Yasmin Paige and Simon Manyonda star in the European premiere production of Actually, a new play by Photograph 51‘s Anna Ziegler, which will run at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios from 6 to 31 August 2019, with a press night on Monday 12 August and a post-show Q&A chaired by Mate Terri Paddock on Friday 9 August. Time to get booking!
One night. Two people. Three truths.
In our age of fake news, victim shaming and #metoo; and hot on the heels of recent documentaries It Happened One Night (Louis Theroux/ BBC) and Sex on Trial (Channel 4), Actually is an urgent exploration into our need for an absolute truth when faced with opposing versions; can we ever truly know what happened between two people behind closed doors?
Amber and Tom hook up at a party at their elite American university and spend the night together. They agree on the drinking, they agree on the attraction, but what actually happened between them?
“A rich & disturbing case study” – New York Times
Through conflicting accounts of a college hook up, Actually boldly delves into the messiest of grey areas and the intersectional complexities of race, religion and gender, controversially picking at our individual biases and internalised prejudices in ‘he said, she said’ cases of sexual consent.
Actually premiered at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in 2017 and later that year received its Off-Broadway premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York.
“Psychologically complex & politically charged, with energy & urgency” – Time Out New York
This is American dramatist Anna Ziegler‘s first play in London since the 2015 European premiere of Photograph 51, which told the story of scientist Rosalind Franklin, who cracked DNA. Directed by Michael Grandage and starring Nicole Kidman, it won Best New Play and Best Actress at the WhatsOnStage Awards as well as the Evening Standard award for Best Actress.
Nicole Kidman in the 2015 West End premiere of Photograph 51
Anna Ziegler‘s other plays include Boy, which was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award, The Last Match, Another Way Home, A Delicate Ship, Dov and Ali, Life Science, The Minotaur and BFF.
Yasmin Paige and Simon Manyonda star in the European premiere production of Actually, which is directed by Michael Grandage Company Futures bursary recipient Oscar Toeman. It’s presented by Announcement Productions, whose previous shows include Fame and Little Shop of Horrors on tour, The Collector at The Vaults, Boom at Theatre503 and The Sweethearts at the Finborough.
Yasmin Paige & Simon Manyonda star in Actually in the West End
Bios
Yasmin Paige is best known for films Submarine and The Double (both directed by Richard Ayoade) and her lead roles in television’s Pramface, The Sarah-Jane Adventures andGlue. Her recent stage credits include Circle Mirror Transformation (Home MCR), and Ah Wilderness! (Young Vic).
Simon Manyonda appears in the BBC’s upcoming His Dark Materials and featured in The Bay (ITV) as well as appearing opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins and Dame Emma Thompson in the BBC production of King Lear. On stage his recent credits includes Alys, Always (Bridge Theatre), The Way of the World (Donmar Warehouse), Barbershop Chronicles (National Theatre) and King Lear with Glenda Jackson (Old Vic).
Oscar Toeman directed the multi Offie-nominated After October at the Finborough Theatre. He was Associate Director of the National Theatre’s production of Oslo. He was a recipient of an MGC futures bursary, a finalist for the RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award in 2018, and is the runner up of this year’s JMK Award.
Terri Paddock chairs an Actually post-show Q&A at Trafalgar Studios on Friday 9 August 2019. Click here for tickets!
