The Common Pursuit - Menier Chocolate Factory
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
NIGEL Harman will star alongside James Dreyfus and Reece Shearsmith in a revival of Simon Gray’s The Common Pursuit which runs for a limited season – from May 9 to July 20, 2008 – at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Gray’s 1984 comedy charts the progress of a group of Cambridge undergraduates who launch a literary publication – The Common Pursuit.
Fresh, determined and gifted, their joint venture brings them together in friendship, hope and the promise of a bright future. However, as the years go by the friends find it hard to stay true to the ideals of their youth…
A study in how friendships evolve and outlast their original form, The Common Pursuit is as defined a study of friendship now as it was when it was first performed nearly 25 years ago.
Although Harman will always be remembered for his portrayal of EastEnders‘ Dennis Rickman, he has appeared on stage in Privates on Parade, The Exonerated (as Kerry Max Cooke), the West End production of Guy and Dolls (as Sky Masterson), and The Caretaker (as Mick) at the Tricycle Theatre.
Dreyfus’ West End stage credits include Cabaret, Donkeys’ Years and The Producers; while on screen he has appeared in Gimme Gimme Gimme and Notting Hill. And Shearsmith’s credits include League of Gentlemen and The Producers.
Fiona Laird (Stephen Fry’s Cinderella at the Old Vic) will direct a cast that also includes Robert Portal (The 39 Steps); Ben Caplan (BBC TV’s The Passion and the National Theatre’s production of Two Thousand Years); and Mary Stockley (BBC TV’s Ballet Shoes and the Theatre Royal Bath’s Look Back in Anger).
Gray’s other plays include Butley, Otherwise Engaged, Quartermaine’s Terms and The Old Masters. He also written many plays for television and radio, several novels and numerous memoirs including The Smoking Diaries, The Year Of Jouncer, Fat Chance, Enter A Fox and most recently The Last Cigarette.
Maria Friedman: Rearranged continues at the Menier Chocolate Factory until May 4, 2008.
Read more