Arcola Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company today announce the full cast for the London première of Pippa Hill and Sophie Ivatts’ adaptation of #WeAreArrested by Can Dundar, a vital story about the cost of reporting the truth in the age of fake news. Ivatts directs Jamie Cameron (Son), Peter Hamilton Dyer (Can) and Indra Ové (Wife). The production opens on 18 November, with previews from 13 November and runs until 7 December.
When a journalist is sent a flash-drive containing critical evidence of illegal government activity, he is duty-bound to publish the story. But with the nation destabilised and divided, a sinister power is eroding the rule of law. What price will he pay for speaking out?
#WeAreArrested is a gripping play about fighting for truth in a network of lies.
Adapted from the book by Can Dundar, who was arrested for publishing footage of Turkish State Intelligence sending weapons into Syria, this deeply personal yet universal story finds urgent new life as authoritarian politics spread across the globe.
#WeAreArrested was commissioned and originally produced as part of the RSC Mischief Festival at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2018, an ongoing celebration of new writing. The full cast revive their roles for the London première.
Can Dundar is a journalist and writer. He has written over 40 books including Kirmizi Biziklet (Red Bike), Yuzyilin Aşklari (The Loves of the Century), Yakamdaki Yuzler (The Faces on My Collar), Ben Boyle Veda Etmeliyim (I Should Say Goodbye Like That) and Karaoğlan (Black Boy). He stepped down from his post as the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet in August 2016, after he was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison due to his reporting on the Turkish Intelligence Service involvement in the Syrian war. He is currently living in exile in Germany and is a columnist for the daily newspaper Die Zeit and commentator for WDR’s Cosmo. Dundar was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
Pippa Hill is Head of the Literary Department and senior Dramaturg for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her credits for the company include The Boy in the Dress, A Museum in Baghdad, The Whip, Maydays, Don Quixote, Miss Littlewood, The Fantastic Follies of Mrs. Rich, A Christmas Carol, Kingdom Come, The Earthworks, Vice Versa, The Hypocrite, The Seven Acts of Mercy, Fall of the Kingdom, Always Orange, Queen Anne, Don Quixote, Hecuba, Oppenheimer, The Christmas Truce, The Roaring Girl, The Ant and the Cicada, I Can Hear You, Wendy & Peter Pan andThe Empress.
Sophie Ivatts credits as a director include Got It In One (Old Red Lion Theatre) and It Falls (Theatre503); and as resident director her credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time (Gielgud Theatre). As associate director her credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation (RSC), Belongings (Hampstead Theatre) and Cinderella (Oxford Playhouse).
Jamie Cameron plays Son. His theatre credits include Day of the Living, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation (RSC), A Christmas Carol (The Old Vic), Carmen Disruption (Almeida Theatre), Once The Musical (Phoenix Theatre/international tour); and for film, Anna Karenina.
Peter Hamilton Dyer plays Can. His theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation, Epicoene (RSC), Twelfth Night, Richard III (Apollo Theatre/Belasco Theater/Shakespeare’s Globe), King Lear (Tokyo/Shakespeare’s Globe), The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Henry VIII, All’s Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, The Changeling, The Broken Heart, Anne Boleyn, Gabriel, The Frontline, Holding Fire!, The Golden Ass (Shakespeare’s Globe), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
(UK tour), The Bacchae (Shared Experience), Richard II, The Moonstone (Royal Exchange Theatre), Mrs Orwell (Southwark Playhouse), and The Caretaker and David Copperfield (Dundee Rep Theatre). His television credits include Downton Abbey, Wolf Hall and Silk.
Indra Ové returns to the Arcola Theatre to play Wife, she previously appeared in Peer Gynt. Her theatre credits include The Ugly One (Park Theatre), The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre), Torn (Royal Court Theatre), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Gielgud Theatre), Yes, Prime Minister (UK tour), Ten Women (Ovalhouse), Twelve Angry Women (Gutted Theatre Company/Lion & Unicorn Theatre), Etta Jenks (Finborough Theatre), Under One Roof (King’s Theatre Glasgow/V&A/Soho Theatre), The Seagull (National Theatre Studio), Blinded by the Sun, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (National Theatre) and Timon of Athens (Young Vic). Her television credits include Good Omens, Unforgotten, Dark Heart, Marcella, Requiem, Glue, The Best Man and The New Worst Witch; and for film, Finding Your Feet, Second Spring, My One and Only, Club Le Monde, It’s All About Love, Resident Evil, The Fifth Element and Othello.
#WeAreArrested Listings
Arcola Theatre
24 Ashwin Street, London, E8 3DL
13 November – 7 December 2019
Press night: Monday 18 November, 7pm
Box Office: 020 7503 1646
www.arcolatheatre.com
