22 February 2021
Newsdesk
Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham, today announces programming for Spring 2021, including a live stream of the staged rehearsed reading of Girl on an Altar - a newly commissioned work by Marina Carr, and Kiln Collaborations, a series of online panel discussions from leading industry figures. Also announced today, Tom Piper joins Kiln Theatre as Associate Designer and recruitment is live for brand new scheme Kiln Resident Assistant Designer which sees the creation of two opportunities for early career designers.
Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham said today, “As we continue to work on reopening it is important we keep finding ways to connect with our communities. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to embed Tom into the organisation, advocating for freelancers and to add a Resident Assistant Designer into our team. These are firsts for Kiln and we couldn’t do it without the support of Backstage Trust. It is vital in these difficult times that we continually look at how to support and engage with the pathways into theatre careers.
“The play-reading of Girl on an Altar is an opportunity for audiences to have an insight into a process of play to stage. They will be watching a commissioned play before it’s first production and will witness a part of the process rarely seen by the public.
“The Collaborations series will create much needed conversations about how we want to collaborate and how we want to move forward as a whole industry.”
The cast of Girl on an Altar includes Adjoa Andoh (Clytemnestra), Ayesha Antoine (Cassandra), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Cilissa), Finbar Lynch (Aegisthus), Joseph Mydell (Tyndareus), Patrick O’Kane (Agamemnon). The reading will be live streamed for free online on 5 March at 7pm.
With many freelancers and theatre workers facing isolation and uncertainty, Kiln Theatre has created Kiln Collaborations - a series of online panel discussions where theatre creators come together to share experiences, approaches and advice on how to navigate the theatre industry by sticking together and working collaboratively. The initial panels will take place on 24 Feb 2021 and 11 March at 6.30pm, and will feature discussions from creatives Ayesha Antoine, Polly Bennett, Kinnetia Isidore, Tony Jayawardena, Shelley Maxwell, Coral Messam, Tom Piper, Kiln Associate Directors Taio Lawson and Susie McKenna and Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham. The panels will also discuss current difficulties facing freelancers and how to plan and prepare for the future. Both events are free and will be via Zoom.
Tom Piper joins Kiln Theatre as the first Associate Designer and has been integral to the creation of a brand new scheme to support and diversify opportunities for early careers designers in the face of the uncertainties facing the industry and those attempting to forge careers in theatre design specifically. The scheme will see the creation of two 9 month full-time roles over the next 18 months, and will involve training, mentoring and the opportunity to work alongside Piper to support opening up pathways into theatre design for those of all backgrounds. This has been made possible by the generous support of Backstage Trust. For more information and to apply, visit https://kilntheatre.com/our-story/jobs/
Piper has a longstanding relationship with Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham and has designed numerous shows for the company including Red Velvet, The House That Will Not Stand, The Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes and most recently White Teeth. He also supported the redesign and refurbishment of Kiln Theatre in 2018.
Tom Piper today said “I am passionate about design education and early career opportunities, and the status of freelancers within the arts. I hope that this will be the first in a number of opportunities to help diversify and give those wanting to pursue a career a valuable start.”
Jean Chan, a theatre designer who was previously part of the RSC trainee designer which Piper set up, said today “the [RSC] scheme gave me one of the best starting opportunities to learn first-hand how theatre productions are put together in the real world. The scheme helped me grow in knowledge and confidence to become the designer that I am today, I am sure the new Kiln Theatre scheme will offer the same great opportunities.”
Please find images here - https://we.tl/t-IyQv6I9IXy
GIRL ON AN ALTAR
By Marina Carr
Available at Kiln Player on 5 March 2021, 7pm
A re-telling of the ancient myth of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon.
A girl child is sacrificed on an altar for the wind to change so the Achaeans can sail to Ilium. Her father Agamemnon is to blame. Following his return ten years later, his wife Clytemnestra wants justice for her daughter.
Marina Carr’s new telling of the infamous Greek myth brings Clytemnestra’s story to the forefront and shows us the true strength of a mother’s love.
Kiln Player brings you the unique opportunity to see a rehearsed reading of this newly commissioned work live streamed for free. Ticket bookers will have the opportunity to make a donation to Kiln Theatre as part of the checkout process. Donations will go towards the Kiln Community Appeal, supporting Kiln Theatre's many communities through new and existing projects. Read more at https://kilntheatre.com/kiln-community/.
Marina Carr’s work for the stage includes Blood Wedding (Young Vic), Anna Karenina (Abbey Theatre), Mary Gordon (National Concert Hall), Hecuba (RSC), new contemporary translation of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto (Opera Theatre Company, Irish National Tour), 16 Possible Glimpses (The Abbey Theatre), Phaedra Backwards (McCarter Theatre, Princeton), The Giant Blue Hand (Ark Theatre Commission), Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Quartet (Traverse Theatre), MARBLE (Abbey Theatre), The Cordelia Dream (RSC at Wilton’s Music Hall), Woman And Scarecrow (Royal Court Theatre), By The Bog Of Cats (Abbey Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre), Ariel (Abbey Theatre), On Raftery’s Hill (Town Hall Theatre Galway, Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, Kennedy Center Washington DC), Portia Coughlan (Abbey Theatre, Royal Court Theatre), The Mai (Peacock Theatre, Dublin - Winner of Best New Irish Play at Dublin Theatre Festival), Low In The Dark (Projects Arts Centre, Dublin) and Ullaloo (Dublin Theatre Festival, Abbey Theatre). Carr was awarded the 2017 Windham-Campbell Prize.
Adjoa Andoh returns to Klin Theatre to play Clytemnestra. Her theatre credits include Richard II (Shakespeare’s Globe), Troilus and Cressida (RSC), Leave Taking (Bush Theatre), Assata Taught Me (Gate Theatre), Soul (Royal & Derngate/Hackney Empire), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Donmar Warehouse), A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes (Tricycle Theatre), Great Expectations (Bristol Old Vic), Julius Caesar (RSC/Noël Coward Theatre/BAM), Or You Could Kiss Me, The Revenger’s Tragedy, His Dark Materials, Stuff Happens (National Theatre), Sugar Mummies, Breath Boom (Royal Court Theatre), Nights At The Circus, Pericles (Lyric Hammersmith) and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Young Vic). For television, her credits include as series regular Lady Danbury in Bridgerton, as DI Nina Rosen in Silent Witness, Acceptable Risk, Cucumber and The Awakening. For film her credits include Brighton, Fractured and Brotherhood.
Ayesha Antoine returns to the theatre to play Cassandra – she previously appeared in White Teeth and Red Velvet (Garrick Theatre), A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes and The House That Will Not Stand. Her other theatre work includes Hamlet (Garrick Theatre), Life of Galileo, Trade (Young Vic), Dirty Great Love Story (Arts Theatre), The Suicide (National Theatre), The Ghost Train (Royal Exchange/Told By An Idiot), We Are Proud to Present... (Bush Theatre), Tartuffe (Birmingham REP), Absurd Person Singular, My Wonderful Day, Surprises (Stephen Joseph Theatre/ 59E59), One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (Sheffield Crucible/Eclipse Theatre Company tour), Carrot (Theatre503), The Mountaintop (Derby Playhouse), Blue/Orange (Tiata Fahodzi/Arcola Theatre), Madblud, Family Man, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Big White Fog (Almeida Theatre) and The Firework Maker's Daughter (Lyric Hammersmith/Told By An Idiot tour). For television her work includes Thunderbirds are Go!, Chewing Gum, Pompidou, Doctor Who, Holby City, Bellamy's People, Mongrels, Mouth to Mouth, and Grange Hill.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster returns to Kiln Theatre to play Cilissa – she previously appeared in Not Black and White season. Her theatre credits include Victory Condition (Royal Court Theatre), Meet Me at Dawn, Swallow (Traverse Theatre), The Almighty Sometimes (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Everyman). For television, her work includes Intergalactic, Sex Education, Years and Years, The Long Song, Top Boy, The Bible, Cucumber, The Mimic, Bad Girls – as series regular Crystal Gordon, Doctor Who and EastEnders – as series regular Trina Johnson; or for film, Dune, The Intent 2: The Come Up, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Three and Out.
Finbar Lynch plays Aegisthus. His extensive theatre work includes Indecent (Menier Chocolate Factory), Girl From the North Country (Noel Coward Theatre, Gielgud Theatre and Toronto), The Lady From the Sea, Hecuba, To the Green Fields Beyond, Fool for Love, Translations (Donmar Warehouse), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Antony and Cleopatra, Not About the Nightingales (National Theatre), Antigone (Barbican and world tour), Desire Under the Elms (Lyric Hammersmith), The Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne, Paris, New York), The Duchess of Malfi (The Old Vic), Faith Healer (Bristol Old Vic), The Big Fellah (Out of Joint), The Raggered Trousered Philanthropist (Chichester Festival Theatre), as well as for the RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, Amphibians, and A Woman Killed with Kindness. For television, his work includes Treasdstone, The Mallorca Files, The Feed, Foyle’s War, DCI Banks, Breathless, Game of Thrones, Silk and Proof; and for film, Adventures of a Mathematician, The World We Knew, Property of the State, Departure, Suffragette, To Kill a King and The Scold’s Bride.
Joseph Mydell plays Tyndareus. His theatre credits include The Visit, Evening at the Talk House, The Comedy of Errors, Edmond, Alice’s Adventures Underground, Angels In America – for which he won Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor (National Theatre), Death Of A Salesman (Young Vic/Piccadilly Theatre), A Season in the Congo, Elektra (Young Vic), The Tragedy of King Richard II, Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Hamlet (RSC), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Novello Theatre), Mother Christmas and Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre). His television credits include Mrs. Wilson, Homeland, The Missing and Space Precinct; and for film, The Eternal Daughter, Seven and Me, Woman in Gold, Tonight You’re Mine, Mammoth and Manderlay.
Patrick O’Kane plays Agamemnon. His theatre credits include Macbeth, War Horse, Scenes From The Big Picture, Closing Time, Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet, The Playboy of the Western World (National Theatre), Woyzeck in Winter (Black Box, Barbican, Dublin Theatre Festival), Red, The Crucible (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Quietly (Abbey Theatre, Public Theater Irish Repertory, Soho Theatre, Traverse Theatre), Seven Acts of Mercy, Macbeth (RSC), Antigone (Barbican, Theatre de la Ville, BAM), Sixteen Possible Glimpses (Abbey Theatre), Titanic: Scenes From The British Wreck Commissioners Inquiry (MAC Belfast) and Doctor Faustus (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester). His television credits include Doctor Who, Come Home, DCI Banks, The Secret, Jamaica Inn, Strike Back, The Borgias, The Fall, Game of Thrones, Wire in the Blood, Five Days, If…, Waking the Dead, Gunpowder, Treason & Plot, Any Time Now, As The Beast Sleeps, In Deep and Liverpool 1; and for film, Female Human Animal, The Last Jedi, Boat, The Music Room, Prometheus, Exorcist – The Beginnings, Octane and Stealing Rembrandt.
Kiln Theatre Listings
Information for all events can be found at www.KilnTheatre.com
Kiln Collaborations 1 – Designer, Costume Supervisor and Actor
24 Feb 2021 – 6.30pm
Kiln Theatre Associate Director Taio Lawson hosts an evening with Designer Tom Piper, Costume Designer Kinnetia Isidore and Actors Ayesha Antoine and Tony Jayawardena.
Girl on an Altar
5 Mar 2021 – 7pm
Marina Carr’s new telling of the infamous Greek myth brings Clytemnestra’s story to the forefront and shows us the true strength of a mother’s love.
Kiln Collaborations 2 – Choreographer, Movement Director and Director
11 Mar 2021 – 6.30pm
Kiln Theatre Associate Director Susie McKenna hosts an evening with Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham, Movement Directors / Choreographers Polly Bennett, Shelley Maxwell and Coral Messam.
Girl on an Altar is supported by Jon and NoraLee Sedmak.
Kiln Collaborations are funded by the Kiln Community appeal.
Tom Piper and the new Resident Assistant Designer have been appointed due to generous funding from the Backstage Trust.
