TORBEN BETTS’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED
TO TOUR UK FOR SECOND TIME
OPENING JANUARY 2017
The Original Theatre Company is delighted to announce that, due to popular demand, its production of Torben Betts’s critically acclaimed INVINCIBLE will tour the UK for a second time, directed by Stephen Darcy. The 2017 tour will open at Royal & Derngate in Northampton on 24 January 2017.
Alastair Whatley, Emily Bowker and Graham Brookes will reprise the roles of Oliver, Emily and Alan respectively. Elizabeth Boag joins the 2017 tour as Dawn.
Artistic Director of The Original Theatre Company, Alastair Whatley, said of the second UK tour:
“We are delighted to be taking Invincible back on the road in 2017. Torben’s state of the nation comedy reached out to audiences across the UK in 2016 with his vision of a nation divided, cleft in two down the Watford Gap. We look forward to navigating the play through post Brexit Britain in 2017.”
With the recession biting hard, Emily and Oliver have decided to downsize and shift their middle-class London lifestyle to a small town in the north of England. One night, they open their doors to their next door neighbours, Dawn and Alan. Over the course of a disastrous evening of olives, anchovies, Karl Marx and abstract art, class and culture collide, resulting in consequences that are both tragic and hilarious.
INVINCIBLE had its world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond in 2014 and transferred later that same year to St James Theatre, London. Invencible, a Spanish version of INVINCIBLE, has just begun a nine-month tour of Spain, starring Spanish film actress Maribel Verdu.
Torben Betts was born in Lincolnshire and studied at Liverpool University. He became the resident dramatist at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre in 1999. Poet and dramatist Liz Lochhead said Betts “is just about the most original and extraordinary writer of drama we have.” His play The Unconquered won Best New Play 2006/07 at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland. 2015 saw a revival of his acclaimed 2012 play Muswell Hill at London’s Park Theatre, his latest work, What Falls Apart, opened at Newcastle’s Live Theatre, and his version of Chekhov’s The Seagull was staged at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. In February 2016, Betts adapted Get Carter for Northern Stage in Newcastle.
INVINCIBLE is designed by Victoria Spearing, with lighting by Andy Purves and sound by Max Pappenheim. The national tour is produced by Tom Hackney for The Original Theatre Company, Adrian Grady for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and Ghostlight Theatre Production (a Bob and Co Company).
Photography by Manuel Harlan
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2017 TOUR SCHEDULE
24 – 28 January
Royal & Derngate, Northampton
01604624811
www.royalandderngate.co.uk
31 Jan – 4 February
Derby Theatre
01332593939
www.derbytheatre.co.uk
8 – 10 February
Cast Doncaster
01302303959
Castindoncaster.com
16 – 18 February
Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
01484430528
thelbt.org
22 – 25 February
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
01723370541
www.sjt.uk.com
1 – 4 March
Cambridge Arts Theatre
01223503333
www.cambridgeartstheatre.com
7 – 11 March
Palace Theatre, Southend
01702351135
www.palacetheatresouthend.co.uk
15 – 18 March
Harrogate Theatre
01423502116
www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk
21 – 25 March
Lichfield Garrick Theatre
01543412110
www.lichfieldgarrick.com
28 – 30 March
Theatre Royal Brighton
08448717650
www.atgtickets.com/brighton
4 – 15 April
New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-Under-Lyme
01782717962
newvictheatre.org.uk