Why is London’s Park Theatre so excited about premiering the English-language translation of French playwright Alexis Michalik’s Intra Muros? Watch our video interviews with artistic director Jez Bond – who yesterday announced his new season, including no fewer than seven more premieres – as well as director Ché Walker and Michalik himself. Time to get booking!
Ageing thespian Richard is preparing to direct his first theatre class in a maximum security prison, assisted by his former-actress ex-wife Jane and an inexperienced social worker called Alice. When only two inmates turn up he decides to go ahead with the class nonetheless – and so begins a captivating and darkly comic exploration of life, within the walls.
Intra Muros is directed by Ché Walker who also features as the director within the play, Richard. He’s joined onstage by Olivier Award nominee Summer Strallen, Victor Gardener, Emma Pallant and Declan Perring. Popular jazz artist Rio Kai provides live music and digital sound mixing as an on-stage DJ.
Mate Terri Paddock chairs a post-show Q&A with Ché Walker & the cast of Intra Muros on Friday 12 April
Alexis Michalik is an author, actor and director whose credits include Le Porteur d’Histoire and Le Cercle Des Illusionnistes, for which he received the Beaumarchais du Figaro Prize, the Jeune Théâtre de l’Académie Française Award and two coveted Molière Awards.
In 2016, Michalik wrote and directed Edmond, inspired by Edmond Rostand‘s 1897 classic Cyrano de Bergerac. It went on to win five Molière Awards, recently celebrated its 800th performance in Paris and has also been released as a feature film. The UK premiere of Edmond – directed by Roxana Silbert and starring Freddie Fox, Josie Lawrence, Henry Goodman and Chizzy Akudolu – opened last month at Birmingham Rep and is touring to York, Northampton, Cambridge and Richmond.
What’s it about?
“It’s mostly a human story about relationships, choices you make and regrets,” says Alexis Michalik – but so much more as well.
What can you expect?
If this doesn’t pique every theatre lover’s interest, we don’t know what would!
“There’s a kind of interrogation: what is the use of theatre? What is the point of acting? What do we gain from watching it? What do we gain from doing it?” says director Ché Walker.
👁 #IntraMuros is up & running! I think it’s definitely the quickest turnaround of my career, we started work less than a month ago but I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out. The lovely people @whatsonstage filmed this preview for us (with a peak at my set & projection!) pic.twitter.com/hv4UPZSKF1
— PJ McEvoy (@PJbyDesign) April 6, 2019
