10 WEEKS ONLY FROM 17 OCTOBER
HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

10 WEEKS ONLY FROM 17 OCTOBER
HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

About
the
Show

Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James star in Penelope Skinner’s searingly funny and passionate new play, directed by Ian Rickson.

Elaine (Kristin Scott Thomas), a reclusive and talented actress, disappears in mysterious circumstances. 30 years later, she finally feels ready to tell her story – summoning Kate, a young film executive (Lily James), to her remote Cornish home to assist with her glorious comeback.

But who really controls the stories we tell, and how we get to tell them? Will these women own their narrative, or will it be swept away from them at any given moment?

A story for our times, playing for a strictly limited season from 17 October – 23 December at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Kristin Scott Thomas

Elaine

Kristin Scott Thomas

Elaine
Dame Kristin Scott Thomas is the recipient of a BAFTA Award, four Evening Standard British Film Awards, two London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her film work, cementing her place in cinema history. A bilingual actress equally at home playing French and English-language roles, she received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her starring role opposite Ralph Fiennes in Anthony Minghella’s Best Picture Academy Award-winning THE ENGLISH PATIENT.
With her fellow actors from Robert Altman’s GOSFORD PARK, Kristin shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The cast was also honoured with the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble, and the movie was a Best Picture Academy Award nominee, winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Julian Fellowes).
Her breakout role was in another Best Picture Oscar-nominated classic comedy, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, written by Richard Curtis and directed by Mike Newell, which brought her BAFTA and Evening Standard British Film Awards. Among her screen credits are Sam Taylor-Johnson’s NOWHERE BOY, for which she was BAFTA and BIFA (British Independent Film Award) nominated; Sydney Pollack’s RANDOM HEARTS; THE HORSE WHISPERER, starring opposite director Robert Redford; Brian De Palma’s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE; Irwin Winkler’s LIFE AS A HOUSE, opposite Kevin Kline; Philip and Belinda Haas’ ANGELS AND INSECTS, for which Kristin won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress; UP AT THE VILLA; Richard Loncraine’s RICHARD III; Roman Polanski’s BITTER MOON; Guillaume Canet’s hit TELL NO ONE; and Charles Sturridge’s A HANDFUL OF DUST, for which she received her first Evening Standard British Film Award.
She received her fourth Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Catherine Corsini’s PARTIR, which also brought her a César Award nomination for Best Actress. She was previously a César nominee for Philippe Claudel’s IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T’AIME for which she was again a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominee.
Kristin took on the iconic character of ‘Mrs Danvers’ in the 2020 Netflix and Working Title adaptation of REBECCA. Prior to this, she was seen in BBC One’s adaptation of Alan Bennett’s hugely popular monologue series TALKING HEADS. In the same year, she appeared in Peter Cattaneo’s MILITARY WIVES with Sharon Horgan. Other film credits include THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, starring with director Ralph Fiennes; Nicolas Winding Refn’s ONLY GOD FORGIVES; François Ozon’s IN THE HOUSE; Israel Horovitz’s MY OLD LADY; Sally Potter’s THE PARTY, Academy Award nominated film DARKEST HOUR, receiving a BAFTA Award nomination for her performance; Roar Uthuag’s TOMB RAIDER and Ludovic Bernard’s French comedy AU BOUT DES DOIGHTS.
Her extensive theatre credits include Peter Morgan’s THE AUDIENCE; Ian Rickson’s production of ELECTRA at the Old Vic, which followed her appearances in Mr. Rickson’s West End productions of OLD TIMES and BETRAYAL and his acclaimed Royal Court staging of THE SEAGULL. For her portrayal of Arkadina in The Seagull, she received the Olivier Award for Best Actress, and reprised the role on Broadway. Kristin’s other stage work includes starring in West End productions of AS YOU DESIRE ME and THREE SISTERS; and starring in a production of Racine’s BERENICE that toured France.
Her television credits include the UK miniseries BODY & SOUL, directed by Moira Armstrong; and Jack Gold’s telefilm version of THE TENTH MAN, in which she starred alongside Sirs Anthony Hopkins and Derek Jacobi. Kristin also appeared in the second series of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s multiple Emmy winning FLEABAG and received an Emmy nomination in the category Outstanding Guest Actress in A Comedy Series for her role as ‘Belinda’.
Last year saw Kristin in the second series of the highly popular Apple TV+ series SLOW HORSES, reuniting with Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden. She will reprise her role as ‘Diana Taverner’ in the third series. Kristin recently completed work on her directorial debut, a feature that she also co-wrote. She additionally co-stars alongside Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, and Emily Beecham.

Lily James

Kate

Lily James

Kate
Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2010, Lily James has captivated audiences worldwide with her performances on stage, film and television.
Last year, Lily starred in the leading role of ‘Pamela Anderson’ in Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. In 2015, Lily’s breakthrough role came as ‘Cinderella’ in Disney’s Cinderella directed by Kenneth Branagh. Her other major credits include: Joe Wright’s The Darkest Hour alongside Gary Oldman; Danny Boyle’s Yesterday; Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey; War & Peace directed by Tom Harper; The Dig opposite Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan and Working Title’s Rebecca directed by Ben Wheatley. Lily also played starring roles in Nia DaCosta’s Little Woods; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society directed by Mike Newell as well as Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and Pride, Prejudice & Zombies directed by Burr Steers. In 2018, Lily led the cast of the summer hit, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! alongside Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried.
In 2016, Lily starred on stage as the role of ‘Juliet’ in Kenneth Branagh’s Romeo & Juliet at the Garrick Theatre. Her other credits on stage include: Rufus Norris’ Vernon God Little at the Young Vic; Othello at the Sheffield Crucible and The Seagull at the Southwark Playhouse. She returned to the stage in the 2019 in Ivo van Hove’s West End production of All About Eve, opposite Gillian Anderson.
In 2021, Lily played the lead in Amazon and BBC’S The Pursuit of Love, written and directed by Emily Mortimer. Lily has most recently been seen opposite Emma Thompson in the role of ‘Zoe’ in What’s Love Got to Do with It directed by Shekhar Kapur.
Later this year, we will see the releases of Finalmente L’alba with Willem Dafoe, Relay opposite Riz Ahmed and A24’S Iron Claw.

James Corrigan

Greg

James Corrigan

Greg
Theatre includes: Jack Absolute Flies Again (National Theatre); White Noise (Bridge Theatre); King Lear (Duke of York’s); Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Antony & Cleopatra, Two Noble Kinsmen, The 7 Acts of Mercy, Wendy & Peter Pan, Othello, The Merchant of Venice and Shakespeare Birthday (RSC); Monologue Slam UK (Triforce); Hay Fever (Kay & Mclean Australia) and Hay Fever and The Big Meal (Bath Theatre Royal).
Television includes: My Lady Jane; Grace; C.B Strike; This England; This Is Going to Hurt; Manhunt; Temple and The Tempest.
Film includes: This Nan’s Life and School’s Out Forever.

Sara Powell

Chris

Sara Powell

Chris
Theatre credits include: The Seagull (Jamie Lloyd Company), The Madness of King George (Nottingham Playhouse), La Peste, Richard III (Arcola Theatre), The Crucible (Bristol Old Vic), Disgraced (Bush Theatre), Some Girls (Gielgud Theatre), Macbeth (Almeida Theatre), Stuff Happens, The Villain’s Opera, Honk (National Theatre), World Music (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield/Donmar Warehouse) Racing Demon, Absence of War (Birmingham Rep) and The Duchess of Malfi (Royal Shakespeare Company).
Television credits include: The Killing Kind, The Hunted, Vera, The House Across the Street, Doctor Who, Murder in Provence, Ghosts, Death in Paradise, Unforgotten 3, Silent Witness, Little Boy Blue, Damned, Midsomer Murders, DCI Banks, Holby Blue, Family Man, Ice Cream Girls, Whisteblowers and Law & Order.
Film credits include: Last Christmas, Denial, My Zinc Bed and The Golden Years.

Niky Wardley

Sue

Niky Wardley

Sue
Theatre includes: Jerusalem (Apollo Theatre); The Catherine Tate Show: Live (Wyndhams, UK Tour, Australia/New Zealand Tour); Mayfly (Orange Tree) Twelfth Night, A Small Family Business (National); The Same Deep Water as Me (Donmar Warehouse); Bedroom Farce (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Much Ado About Nothing (National); Tickled Pink (Royal Albert Hall); Hello You (Riverside Studios); Making Waves (Stephen Joseph Theatre); The Three Sisters (Bath Theatre Royal); Our Country’s Good (Southampton Nuffield Theatre) and A Servant to Two Masters (Young Vic/RSC/World Tour). Film includes: The Nan Movie; This Weekend Will Change Your Life; Nativity 3; Hello You; The Affair of the Necklace and Really. Television Includes: Queen of Oz; Hard Cell; Call the Midwife; Still Open All Hours; Home From Home; Citizen Khan; Are You Being Served; Catherine Tate’s Nan Specials; Asylum; The Spa; Love and Marriage; In With the Flynns; Coronation Street; Little Crackers; Shameless; Life of Riley; All the Small Things; Parents of the Brand; How Not to Live Your Life; Peep Show; Chikipedia; Benidorm; The Bill; My Family Christmas Special; Love Soup; Funny Cuts; Silent Witness; Comic Relief; Holby City; The Complete Guide to Parenting; Eastenders; Royal Variety Show; The Catherine Tate Show; The History of the Novel; The Hidden City and Casualty.

Olivia Chappell

Understudy Kate

Olivia Chappell

Understudy Kate
Training: The University of Birmingham and East 15 Acting School (named “Critic’s Choice” in The Stage). Theatre credits include: The Mousetrap (Vienna English Theatre); Orlando by Virginia Woolf (Old Fire Station/Camden and Brighton Fringe); Macblair (Edinburgh Fringe/Kinds Head); Dexit (Comedy Store); The Beat Goes On (The Bunker); The Snow Queen Trail (Rose, Kingston); Old New Borrowed Blue (Orange Tree). Musical and Opera credits include: Wuthering Heights (Barons Court); The Boyfriend (Her Majesty’s); La Boheme (Soho, Olivier winner). Television credits include: Liasion (Apple TV); Night Lives. Film credits include: Sorority; Visitor; The Callback Queen. Voice over credits include: Baldur’s Gate 3 (Pit Stop).

Nesba Crenshaw

Understudy Elaine

Nesba Crenshaw

Understudy Elaine
Theatre credits include: No Villain, Chapter Two (West End); Vinegar Tom, Serious Money, The Spoils (PTP/NYC, Off-Broadway); Glorious!, The Odd Couple, Strangers on a Train (Frinton Summer Theatre); The Episode, 252AM (Vault Festival); The Werewolf of Washington Heights; Slowly; The Lost World of Malcom Ridge; The House of Bernarda Alba; Count Oederland (Off West-End); Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Manchester Library Theatre); Safety, The Episode (UK National tours); Far Away (PTP/NYC).
Film credits include: Phantom Warrior; When the Screaming Starts; Tom & Jerry; The Honourable Rebel.
Television credits include: The Nevers; The Crown; Coronation Street.
Radio and voiceover credits include: Dr. Who: The Year of Martha Jones; Believe It: Money; The Division:2; The Last Warrior.

Scott Hume

Understudy Greg

Scott Hume

Understudy Greg
Theatre credits include: Girl on the Train (Upstairs at the Gatehouse); A Streetcar Name Desire, Arms and The Man, Saturday Sunday Monday and A Chorus of Disapproval (Workhouse Theatre); The Apothecary (Soho Theatre).
Film credits include: Apartment 7A; Universe Apart; The Grey Room; Purgatory.
Television credits Include: The Crown; Autopsy: The Last Hours of Jerry Lewis; Aircrash Confidential; PREMature; Harry and Cosh.

Oyin Orija

Understudy Chris

Oyin Orija

Understudy Chris
Theatre Credits include: 4 Walls (Derby Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Gatehouse Theatre); To Kill A Mockingbird (Gielgud Theatre); Here’s What She Said To Me (Utopia Theatre); The Werewolf Of Washington Heights (Cockpit Theatre / Camden Fringe Festival); Hilda and the Northern Powerhouse (Grimsby Minister); A Matter of Law (Blue Orange Theatre).

Penelope Skinner

Writer

Penelope Skinner

Writer
Penelope Skinner is a playwright and screenwriter based in the UK. Theatre work includes: Friendly Monsters (MTC online lockdown reading); Angry Alan (Edinburgh Festival/Soho Theatre); Meek (Headlong); Linda (Royal Court/MTC); The Ruins of Civilisation (MTC); Fred’s Diner (Chichester Festival Theatre/Magic Theatre, San Francisco); The Village Bike (Royal Court/MCC); Eigengrau (Bush Theatre); F*cked (Old Red Lion/Edinburgh Festival). TV/Film work includes: The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies (Sister/BBC1). Previous work includes: The Unicorn (short, BFI); 4 seasons of Fresh Meat (channel 4); How I Live Now (dir. Kevin Macdonald).

Ian Rickson

Director

Ian Rickson

Director
Ian Rickson was the Artistic Director of the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, where he directed The River (also Broadway) Jerusalem (also West End and Broadway), The Winterling, The Night Heron and Mojo (also Chicago), all by Jez Butterworth; Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen and This is a Chair by Caryl Churchill; Dublin Carol and The Weir by Conor McPherson (also Dublin, Chicago, West End and Broadway); The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (also Broadway); Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett; Alice Trilogy by Tom Murphy; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and Boy Gets Girl by Rebecca Gilman; Fallout by Roy Williams; Mouth to Mouth by Kevin Elyot; The Lights by Howard Korder; Pale Horse and Some Voices by Joe Penhall; Ashes and Sand by Judy Upton and Killers by Adam Pernak. In the West End, Rickson has directed Rosmersholm (Duke of York’s Theatre); Uncle Vanya, The Birthday Party, Old Times, Betrayal and The Children’s Hour (all at the Harold Pinter Theatre); Jerusalem (revival at Apollo Theatre); Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (Theatre Royal Haymarket); and at the National Theatre, Paradise, All of Us, Translations by Brian Friel, Evening at the Talk House by Wallace Shawn, The Red Lion by Patrick Marber, The Hothouse by Harold Pinter and The Day I Stood Still by Kevin Elyot. Productions at the Old Vic include Electra by Sophocles. Productions at the Young Vic include The Nest, Now We Are Here and Hamlet. Productions at the Almeida Theatre include Against by Christopher Shinn and Parlour Song by Jez Butterworth. Ian was Artistic Director of SFP’s Re-Emerge season in the West End in 2021 and directed for the stage and the filming of Walden, one of the three plays in this Season. Work on screen includes Fallout (Company Pictures for Channel 4) and Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett (BBC4). Rickson also works with PJ Harvey and Kate Tempest on their music and poetry shows. Ian has his own podcast, ‘What I Love’ for Storyglass.  

Georgia Lowe

Designer

Georgia Lowe

Designer
Georgia Lowe trained on the Motley Theatre Design Course. She was a Linbury Prize for Stage Design Finalist and Trainee Designer for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her work in theatre includes Grenfell: in the words of the survivors, All of Us, Dick Wittington, Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear – the Musical! and An Octoroon at the National Theatre; Pomona at the Orange Tree, National Theatre and Royal Exchange; Once on This Island at Regents Park Open Air; The Good Person of Szechwan for the Lyric Hammersmith, Sheffield Crucible, English Touring Theatre; The Trials at the Donmar; Henry VIII and Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe; The Leftovers for LAMDA; Anna Karenina and The Contingency Plan at Sheffield Crucible; Missing Julie at Theatr Clwyd; Klippies and Far Away for the Young Vic; Equus for Stratford East, English Touring Theatre and Trafalgar Studios; Plenty and Cock at Chichester; A Streetcar Named Desire at Nuffield; Othello for the Tobacco Factory and English Touring Theatre; The Twits for the Curve, Leicester; Queens of the Coal Age, The Night Watch and Yen (also Royal Court) at the Royal Exchange, Manchester; Four Fridas at Greenwich and Docklands International Festival; Bluebeard’s Castle at Opera de Oveido; Turfed for LIFT Festival; and Amphibians at the Bridewell.

Jessica Hung Han Yun

Lighting Designer

Jessica Hung Han Yun

Lighting Designer
Theatre Includes: Once on This Island (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); My Neighbour Totoro (RSC/Barbican); The Good Person of Szechwan (Sheffield Crucible); Straight Line Crazy (The Shed, New York/The Bridge Theatre); The Glow, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner (also Public Theatre, New York/Wooly Mammoth, Washingdon DC), Living Newspaper Edition 7, Pah-La at the Royal Court; The Mirror and the Light for the RSC in the West End; Anna X at the Lowry and West End; Marys Seacole, Blindness at the Donmar Warehouse; Out West at the Lyric Hammersmith; Inside at the Orange Tree; The Band Plays On and She Loves Me at Sheffield; Dick Whittington at the National Theatre; Rockets and Blue Lights at Royal Exchange Manchester; Faces in the Crowd, Mephisto, Dear Elizabeth and The Human Voice at the Gate; Equus at Theatre Royal Stratford East/ETT/Trafalgar Studios/UK Tour; Armadillo at the Yard; Reasons To Stay Alive at Sheffield Theatres/ETT/UK Tour; One (Home/UK Tour/International Tour); Forgotten (Moongate/New Earth/Arcola/Theatre Royal, Plymouth); Hive City Legacy (Hot Brown Honey/Roundhouse); Snowflake at the Kiln (from Fire Station Oxford); Fairview at the Young Vic; Cuckoo at the Soho; Nine foot nine (Bunker/Edinburgh Festival Fringe); Becoming Shades (VAULT Festival). Dance: HOME (Rambert2) Other Events Include: Divas (exhibition at the V&A); Guardians of the Galaxy: The Live Immersive Experience (Secret Cinema); Winter Light (commissioned by the Museum of the Home) Awards: Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design for My Neighbour Totoro, Knight of Illumination Award for Plays and Off West End Award for Best Lighting Design for Equus.

Stephen Warbeck

Music

Stephen Warbeck

Music
Selected theatre scores include: Paradise, Translations, This House, The Red Lion, The Silver Tassie, The Plough and the Stars, The Veil, Machinal, An Inspector Calls (National Theatre); Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies, Alice in Wonderland (RSC); Jerusalem, The River, Rat in the Skull (Royal Court); Uncle Vanya, Rosmersholm, The Birthday Party, Betrayal (West End) and at many other theatres, including productions for Shakespeare¹s Globe and the Almeida. For his Film and TV work Stephen won an Academy Award for Shakespeare in Love and a BAFTA for Henry IV (The Hollow Crown). His other film scores include: Jeanne Du Barry, The Children Act, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Polisse, Mon Roi, The Other Man, Proof, Two Brothers and Oyster Farmer. He recently co-directed and scored the feature film The Man in The Hat and writes songs for his band The Kippers.  

Tingying Dong

Sound

Tingying Dong

Sound
Ting trained at LAMDA and is a sound designer, composer and theatre maker. She grew up in Beijing and studied in the Netherlands before moving to the UK. As a sound designer and composer, theatre includes: The Crucible (National Theatre/Gielgud Theatre. Content Sound Design); Black Superhero (Royal Court); Macbeth (ETT/Shakespeare North/International Tour); Watch On The Rhine (Donmar Warehouse); The Tempest (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre/Unicorn); My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) (Ambassadors Theatre/Garrick Theatre/Underbelly/Turbine Theatre. WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production); The Beekeeper of Aleppo (Nottingham Playhouse/UK Tour); Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder (Roundabout/Underbelly/Bristol Old Vic/Home MCR. Co-Sound Design); The Breach, Peggy For You, Folk (Hampstead Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Nottingham Playhouse/Alexandra Palace/BBC. Composer); Klippies (Young Vic); After The End, The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Scissors (Sheffield Theatres); Antigone (Storyhouse); War & Culture (New Diorama); Ruckus (Summerhall/Southwark Playhouse); Tsunagu/Connect (Shoreditch Town Hall); Two Billion Beats (Orange Tree Theatre). Radio composition includes: Humane; BURP. Short Film composition includes: Medea/Worn; My Last Duchess. Her work as a creative collaborator and making sound and music includes: Walking Cats (Camden People’s Theatre/Vault Festival); Imaginarium (Online Tour).

Amy Ball CDG

Casting

Amy Ball CDG

Casting
Recent theatre includes: Jerusalem (Apollo), Hamnet (RSC), Leopoldstadt (Wyndhams), Walden, Uncle Vanya (Harold Pinter), The Son (Kiln Theatre/Duke of York’s), The Night of the Iguana (Noël Coward), Sweat (Donmar Warehouse/Gielgud), Rosmersholm (Duke of York’s), True West (Vaudeville), The Ferryman (Royal Court/Gielgud/Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre), The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre/Duke of York’s), The Birthday Party and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Harold Pinter), Consent (National/Harold Pinter), The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Hangmen (Royal Court/Wyndham’s/Atlantic Theatre Company), Berberian Sound Studio (Donmar Warehouse), The Hunt, Shipwreck, Dance Nation and Albion (Almeida), Stories and Exit the King (National), A Very Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge), The Brothers Size (Young Vic) and many further productions for the Royal Court.
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