Great Britain is a satirical play written by Richard Bean. It received its world premiere at the Royal National Theatre, London on 30 June 2014, before transferring to the West End's Theatre Royal Haymarket.
| Great Britain | |
|---|---|
 Theatre Royal Haymarket production poster | |
| Written by | Richard Bean |
| Date premiered | 30 June 2014 |
| Place premiered | Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London |
| Original language | English |
Production history
editGreat Britain is written by English playwright Richard Bean.[1] In May 2013,[2] it was revealed Bean was working on a new play based on the phone hacking scandal, having been commissioned by National Theatre artistic director Sir Nicholas Hytner, whilst still working on his play One Man, Two Guvnors.[3] Speaking about the play he revealed that it would be set in a tabloid newsroom and is a play about the state-of-the-nation, press, politics and police in bed with each other.[2] In March 2014, it was revealed that an undisclosed Bean play would premiere as part of the National Theatre 2014-15 season,[4] Hytner's last as the National's artistic director.[5] In May 2014, it was revealed that Billie Piper and Oliver Chris were taking part in workshops for the play[6] and that the cast and crew had signed non-disclosure agreements[citation needed] for the as yet untitled production.[6]
On 25 June 2014, the play was officially announced as Great Britain and that it would premiere without a preview period on 30 June, at the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.[7] It is a satire about the press, police and politics, and stars Billie Piper as a newspaper editor, Paige Britain. The play is directed by Nicholas Hytner,[8] with design by Tim Hatley,[9] lighting design by Neil Austin,[10] video design by Leo Warner,[11] music by Grant Olding,[12] sound design by Paul Arditti[12] and Clive Coleman acting as a story consultant.[13] The launch was slightly delayed by concerns over legal issues which might have been caused by running at the same time as R v Coulson, Brooks and others.[14]
Following its premiere production the play transferred to the West End's Theatre Royal Haymarket on 9 September 2014,[15] with its official opening night coming on 26 September,[16] booking until 10 January 2015.[17] The transfer was announced only one day after opening at the national.[18] Lucy Punch took over the role of Paige Britain and Ben Mansfield replaced Oliver Chris as Asst. Commissioner Donald Doyle Davidson for the West End Run,[16] due to prior commitments.[19] The play was reworked for its West End debut, with around twenty minutes cut from the running time.[20]
Principal roles and original cast
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| Character | National Theatre performer[13] | West End performer |
|---|---|---|
| Paige Britain | Billie Piper | Lucy Punch |
| Wilson Tikkel | Robert Glenister | |
| Asst. Commissioner Donald Doyle Davidson | Oliver Chris | Ben Mansfield |
| Hunter Dixon | Ross Boatman | |
| Garth Ellerington | William Chubb | |
| Paschal O'Leary | Dermot Crowley | |
| Marcus Hussein | Scott Karim | |
| Maddy Fitzpatrick | Barbara Kirby | |
| Boris Tudor | Nicholas Lumley | |
| Diane Bendall | Maggie McCarthy | |
| Billy Cain | Iain Mitchell | |
| Commissioner Sully Kassam | Aaron Neil | |
| Howard Woolf | Nick Sampson | |
| Wendy Klinkard | Kiruna Stamell | |
| Mac Macmanaman | Andrew Woodall | |
| Tina Ursal / Babs | Sarah Annis | |
| Larry Arthur / Bodger | Robert Calvert | |
| Virginia White / Jackie Spence / DI Da Costa | Jo Dockery | |
| Jimmy the Bins / St John / Felix | Ian Hallard | |
| Wallace Gee / Kieron Mills | James Harkness | |
| Thierry Picq / Sergeant Ojo | Miles Mitchell | |
| Gemma Charles / Stella Stone | Kellie Shirley | |
| Clarissa Kingston-Mills / Stella's Mum | Harriet Thorpe | |
| Jonathan Whey / Stevie | Rupert Vansittart | |
| DCI Cram/ Jasper Donald | Joseph Wilkins | |
External links
edit
References
edit- ^ "Playwright Richard Bean does not shy away from controversy. The author of phone hacking drama Great Britain tells Dominic Cavendish about his latest play". telegraph.co.uk. London: The Telegraph. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Guvnors' pleasure barely contained". theage.com.au. Melbourne: The Age. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ "Richard Bean, who wrote One Man, Two Guvnors, is 'nearly ready' to deliver drama set in tabloid newsroom". The Guardian. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ "Hytner announces National Theatre plans for 2014/15". londontheatre.co.uk. London Theatre. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ Healy, Patrick (20 March 2014). "Hytner's Final Season at National Theater to Include New Stoppard Play". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Billie Piper and Oliver Chris workshopping Richard Bean satire about Leveson Inquiry?". whatsonstage.com. Whats On Stage. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ^ "National Theatre to stage 'phone hacking play'". bbc.co.uk/news. BBC News. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ Taylor, Paul (1 July 2014). "Billie Piper 'excellent' as tabloid editor". independent.co.uk. London: The Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ "Richard Bean's play about tabloid phone-hacking has been overtaken by real-life events, says Tim Walker". telegraph.co.uk. London: The Telegraph. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ "Billie Piper stars in phone hacking play at National Theatre". whatsonstage.com. Whats On Stage. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ "London's National to Premiere Richard Bean's Great Britain". playbill.com. Playbill. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Great Britain to transfer to the Haymarket". trh.co.uk. Theatre Royal Haymarket. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Great Britain at the National Theatre Cast & Creative". nationaltheatre.org.uk. Royal National Theatre. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ Brown, Mark (25 June 2014). "National Theatre stages surprise phone hacking play". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Lucy Punch Stars in GREAT BRITAIN, Beginning Tonight at the Theatre Royal Haymarket". broadwayworld.com. Broadway World. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ a b ""Into the Woods" Star Lucy Punch Tapped to Lead West End Transfer of Great Britain". playbill.com. Playbill. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Phone hacking play Great Britain gets West End transfer". bbc.co.uk/news. BBC News. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Fast Transfer for Richard Bean's Great Britain to West End Following National Theatre Run". playbill.com. Playbill. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Can Great Britain still make a splash without headline star Billie Piper?". The Guardian. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Back to the hacks: playwright Richard Bean on the reworked West End production of his play Great Britain". standard.co.uk. London Evening Standard. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.