28 December 2017
Newsdesk
Niall Bishop (A Prayer, Hen & Chickens, Red Rock, BBC 1; Absolute Certainty, White Bear; The Seagull, Hemar Theatre; An Inspector Calls, New Wimbledon Theatre), Tanya Fear (Reflection, Royal Court Theatre; Kick-Ass 2; Midsomer Murders, ITV) and Eva-Jane Willis (Magnificence, Finborough Theatre; Winter Hill, Octagon Theatre; Humans, Channel 4; All My Sons, Nottingham Playhouse) will star in Tiny Dynamite, by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan, at the Old Red Lion Theatre this spring. Returning to London for its first professional revival in 15 years, this play explores how tiny events from our pasts can have explosive effects on our futures.
Tiny Dynamite follows the story of two childhood friends, Luce and Anthony, who both experienced the same traumatic event at an early age. That trauma has impacted them in different ways, and has led them down very different paths in life. But during their annual pilgrimage to the countryside, the pair encounter a beautiful stranger who couldn’t possibly exist, someone who threatens to uncover a truth long since buried.
Morgan described Tiny Dynamite as about ‘knowing when to take responsibility for your life and those moments when you have to just step back and let a miracle happen.’ Pertinently, taking personal responsibility for our actions is making daily headline news, and the play asks whether we can truly shed the experiences, memories and people that ultimately shape who we are – or whether we all, eventually, have to face a personal and collective truth.
The production merges qualities of a love story with those of a ghost tale and psychological thriller, presenting a fierce pressure cooker of memory and trauma which Morgan described as formally being akin to ‘a domino effect’, with the tension constantly building throughout.
Director, David Loumgair comments, With permission from Abi Morgan, and for this revival of the production only, we’ve changed the gender of the character of Luce from male to female. It’s an exciting change that brings an entirely new dynamic to the revival, especially with the oversaturation of male-driven narratives in theatre. It’s brilliant to be working with Time on their inaugural production, and to be directing not only a terrific play, but one with incredibly complex female characters who aren’t defined solely in relationship to men.
Since writing Tiny Dynamite, Morgan has written critically-acclaimed screenplays including Shame, starring Michael Fassbender and directed by Steve McQueen, The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep and Olivia Coleman, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, and Suffragette starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter and Ben Whishaw, directed by Sarah Gavron.
Running time Twitter
Director Designer
Anthony Luce Madeleine
Tiny Dynamite
Tuesday 9th January – Saturday 3rd February 2018 Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Saturday and Sunday matinees, 3pm
90 minutes @TheTimeProd
David Loumgair Anna Reid
Niall Bishop Eva-Jane Willis Tanya Fear
Location
How to get there
Box Office
Tanya Fear
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ, www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk.
The nearest underground station is Angel (on the Bank branch of the Northern line). The nearest rail station is Kings Cross St Pancras.
Tickets are available priced £18 (£16 concessions). Available from Old Red Lion Theatre Box Office and www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk or 0844 412 4307
Tanya has been in many TV series including Clean Break; Endeavor; The Room; Midsomer Murders; The Incident at Cooper Hill; DCI Banks; Spotless, Netflix; Boomers; Some Girls; Midnight Beast; The Trainees; The Fades; Shamed; upcoming C4 show. Film credits include My Dinner With Hervé; A Moving Image; Kick-Ass 2. Theatre credits include The Epic Adventure of Nhamo The Manyika Warrior & His Sexy Wife Chipo, Tricycle Theatre and Reflection, Royal Court Theatre.
Eva-Jane Willis
Eva- Jane trained at Drama Centre London. Theatre credits include Perfect Match, Watford Palace; Bruises, The Tabard; The 3rd Sector, En Folkefiende, Pleasance Theatre; Long Story Short, Charing Cross Theatre; Magnificence, Finborough Theatre; Winter Hill, Octagon Theatre and All My Sons, Nottingham Playhouse. Television credits include Humans, Channel 4/AMC/Kudos; Uncle, BBC; Maigret Sets a Trap, ITV. Film credits include Only Child, Footprint; Chick Lit, Capriol; Pinocchio Effect, idream Pictures. Only Child was nominated for a Welsh BAFTA in the short film category, in which Eva-Jane played the lead role based on the biblical character Bathsheba.
Niall Bishop
Niall trained at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and then with the Focus Theatre in Dublin. Recent work in theatre, TV and film include Absolute Certainty, White Bear; The Seagull, Hemar Theatre; Just Above Dogs, Lion & Unicorn; League of Youth, Theatre N16; Rise, London Tour; The Cripple of Inishmaan, Judi Dench Playhouse; An Inspector Calls, New Wimbledon Theatre; A Prayer, Hen & Chickens; Red Rock, TV3; Stones in His Pockets, The Gatehouse. He has appeared in short films Rot, Pursued, The Light That Refracts into the Shadows (National Film School), Cicatrix (Directors UK Alexa 2017 winner) and TV shows including Red Rock, BBC.
Time Productions
Founded in 2017, Time Productions aims to build a sustainable, independently-funded business to create a portfolio of new dramatic work and revived classic work, both live and online. The work will strike strong personal chords and resonate in contemporary society. Time aims to build a vigorous, collaborative team of actors, writers, directors, creative artists and technicians and producers and works with emerging and experienced dramatic talent, fairly paid and aspiring to the highest professional standards.
