“Cats like to tease mice. in other words, I’m saying, it’s not something that happens by accident when they’re pursuing some other more respectable purpose. No. They like to do it”

In Grasses Of A Thousand Colours, the scientist who tinkered with the universe tells us of his many loves. As his self-obsession literally consumes him, we listen to tales of food, sex and man’s true best friend. Grasses Of A Thousand Colours is an extreme, disturbing and funny vision of the embattled relationship between man and beast.

This is a new play by American actor and playwright Wallace Shawn, directed by his long-term collaborator and My Dinner With Andre co-star Andre Gregory.

As an actor, Shawn is known for his performances in Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Clueless and The Princess Bride. He has lent his voice to several animated films including Toy Story. Shawn’s plays include The Fever and Aunt Dan And Lemon, which are also staged by the Royal Court as part of its Wallace Shawn Season.

Commenting on the season, Royal Court Artistic Director Dominic Cooke said: “Wallace Shawn is a true iconoclast and I have been a fan of his work for many years. He is a daringly inventive, experimental playwright who exposes, with painful honesty, the dualities of liberalism in a divided world.”

Shawn himself stars in this world premiere production of Grasses Of A Thousand Colours alongside acclaimed English actress Miranda Richardson, whose screen credits include The Hours, Sleepy Hollow, Tom And Viv andthe Blackadder series. Richardson was nominated for Actress of the Year at the 1987 Laurence Olivier Awards for her performance in A Lie Of The Mind, also at the Royal Court.

For more about Grasses Of A Thousand Colours at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, read the First Night Feature.