15 September 2021
Newsdesk
The full list of cast and creatives has been announced for Old Bridge, which opens at the Bush Theatre on 21 October (press night 27 October). Winner of the 2020 Papatango New Writing Prize, Old Bridge is a beautiful, heart-wrenching play by British-Bosnian writer Igor Memic.
‘One day all you care about is music, fashion, and boys. The next day there’s no food. Piece by piece your world starts to change so you change with it.’
Mostar, Yugoslavia, 1988. Mili, a boy from out of town, dives from the famous Old Bridge. Mina, a local girl, watches. As he falls, she begins falling for him.
Mostar, Bosnia, 1992. In a town of growing divisions, Mina and Mili never doubt that their future lies together. But nor can they imagine the dangers that future will bring.
This love story is a bold, fresh, and contemporary take on real events. An epic tale exploring the impact of a war that Europe forgot and the love and loss of those who lived through it.
Igor Memic is originally from Mostar. He grew up in London after leaving Yugoslavia in 1992 and studied at the University of Liverpool and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Old Bridge marks his professional debut.
Selma Dimitrijevic is a director and writer and artistic director of Greyscale. Her directing credits include Baroness And The Pig (Shaw Festival), joey (gobscure/Greyscale), Hedda Gabler, This is Not a Love Story (Northern Stage – also writer), The Gamblers (Dundee Rep – also writer), Gods Are Fallen And All Safety Gone (Almeida /UK tour/International tour – also writer), Dead To Me (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/UK tour), A Prayer (Almeida/Northern Stage/Hull Truck Theatre – also writer), A Beginning, A Middle And An End (Tron Theatre/tour), Harmless Creatures (Hull Truck Theatre), Tonight David Ireland Will Lecture, Dance and Box (Oran Mor/tour), What Would Judas Do? (Almeida/Northern Stage), and Incident at the Border, Cyrano de Bergerac and Waterproof (Òran Mór); and as a dramaturg, Sting’s musical The Last Ship (UK and USA tour). Further writing credits in opera and theatre include Berenice, To See The Invisible, Dr. Frankenstein, Night Time, Game Theory, and Re:Union. Her plays have been translated and performed around the world. She is Jerwood Artistic Adviser and Unlimited Ally.
Saffron Coomber plays Mina. Saffron trained at RADA. She was nominated for ‘Best West-End Debut’ at The Stage Debut Awards 2019 for her role in Emilia.
Her theatre work includes Leopards (Rose Theatre), Emilia (West-End), Sonnet Sunday (Globe), and A New and Better You (Yard Theatre). On television Saffron has appeared in The Deceived (New Pictures/Virgin Media/C5), Strike: Lethal White (BBC), Small Axe (BBC/Amazon), Flack (Hat Trick/Pop TV), Cuffs (Tiger Aspect/BBC), Eastenders (BBC), Youngers (BBC), Holby City (BBC), Tracy Beaker: Series 1 – 3 (BBC), Runaway (CBBC) and The Bill (Talkback Thames). Her films include Viral (Original Theatre Company), Electricity (Stone City Films), and Dustbin Baby (BBC). Her radio appearances include Writ in Water (BBC), Delete (Wireless Theatre Company), The Archers (BBC), CANE (BBC), Bird in The Hand (BBC), and the Radio Drama Company (BBC). Saffron was the recipient of the Carleton Hobbs Bursary for the BBC in 2018.
Rosie Gray plays Leila. Rosie is a British/Irish actor and theatre-maker and a co-director of Barrel Organ theatre company. She studied English and Creative Writing at Warwick University and trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Theatre credits include Andromeda (Nottingham Playhouse & CPT), Anyone’s Guess How We Got Here (Royal Exchange/UK tour), Julius Caesar (Bristol Old Vic), Our Town (Circomedia), Some People Talk About Violence (New Diorama/UK tour) and Nothing (Lyric Hammersmith). Film appearances include Hurricane (currently streaming on Netflix), The Writer’s Retreat, Redisplacement, and Lara & Bath Salts. Rosie was Assistant Director on Damsel Productions’ Grotty (Bunker Theatre).
Emilio Iannucci plays Sasha. Emilio graduated from Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. His screen credits include feature film Death of Stalin, Channel 4’s Traitors, and web series Gloss. Recent theatre credits include Around the World in 80 Days, Hello and Goodbye and The Book of Dragons at York Theatre Royal, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Rose Theatre in York, Peter Pan at The Mercury Theatre, Tall Stories' The Snow Dragon (UK Tour), and Twelfth Night and Henry V at The Pendley Shakespeare Festival. He is a co-founder of the physical theatre collective ‘Vantage Point’ who debuted with their show This Might Be It at the Theatre N16.
Dino Kelly plays Mili. Dino is about to appear in Invasion (AppleTV+). Dino's credits include Peaky Blinders (BBC), Inside No.9 (BBC), Don't Forget the Driver (BBC), The Good Liar (Warner Bros), Pandora (CW), Berlin Station (Paramount Pictures/Channel 4), Silent Witness (BBC), Cliffs of Freedom (Phaedra Films), The Hellenes (Pilot), Heimebrane (NRK Drama) and Mallorca Files (BBC).
Susan Lawson-Reynolds plays Emina. Her previous theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre), People, Places and Things (Headlong/National Theatre/UK tour), Disgraced (English Theatre Frankfurt), To Kill a Mockingbird (Regents Park Open Air, UK Tour, Barbican), No Rhyme (Brockley Jack Studio), The Scottsboro Boys (The Young Vic), A Clockwork Orange, Hansel and Gretel, The Snow Queen, Da Boyz, Aeroplane Man, Jack and the Beanstalk, (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Novello Theatre), The Harder They Come (Playhouse Theatre/Barbican/Theatre Royal Stratford East/ Adrienne Arts Centre, Miami/ Canon Theatre, Toronto), Anansi & The Magic Mirror, Anansi Trades Places, Ska By Day (Talawa), and Grace and the Don (Arts Theatre). Susan’s television appearances include Suspicion (Keshet Productions/Apple TV), The Sandman (Netflix), and Michael Jackson: Man in The Mirror. Film includes Why Wouldn’t I Be? (Broken Flames Productions), Masaryk, London Road, and White Liar (Short). Susan’s Associate Director credits include Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and choreography credits include Ska By Day (Talawa/Greenwich). Susan was Associate Choreographer on The Wiz (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Assistant Choreographer on Mattesson’s Fridge Raiders Hank Marvin (Rattling Stick Films) and The Harder They Come (Playhouse Theatre London, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Barbican, Adrienne Arts Centre Miami, Canon Theatre Toronto).
Tickets for Old Bridge are priced from £10 and can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or at the Box Office on 020 8743 5050
Papatango Theatre Company in association with the Bush Theatre present the winner of the 2020 Papatango New Writing Prize
Old Bridge
Written by Igor Memic
Directed by Selma Dimitrijevic
Set Design by Oli Townsend
Costume Design by Natalie Pryce
Lighting Design by Aideen Malone
Sound Design by Max Pappenheim
Movement Direction by Georgina Lamb
Intimacy Director – Yarit Dor
Cast - Saffron Coomber, Rosie Gray, Emilio Iannucci, Dino Kelly, Susan Lawson-Reynolds
21 Oct – 20 Nov at 7.30 pm
Matinees – 30 Oct, 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20 Nov at 2.30 pm
Press Night – 27 Oct at 7 pm
Captioned Performances – 3 Nov at 7.30 pm, 13 Nov at 2.30 pm
Audio Described Performances – 6 Nov at 2.30 pm, 18 Nov at 7.30 pm
Touch Tour – 6 Nov at 1.30pm, 18 Nov at 6.30pm
Relaxed and Sensory Adapted Performances – 30 Oct at 2.30 pm, 11 Nov at 7.30 pm
