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Two by Jim Cartwright presents a series of short vignettes that skilfully and touchingly depict the humour and the misery of everyday life for fourteen characters. The twist? Two actors who successfully bring the entire population of a typically northern pub to life play all fourteen characters.
There’s the old woman seeking solace from tending to her incontinent husband, the old man who chatters away to his deceased wife and the cunning yobbo who tries every trick to steal from his girlfriend. Then there’s the little lad left behind by his dad, who triggers a fragile reconciliation between the feuding landlord couple who row because tonight is the anniversary of a dark tragedy they cannot bear to discuss. until now.
Jim Cartwright’s first play, Road, was commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, and first performed in 1986. The play went on to win a number of awards and was also adapted for the BBC. His second play, Bed, was first performed in the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre in London in 1989, and was followed in the same year by To (later re-named Two) at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. He is best known for his play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, written for the actress Jane Horrocks, which was first performed at the National Theatre in 1992, and subsequently went on to become an Oscar-nominated film featuring Horrocks, Michael Caine and Brenda Blethyn.
The play’s director Nick Lane (September in the Rain) said, “The thing that drew me to Two is the first place was the way it switches in tone and mood without losing quality, the characters you meet along the way in the course of the play vary wildly from tender and touching to violent and threatening, yet Jim Cartwright’s writing find the truth in each scene and sequences them neatly together. It could be viewed on the surface as a series of sketches loosely strung together by the pub location and the central characters but there is so much going on under the surface there’s intertwining. There is a wit and a lightness of touch to the dialogue, which undercuts the darker elements of the play.
With a play as devise as this, so much relies on the cast, and I’m delighted to be able to say I’ve got two actors who I known and worked with before and for whom I have got a great deal of respect for. Eamonn and Gilly are natural multi-role players and both bring a lot of experience to rehearsals. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it.”
To play the demanding roles of all14 characters in Two will be York Theatre Royal regulars, Eamonn Fleming and Gilly Tompkins. This will be Eamonns second Studio production in a row, having appeared to much acclaim in Nick Lane’s production of the children’s classic Little Red Riding Hood. Eamonn’s other at York Theatre Royal include The Derby McQueen Affair and Neville’s Island. Gilly Tompkins has appeared at the theatre I many York Theatre Royal productions including Hay Fever and A Cloud in Trousers. Her other theatre credits include Fly Me to the Moon (Stephen Joseph Theatre,Scarborough) and Larkin with Women (West Yorkshire Playhouse) .The production is designed by Pip Leckenby (Brassed Off, Royal National Theatre, The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband, Hull Truck and Private Fears In Public Places, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), with lighting by Dave Simpson.
Tickets are priced at Monday-Thursday £9.00 and Friday & Saturday £10.00 (Under 25s and Students at £4.00) and can be obtained by visiting the York Theatre Royal Box Office or by calling 01904 623568. Tickets are also available online at www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
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