FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR DAVID EDGAR’S THE NEW REAL
THE NEW REAL
By David Edgar
Directed by Holly Race Roughan
Presented in association with Headlong
The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon
Thursday 3 October – Saturday 2 November
Press Night: Thursday 10 October at 7pm
Box Office: rsc.org.uk, 01789 331111
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Full casting is announced for David Edgar’s fiercely topical new play, The New Real which runs in the RSC’s The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon between Thursday 3 October and Saturday 2 November 2024. Directed by Holly Race Roughan (Artistic Director of Headlong) this is the tenth of David’s plays to be premiered by the RSC.
Opening just ahead of this year’s US election in a world where populist leaders are transforming the political landscape, The New Real explores the battle between mainstream politics and a new national-populist Right.
The full cast comprises: Daon Broni (Don/Justin), Edyta Budnik (Natalia), Ziggy Heath (Oleg), Roderick Hill (Petr Lutsevic), Patrycja Kujawska (Liudmilla Bezborodko), Martina Laird (Rachel Moss), Jodie McNee (Caro Wheeler), Lloyd Owen (Larry Yeates) and Sergo Vares (Zhudov). Full bios can be seen here.
Set during presidential elections in a former communist Eastern European country, The New Real sees two American political strategists engaged in a grudge match far from home, working for competing candidates, and redrawing the political faultline. They think they’ve come to teach the East how to do elections, but is the learning the other way around? And will what they’ve learned spread to Western Europe, Britain and America? An origin story of the contemporary political scene, Edgar’s panoramic play explores the wider themes of how political and personal ideals are expressed, challenged and betrayed.
In July Edgar co-authored (with political commentator Jon Bloomfield), The Little Black Book of the Populist Right (Byline Books) which describes and analyses much of the factual background of The New Real.
Talking about The New Real, David Edgar said:
“Following the success of Marine le Pen’s National Rally and other national-populist parties in mainland Europe, the rise of the Reform Party in Britain, and the possibility of a second Trump term, a play about the rise of national populism couldn’t be more timely. I’m delighted that the play is being premiered in Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey’s first season at the RSC, in the 50th anniversary year of The Other Place, and directed by Headlong’s groundbreaking Artistic Director Holly Race Roughan. Critic Michael Billington described the original The Other Place as the most productive tin hut in history. I’m privileged that this will be the fifth of my plays to be premiered there.”
Director, Holly Race Roughan commented:
“It's been such a privilege working with the legendary political playwright David Edgar on his fiercely timely new play. From my very first read, I was struck by its incisive examination of the intense political and cultural polarisation we're all living through. The chance to stage it during a history-making year for international elections was irresistible. Through sharp characterisation, wit, and impeccable plotting, David has laid bare how the lines between truth and fiction have been blurred in the 21st Century's pursuit of power, challenging our fundamental understanding of freedom and democracy. I'm thrilled to bring such a timely and thought-provoking story to life with such a tremendous cast in the newly re-configured The Other Place.”
Performed in traverse, The New Real runs in The Other Place, the RSC’s studio theatre, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Having been opened by Buzz Goodbody in 1974, The Other Place has presented much of the RSC’s new work, including David Edgar’s first play for the RSC - Destiny – which opened there in 1976. Also marking their 50th year is Headlong, which continue to build upon their long-standing ambition and reputation of championing early-career artists, presenting innovative new work and bringing timely re-imaginings of classics to the fore.
CASTING FOR THE NEW REAL
Martina Laird (Casualty, Unforgotten, Dreamland) and Lloyd Owen (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) return to the RSC to play the sparring American political strategists, Rachel Moss and Larry Yeates.
Perhaps best known for playing Comfort Jones in Casualty, Martina Laird’s theatre credits include The White Devil, Three Hours After Marriage, Troilus and Cressida and Coriolanus (RSC), Moon On A Rainbow Shawl (National Theatre), The House That Will Not Stand (Tricycle), and the all-female Shakespeare trilogy (Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest) directed by Phyllida Lloyd at the Donmar. Other screen credits include Bele in the ITV crime drama, Unforgotten (ITV), The Little Mermaid (Disney), and Diane in SKY Atlantic’s Margate-based comedy Dreamland.
Lloyd Owen plays the role of Elendil in Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the second season of which premieres on 29 August. Lloyd’s other theatre credits include: Noises Off (Garrick), The End of Longing (Playhouse), Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf (Almeida/Aldwych), The Bodyguard (Adelphi), and Henry VI: The Battle for the Throne and The Beggar’s Opera (RSC). Other screen credits include: Miss Potter, Monarch of the Glen (BBC), The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and You, Me and the Apocalypse (SKY).
Roderick Hill and Patrycja Kujawska, respectively, play the Eastern European political candidates, Petr Lutsevic and Liudmilla Bezborodko. Roderick’s theatre credits include Everybody, The Bald Soprano, Edmond and Vernissage (Budapest). Patrycja’s theatre credits include Don John (RSC), and extensive credits for Wise Children and Kneehigh, including Blue Beard and Little Match Girl (Wise Children), and The Tin Drum and Tristan and Yseult (Kneehigh).
Jodie McNee returns to the RSC to play Caro Wheeler, a British political data analyst. Previous RSC credits include: Venice Preserved, A Life of Galileo, Measure for Measure and Written on the Heart (also by David Edgar)
Late summer also sees the premiere of Edgar’s Here in America, which runs at the Orange Tree in Richmond between 14 September and 19 October. Set during the McCarthyite anti-communist witch hunt of the late 1950s, the play is about the stark choice faced by Hollywood and Broadway’s leading director, Elia Kazan, and his close collaborator, Arthur Miller. Both threatened by being blacklisted for their opinions, should they betray their friends, or risk never working again?
David Edgar has worked with the RSC for over four decades, making him the Company’s most produced living writer to date, and most premiered playwright ever. His original plays for the RSC include: Destiny (1976); The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs (1979); Maydays (1983, revived in a new version in 2018); Pentecost (1994, transferring to the Young Vic, London, 1995); The Prisoner’s Dilemma (2001); Written on the Heart (2011, transferring to the Duchess Theatre, London, 2012); adaptations include The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1991); and A Christmas Carol (2017, 2018, 2022), his first Dickens adaptation since the multi-award winning production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby in 1980, which premiered at the Aldwych Theatre before transferring to Broadway in 1981 where it went on to win The Society of West End Theatre and Tony award for ‘Best Play’.
In 2019, David wrote and performed his one-man solo show Trying It On, which toured to the Birmingham Rep, the RSC’s The Other Place, the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs and the Traverse Theatre during the 2019 Edinburgh Festival, and on tour.
Holly Race Roughan is Artistic Director of Headlong, for whom her recent directing credits include The House Party (Minerva Theatre, Chichester), A View From The Bridge (Chichester Festival Theatre), Henry V (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Corrina, Corrina (Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse).
Joining Holly on the creative team are: Set and Costume Designer: Alex Lowde; Lighting Designer: Joshie Harriette; Composer: Monika Dalach Sayers; Sound Designer: Max Perryment; Movement Director: Michela Meazza; Video Designer: Luke Halls; Dramaturg: Chris Campbell; Casting Director: Matthew Dewsbury CDG; Dialect Coach: Aundrea Fudge; Associate Video Designer: Zakk Hein; and Assistant Director: Masha Kevinovna.
For more press information, please contact:
Dean Asker, RSC Senior Media Relations Officer
dean.asker@rsc.org.uk, 0778 9937759
NOTES TO EDITORS
THE NEW REAL
By David Edgar
Directed by Holly Race Roughan
Presented in association with Headlong
The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon
Thursday 3 October – Saturday 2 November
Press Night: Thursday 10 October at 7pm
Set in the 2000s in a faraway country, Rachel, a stellar American political strategist, and Caro, her British data whizz, have been hired to fight a ferocious election, in a place where it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. They think they’re here to teach the Eastern Europeans how to do democracy, but it turns out they’re here to learn. And when Rachel’s former political partner Larry rocks up on the rival side, their showdown threatens to change global politics, from Warsaw to Wisconsin. Forever.
Chilled, Audio Described and Captioned performance: Saturday 19 October, 1.15pm
Chilled performance: Thursday 24 October, 1.15pm
Hand held Captioned performance: Friday 1 November, 7.15pm
Creative Team Talk: Wednesday 9 October, 5.15-6pm
Post Show Talk: Friday 18 October
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
The New Real is a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award
With thanks to Season Supporters Backstage Trust and Miranda Curtis CMG
RSC £10 Tickets for 14-25s supported by TikTok
The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
New Work at the RSC is generously supported by Hawthornden Foundation and The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates exceptional theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning a wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare – and theatre as a whole – is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and live performance, and with our learning and education work throughout the UK and across the world.
About Headlong
We’re Headlong.
We make theatre with the power to move.
Big, exhilarating productions that use the unexpected to connect everyone we reach, right across the nation.
Whether a work is old or new, there are always different questions we can ask. So our productions are an invitation: to come and see something in a new way. Join us.
Previous Headlong productions include untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, People, Places & Things and Enron.
Artistic Director - Holly Race Roughan
Executive Director - Lisa Maguire
Previous Artistic Directors of Headlong and the Oxford Stage Company include Gordon McDougall, Richard Williams, John Retallack, Dominic Dromgoole, Rupert Goold and Jeremy Herrin.
Publicly supported by Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies responsible for administering the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, of which we delivered over £1 billion to the sector in grants and loans. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.
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