in Clybourne Park and Belong at the Royal Court theatre, and The Comedy Of Errors and Death And The King’s Horseman at the National Theatre.
Talking about the Tricycle theatre’s spring season, the venue’s Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham said: ‘‘My second season is a chance to celebrate new writing, different voices and new collaborations with other exciting theatre companies. Creating relationships with other companies with a shared vision is vital for not only the Tricycle, but for the whole theatre ecology.”
The Match Box will open the newly announced season following Philip Himberg’s Paper Dolls, a compelling true story exploring an unlikely collision of cultures, which plays from 6 March to 13 April.