The Nether transfers to West End
HEADLONG and the Royal Court’s production of Jennifer Haley’s critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning The Nether, directed by Jeremy Herrin, is transferring to the West End – to the Duke of York’s Theatre, where it runs from February 23 (previews from January 30) to April 25, 2015.
Original cast members Amanda Hale (as Morris), Stanley Townsend (Sims) and Ivanno Jeremiah (Woodnut) are joined by Zoe Brough and Isabella Pappas who will alternate the role of Iris as they did at the Royal Court. Final casting will be announced shortly.
The Nether offers complete freedom – a new virtual wonderland providing total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire.
An intricate crime drama and a haunting thriller set in the year 2050, The Nether follows an investigation into the complicated, disturbing morality of identity in the digital world, and explores the consequences of making dreams a reality.
The Nether, winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, opened at the Royal Court Theatre in July this year and played to sell-out audiences. Haley’s play received its world premiere in Spring 2013 produced by the Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles and won her an Ovation Award for Best Original Play and an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Writing.
Jennifer Haley’s other writing includes Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, which premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville at the 2008 Humana Festival; Breadcrumbs for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival; and Sustainable Living written in the 2011-2012 CTG Writers’ Workshop and featured at the Ojai Playwrights Conference. Her play Froggy is in development with The Banff Centre and American Conservatory Theater.
The Nether was the first play Jeremy Herrin directed for Headlong as Artistic Director. Previously he was Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 2009 until 2012 where his credits included No Quarter, Hero, Haunted Child, The Heretic, Kin, Spur of the Moment, Off the Endz, The Priory, Tusk Tusk, The Vertical Hour and That Face.
Herrin also directed the world premieres of Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in two parts for the Royal Shakespeare Company – the productions transferred to the West End in May 2014 and will open on Broadway in March next year.
His other recent credits include Another Country, Uncle Vanya and South Downs for Chichester Festival Theatre, all of which transferred to the West End; This House (National Theatre); Absent Friends (Harold Pinter Theatre); and The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe). Herrin’s production of David Hare’s The Absence of War will open at Sheffield Theatres in February 2015 prior to a UK tour.
Amanda Hale is currently appearing in Jagged Edge’s production of Uncle Vanya at the St James Theatre. Her previous theatre credits include Wastwater and The City (Royal Court), King Lear and Elektra (Headlong and the Young Vic), Eldorado (Arcola Theatre), The Domino Heart (Finborough Theatre), The House of Bernarda Alba (Almeida Theatre), Our Class (National Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Oxford Playhouse), After Dido (Young Vic) and Pornography (Birmingham Rep/Traverse Theatre).
Her screen credits include Dates, The White Queen, Ripper Street, Rev, Being Human, Spooks, Richard is My Boyfriend and Persuasion (TV); The Invisible Woman, The Look of Love and Bright Star (film).
Ivanno Jeremiah’s theatre credits include Truth and Reconciliation (Royal Court), Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company), As You Like It (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Welcome Home (Pleasance Theatre) and the international tour of The Suit. His screen credits include Humans, The Hollow Crown, The Jury II and Injustice (TV); Julius Caesar, Papadopoulos & Sons and The Veteran (film).
Stanley Townsend’s theatre work includes Tribes, The Alice Trilogy, Shining City, Under the Blue Sky and The Weir (Royal Court); King Lear, Phèdre, Gethsemane, Happy Now, Remember This and Guys and Dolls (National Theatre); Broken Glass (Tricycle Theatre and West End); and A View from a Bridge (Lyceum, Edinburgh).
His extensive television credits include the recent series of 24: Die Another Day opposite Kiefer Sutherland, as well as Quirke, The Shadow Line, Ripper Street, Toast, Sherlock Holmes, Ashes to Ashes, Hustle, Spooks, Fleming, Mad Dogs, Whistleblower, New Worlds, The Virgin Queen, Fresh Meat and Appropriate Adult. He has also appeared in the films The Voices, One Chance, Happy Go Lucky and The Libertine.
Zoe Brough and Isabella Pappas made their professional stage debuts in The Nether at the Royal Court Theatre.
The Nether has set designs by Es Devlin, costume designs by Christina Cunningham, lighting by Paul Pyant, compositions by Nick Powell, sound by Ian Dickinson and video design by Luke Halls.
NB: With 100 tickets at each performance at £20.50 and Royal Court pricing throughout the preview period, public booking for The Nether opens on 22 October 2014.
Tickets: Previews £10 – £35; Then £10 – £52.50. To book, call 0844 871 3055 or visit thenethertheplay.co.uk/.
Times: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. First midweek matinee on February 12, 2015.
Running Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes (no interval).
Neville’s Island, starring Adrian Edmondson, Miles Jupp, Neil Morrissey and Robert Webb, continues at the Duke of York’s Theatre until January 3, 2015.