Southwark Playhouse announces the world premiere of Philip Ridley’s one-woman show Tarantula which will be streamed live from The Little on 30 April and 1 May 2021.
Tarantula stars Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia) who made her professional stage debut in Ridley’s Angry in 2017. She returns to The Little to play Toni.
This is the second world premiere of a Philip Ridley play to be live streamed from the theatre following his critically acclaimed The Poltergeist in November 2020. It is directed by Wiebke Green and produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment.
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment presents the live stream premiere of
TARANTULA
by Philip Ridley. Directed by Wiebke Green.
Casting direction by Jane Deitch.
Cast: Georgie Henley.
Dates: Friday 30 April at 7.45pm, Saturday 1 May at 3.15pm (captioned) and 7.45pm
Online press performance: Friday 30 April at 7.45pm
It's a sunny, spring day in East London.
On a street corner, two teenagers kiss.
One of them is Toni. This is her first kiss.
It makes her very happy.
But someone is watching.
Someone who doesn't care about her happiness at all.
And they're about to change Toni's life... forever.
Philip Ridley's thrilling new play is a startling exploration of identity, memory, love, and the lengths it takes someone to free themselves from the web of their past.
The 3.15pm performance on Saturday, 1 May will be captioned. Full details on the website link here: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show-whats-on/tarantula
Widely considered to be one of the greatest living British writers, Philip Ridley’s previous plays include The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Radiant Vermin, The Pitchfork Disney, Tender Napalm, Dark Vanilla Jungle, and Mercury Fur, as well as the screenplay for the 1990 film The Krays.
Georgie Henley plays Toni. She shot to worldwide fame aged eight when she was cast as Lucy Pevensie in the Oscar-winning The Chronicles of Narnia series. She took time out of acting to study English at Cambridge before returning to star opposite Ella Purnell in indie film Access All Areas. She made her professional stage debut at Southwark Playhouse in 2017 in Philip Ridley’s Angry opposite Tyrone Huntley. Other television and film credits include The Spanish Princess, Perfect Sisters, The Sisterhood of Night, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian.
Director Wiebke Green returns to Southwark Playhouse where she directed the world premiere of Ridley’s The Poltergeist. She trained at The Orange Tree Theatre with an MA in Theatre Directing, and as Intern Director to Katie Mitchell on Orlando (Schaubuhne) and Anatomie eines Suzids (Schauspielhaus Hamburg). Her directing credits include The Beast will Rise (online series), Sadness and Joy in the Life of Giraffes (Orange Tree), Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands (Vault Festival). She assisted Lily McLeish on Scrounger (Finborough Theatre), Richard Twyman on Dealing with Clair (Orange Tree), and Jethro Compton on The Frontier Trilogy and Sirenia (Edinburgh Fringe).
Aria Entertainment was founded in 2012 by Katy Lipson. In 2017, Katy was awarded the Best Producer award by the Off-West End Awards and is a recipient of a Stage One Bursary and Start Up Award. She took part in the first ever UK/US Producer Exchange in 2019 and was nominated for International Producer of the Year in 2020 by the League Of Professional Women in New York. She made “The Stage 100” a list of the most influential people working in British theatre in 2018, 2019 and 2020 for her work as producing artistic director of the Hope Mill Theatre. She has produced musicals including Mame, Rags, Spring Awakening, Yank, Little Women, Parade (Hope Mill Theatre), Pippin, Aspects Of Love, The Toxic Avenger, Promises, Promises (Southwark Playhouse). Recent productions include UK Tours of The Addams Family, the 50th Anniversary production of Hair (Hope Mill and Vault Theatre), The Mystery Of Edwin Drood (Arts Theatre) and The Last Five Years (Southwark Playhouse). Upcoming productions include A Killer Party (online stream), Zorro (London), Sammy (Lyric Hammersmith) and Contact (Lowry Theatre).
Venue
Southwark Playhouse
77-85 Newington Causeway
London SE1 6BD
All performances of Tarantula will take place online. In line with current government guidance, there will be no live audiences at the theatre.
How to Watch
Tarantula is performed live from the theatre and needs to be watched at the specific performance time. These are: Friday, 30 April at 7.45pm, Saturday 1 May at 3.15pm and Saturday 1 May at 7.45pm. All tickets are £10, increasing to £15 during show week from w/c 26 April 2021.
Tarantula booking link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show-whats-on/tarantula
