The Sweethearts - Finborough Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE Sweethearts by Sarah Page receives its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre, where it runs from Tuesday, September 22 to Saturday, October 17, 2015.
These charity gigs are always in bloody awful countries. I wish someone would fight a war in Marbella. I wish there were starving people in bloody Hawaii.
Coco, Mari and Helena are The Sweethearts, a manufactured girl band who are rarely off the front page of the tabloids. In need of some positive publicity, they travel to Afghanistan to do a special gig for the troops at Camp Bastion before the base is handed over to Afghan officials.
A group of battle weary soldiers, chosen to protect these three beautiful celebrities, eagerly await their arrival. But when there’s an attack on the base, The Sweethearts and the soldiers are thrown together and forced to wait it out in very close quarters…
Marking the first anniversary of the departure of British Troops from Afghanistan after a thirteen year campaign and the deaths of 453 British service personnel, The Sweethearts is a new play about the people we choose to make into our heroes and how we tear them back down. It was originally seen as a staged reading as part of Vibrant 2014 – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights.
The Sweethearts is directed by Daniel Burgess, who returns to the Finborough Theatre where he directed the critically acclaimed UK premiere production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ In the Blood. He was previously a Resident Assistant Director at the Finborough Theatre where he assisted on A Day at the Racists, Moliere or the League of Hypocrites and Too True to be Good.
Sarah Page returns to the Finborough Theatre where she was formerly a script reader. Her first full length play Pilgrims (Etcetera Theatre), débuted last year to critical acclaim. She has also had performances of her work at the Arcola Theatre, Curve Theatre Leicester, Old Vic Tunnels, Hampstead Theatre and Soho Theatre.
For more information or to book tickets call the box office on 0844 847 1652 or visit www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/.
Also at the Finborough Theatre: the world premiere of My Eyes Went Dark (until September 19) and the European premiere of Nakkiah Lui’s This Heaven (Sunday and Monday evenings and Tuesday matinees from August 30 to September 15, 2015).