Hampstead Theatre announces its Spring season 2017 for the Main Stage:

  • The world premiere of Ryan Craig’s fiery new family comedy Filthy Business will be directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall and star Sara Kestelman in the lead role of Yetta.

  • The world premiere of Stephen Brown’s new play Occupational Hazards, based on Rory Stewart’s critically acclaimed memoir of the same name, will by directed by Simon Godwin.

  • The UK premiere of Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ Gloria, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2016, will be directed by Michael Longhurst.

FILTHY BUSINESS

A new play by Ryan Craig

Directed by Edward Hall
10 March – 22 April 2017

‘When you’ve got no nation, no government, no place in the world what have you got? Family. You can’t depend on anything else’

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Ryan Craig’s fiery family drama Filthy Business. Directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall, this new production takes a closer look at the entrepreneurial outsiders who became part of the beating heart of Modern Britain. Critically acclaimed actor Sara Kestelman takes on the lead role of matriarch Yetta Solomon in this epic new work.

1968, East London. Over the years and against all the odds, Yetta Solomon has built a thriving business from nothing through sheer grit and passion. Ignoring all the obstacles – insufficient capital, economic downturns, aggressive competition – she has found a way to survive everything adversity could throw at her.

Now she faces her toughest challenge: her family. In a rapidly changing Britain, Yetta must protect the shop and keep it in the Solomon family. But her sons, grandchildren and in-laws have other ideas… Always ruthless, how far will she go to keep the business in the family and the family in the business?


OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS

A new play by Stephen Brown
Based on the memoir by Rory Stewart

Directed by Simon Godwin
28 April – 3 June 2017

‘It’s democracy. Everyone is equally unhappy. It’s the defining feature of the system’

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Stephen Brown’s play Occupational Hazards, which is based on Rory Stewart’s critically acclaimed memoir of the same name. Directed by Simon Godwin, this new play tells an extraordinary story about the moral conflicts, the dangers and the comic absurdities inherent in any foreign occupation.

September 2003. Rory Stewart, a thirty year old former British diplomat and soldier of distinction and accomplishment, is posted to serve as governor in a province of the newly liberated Iraq. His job is to help build a new civil society at peace with itself and its neighbours – an ambitious mission, admittedly, but outperforming Saddam should surely not prove too difficult…

Yet, freedom from repressive tyranny has allowed centuries of tribal conflict, sectarian tension and ethnic division to burst into the open once more. These sharp local realities plunge Stewart into a dangerous whirlpool of political intrigue in which the double-dealing of opposing interest groups creates intensifying confusion and chaos. As pressure for a settlement mounts from all sides he comes to realise that all politics is indeed local, and that Washington may have to rethink its dreams of Iraqi democracy.

GLORIA

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Directed by Michael Longhurst
15 June – 22 July

‘Aren’t you turning thirty any day now? I will die before I turn thirty in a cubicle.’

Hampstead Theatre presents the UK premiere of Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ Gloria, directed by Michael Longhurst. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2016, this razor-sharp comic drama focuses on ambition, office warfare and hierarchies, where the only thing that matters is moving up the ladder and selling out to the highest bidder.

New York. A city that runs on ambition – and coffee.
In the offices of a notorious Manhattan magazine, a group of ruthless editorial assistants vie for their bosses’ jobs and a book deal before they’re thirty. But trapped between Starbucks runs, jaded gossip and endless cubicle walls, best-selling memoir fodder is thin on the ground – that is until inspiration arrives with a bang…

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION
Box Office 020 7722 9301 | hampsteadtheatre.com

Priority Booking opens Monday 23 January 10.30am

Public Booking opens Monday 30 January 10.30am

To become a Friend to access Priority Booking please visit hampsteadtheatre.com

Book all three shows and save £15

(offer ends Monday 13 February).