Jermyn Street Theatre’s 2019 PORTRAIT season opens this month with the stage premiere of Rose Heiney’s one-woman play for our internet age, Original Death Rabbit. Less than a week until television star Kimberley Nixon starts performances. Time to get booking!
Originally produced as a radio drama by BBC Radio 4, Rose Heiney‘s Original Death Rabbit receives its stage premiere in a limited season, running from 9 January to 9 February 2019, with a press night on 11 January. It’s the first offering in Jermyn Street Theatre’s seven-month PORTRAIT season.
BAFTA Award-winning actress Kimberley Nixon, best known from TV’s Fresh Meat and Cranford, stars as a young woman who becomes an internet sensation, just as the rest of her life falls apart. She’s taken over from Hannah Arterton, who was originally cast but had to withdraw due to filming schedule changes.
We all have our comfort blankets and coping mechanisms. And if yours happens to be wearing a full-sized rabbit onesie (with ears), what’s the problem? You’re not bothering anyone. At least, not until you’re photographed at the back of a child’s funeral. Dressed as a rabbit. And the photo goes viral.
Original Death Rabbit is a tale of our time that shines a light on one woman’s struggle with the dark side of the internet. Rose Heiney’s incisive comedy, now rewritten for the stage, was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.
The stage premiere is directed by Hannah Joss, with set and costume design by Louie Whitemore, lighting design by Adam King, and music and sound design by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite.
Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre’s PORTRAIT season, programmed by artistic director Tom Littler, also includes the world premiere of Maud Dromgoole‘s new play Mary’s Babies (20 March to 13 April), Howard Brenton’s return adaptation of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie and a new adaptation of his Creditors (25 April to 1 June) and Lucy Shaw’s gender-flip adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Pictures Of Dorian Gray (5 June to 6 July)
Jermyn Street Theatre is celebrating its 25th birthday as an independent theatre in the heart of the West End. It has won myriad awards and transferred numerous productions to the West End and Broadway. Its co-founders, Penny Horner and Howard Jameson, serve as Executive Director and Chair of the Board, respectively. Two years ago, new artistic director Tom Littler relaunched the theatre as a producing house. Jermyn Street Theatre is a signatory to the Equity Fringe Agreement and is committed to equal gender representation.
Bios
Kimberley Nixon is a BAFTA Award-winning actress, best known for her role in Channel 4’s Fresh Meat, Ordinary Lies and Cranford for the BBC and Critical on Sky One. Feature films include Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Wild Child, East Virtue, Offender and Cherrybomb. Theatre credits include the eponymous role in Girl With A Pearl Earring at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and numerous plays for Radio 4.
Rose Heiney is a screenwriter, playwright and novelist. Her first play, Elephants, sold out at Hampstead Theatre. Television writing includes Miranda and Fresh Meat. Her first novel, The Days of Judy B, was nominated for The Times/South Bank Show Breakthrough Award. She is currently writing a film for Working Title and Studio Canal.
Director Hannah Joss was previously Baylis Assistant Director at the Old Vic Theatre and is currently a Resident Director at the Almeida Theatre.
