The Young Vic has announced two new shows for its summer season; 2007 Edinburgh Festival hit immigration drama The Container and Alecky Blythe’s brothel-set docu-drama The Girlfriend Experience.
The Container, which is presented in association with Amnesty International, is performed inside a lorry which will be parked in The Cut, near the Young Vic, for three weeks from 15-30 July.
Performed to an audience of 28 theatregoers at a time, the drama, written by Clare Bayley, tells the story of immigrants trying to smuggle themselves into the UK inside a sealed container. When it was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival, the show won the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award for starkly focusing on issues of asylum and immigration.
Commenting on the show, Young Vic Artistic Director David Lan said: “Theatre is always an expression of our common humanity. In life there are no bit parts, no walk ons. Everybody matters equally. I am delighted that, in association with Amnesty International and supported by a number of well-wishers, we can give new life to this powerful performance, this unique evocation of the experience of the thousands who risk everything to share the life opportunities we take for granted.”
The Container is joined in the summer season by The Girlfriend Experience (24 July to 15 August), which was previously staged at the Royal Court in autumn 2008. It transfers to the Young Vic with the same cast of Debbie Chazen, Esther Coles, Lu Corfield, Beatie Edney and Alex Lowe.
Set in a brothel, it tells the story of a group of friends who work together as prostitutes, mixing flat-pack furniture with PVC and garden gnomes with watersports. Directed by Young Vic Associate Director Joe Hill-Gibbins, Blythe’s play features a script of edited conversations with real prostitutes which is played through headphones to the actors, who perform the conversations on stage.
The Container and The Girlfriend Experience join a Young Vic summer season that also includes submarine drama Kursk, musical Been So Long, the revival of Barry Keefe’s racism drama Sus, children’s show Brilliant and Sarah Kane’s final play 4:48 Psychosis.
MA