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Rapture Theatre Presents
in association with The Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh
Shining City
Touring February - April 2008
Rapture return with anther exciting show !!!.
Rapture Theatre is delighted to announce its latest touring production, the Scottish Premiere of Shining City, by Irish playwright Conor McPherson.
The tour will visit 18 locations commencing on 29th February at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh [PRESS PERFORMANCE 1ST MARCH] and culminating on 22nd - 26th April at the Greenwich, London. Of the production Director Michael Emans said: “Growing up with an Irish mother, I was only too aware of the Irish as wonderful story tellers It is partly a desire to be storyteller myself that led me into theatre and directing in the first place. Therefore I knew at one point that I would revisit those moments and direct an Irish play for Rapture. McPherson's writing and in particular this play are classic examples of this type of Irish storytelling at its best. I am also excited about my all Irish cast and about introducing these actors to our audiences across Scotland”.
About The Play
The Emerald Isle meets The Sixth Sense in this riveting and chilling urban ghost story from the multi-award winning author of The Weir, Dublin Carol and The Seafarer
After leaving the priesthood, Ian sets himself up as a therapist in Dublin .
One of his first clients is John who, following the tragic death of his wife in a car accident, has repeatedly seen her ghostly figure. But surely it must be his imagination…!!!!!
Through taut and witty Irish banter , hidden demons begin to surface as Ian starts to realise that his life parallels John’s in many ways, and that the “ghosts” of his past may yet come back to haunt him too.
Described by The Daily Telegraph as ‘the finest dramatist of his generation’, Conor McPherson flawlessly brings classical Irish storytelling into a modern, urban landscape. This humorous, haunting and fascinating play will have you gripped right up to the shocking twist in the tale. Shining City has previously played to sell-out audiences in London, Dublin and on Broadway.
Moving, compassionate, ingenious and absolutely gripping... scenes that provoke great, generous gales of laughter,
others that send a shiver of fear down the spine’
The Daily Telegraph
I was blown away by Shining City
The New York Times
Rapture is excited about bringing the play exclusively to Scottish audiences for the first time .
Rapture hope to run a full education package alongside the show with workshops, post and pre show talks .
The Cast
For this production Rapture has brought together a strong and extremely talented Irish cast. Breathing life into John is the critically acclaimed Michael Glenn Murphy who performed in the National Theatre of Scotland’s awarding winning Molly Sweeney. Taking on the role of troubled Ian is Fintan McKeown - last seen by Scottish audiences in The Shadow of a Gunman (with Michael Glenn Murphy) at the Citizens’ Theatre. RSAMD trained Melanie MacHugh, who has recently finished a run at the National Theatre, London, will play Neasa and finally fellow RSAMD graduate, David Walshe, appears as Laurence. Shining City marks each actor’s debut with Rapture Theatre.
The Tour
The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
Friday 29th February @7:30pm ( Preview)
Saturday 1st March @ 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Ticket Price £10.50 ( £8.50) £6 for under 18s
Box Office 0131 665 2240
www.bruntontheatre.co.uk
Eastwood Park Theatre, Giffnock
Tuesday 4th March @ 7:30pm
Tickets £10/ £7
Box Office 0141 5774970
The Byre Theatre of St Andrews
Wednesday 5th – Thursday 6th March @ 7:30pm
Tickets £14 (£10-£8)
Box Office 01334 475000
www.byretheatre.com
Perth Theatre, Horsecross, 185 High Street, Perth
Friday 7th – Saturday 8th March @ 7:45pm
Tickets £12 /£8 /£6.50
Box Office 0845 6126320
www.horsecross.co.uk
Adam Smith Theatre, Bennochy Road, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1ET
Wednesday 12th March @ 7:30pm
Tickets £9.50 / £6.50 £6.50 if paid by 1st March
Box Office 01592 583302
Eastgate Theatre Arts Centre,Peebles
Thursday 13th March @ 7:30pm
Tickets £8.50/£7.50
Box Office 01721 725777
www.thebooth.co.uk
The Tolbooth Theatre, Stirling
Friday 14th March - Saturday 15th March @ 7:30pm)
Tickets £10/£8
Box Office 01786 274000
www.stirling.gov.uk/tolbooth
East Kilbride Arts Centre
Sunday 16th March @ 8pm
Tickets £8/£6
Box Office 013552 61000
The Round Theatre, Newcastle
Wednesday 26th – Saturday 29th March
@ 1:30pm Wednesday and Saturday
and 7:30pm Wednesday – Saturday
Tickets £9
Box Office 0191 2605605
www.the-round.com
The Platform at the Bridge, Easterhouse
Thursday3rd April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £8/£4.50/£3.50
Box Office 0141 276 9696
www.platform-online.co.uk
Paisley Arts Centre
Friday 4th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £8.50 / £5
Box Office 0141 887 1010
Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine
Saturday 5th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £9/£7
Box Office 01294 274059
Ryan Centre Theatre, Stranraer
Tuesday 8th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £9/£7.50
Box Office 01776 703535
Eastfield Community Centre Rutherglen
Thursday 10th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £2/£1
Box Office 0141 6418319
Old Well Theatre, Moffatt
Friday 11th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £8
Box Office 01683 220581
Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock
Saturday 12th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £8.50/£6.50
Box Office 01563 554900
Regal Theatre , Bathgate
Tuesday 15th April @ 7:30pm
Tickets £10/£7
Box Office 01506 433634
Greenwich Theatre, Greenwich
Tuesday 22nd – Saturday 26th April @ 7:30pm ( Saturday matinee @ 2:30pm )
Tickets Eves @7:30pm £20, £18, £16 ( £18,£16,£14)
Tickets Mat @ Sat 2:30pm £18,£16,£14 (£16,£14,£12)
Box Office 0208 858 7755
www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk
The Cast
Biographies
Michael Glenn Murphy ( John)
Theatre work includes
MOLLY SWEENEY ( National Theatre of Scotland ),
SHADOW OF A GUNMAN (Glasgow Citizens Theatre), THE WEIR ( Haymarket)
Basingstoke), UP ON THE ROOF and THE LONESOME WEST for Hull Truck.
Also, WHISTLE IN THE DARK for The Glasgow Citizens Theatre, PLAYING THE
VICTIM (Royal Court/ Told by an Idiot), WHEN WE ARE RICH (Southampton
Nuffield) and THE FIREWORK MAKERS DAUGHER for Told by an Idiot at The
Sheffield Crucible. Other credits include the role of Valene in THE LONESOME WEST for The Bolton Octagon, ZOO STORY and THE ARCHITECT AND THE EMPEROR OF ABBYSINIA (The Gate Theatre, London), the role of George in OF MICE AND MEN at Bolton Octagon, Max Brod in KAFKA'S DICK, Puck in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and Azolan in LIASONS DANGEREUSE (all at
York Theatre Royal), Puck in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Northcott Theatre Exeter), Christy in PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD (Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Bristol Old Vic and Leicester Haymarket); Vodicka in SVEJK (The Gate Theatre, London); Lar in BROTHERS OF THE BRUSH (Southampton Nuffield Theatre); Mr Home/Man in Black/Madame Sweeney in VILLETTE (Sheffield Crucible); Curley in OF MICE AND MEN (Centreline/Baroque Productions); Eight characters in A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre); Woyzeck in WOYZECK and Puck in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Compass Theatre Company); Iago in OTHELLO (Waterman's Arts Centre and National Tour); Bob Shaparo in SPIRIT OF THE FRONTIER (RSC Fringe); Michael Byrne
in THE TINKER'S WEDDING (King's Head Theatre); Prince Pedro in THE TRAGEDY OF INES DE CASTRO (Tabard Theatre); Margaret Thatcher's Pimp in A LIGHT FOR THE FLORESCENT WITCH (Hackney Empire); and The Ghost of Christmas Past in A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Shaw Theatre/ National Tour).
Television credits include TAGGART ( STV), LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (ITV),
SILENT WITNESS (BBC), Catherine Cookson's DINNER OF HERBS (Festival Films), John in BIG BAD WORLD (Carlton), ROUGH TREATMENT (World Productions), Christie in ROPE TRICK (BBC), Murphy in COLOURBLIND (Festival Films) and THE BILL (Carlton TV).
Fintan MCKeown Ian
Fintan began his acting career in Dublin appearing at most theatres there including The Gate, The Abbey & The Focus.
Parts included Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Macbeth in Macbeth, Davoren in Shadow Of A Gunman and Christy in The Playboy Of The Western World.
In 1988 he made his London debut at The National Theatre in The Shaughraun directed by Howard Davies and appeared in Hamlet & Bartholomew Fair both directed by Richard Eyre.
Television includes The eagles And Trumpets, The Govenor, In Deep,
Startrek Voyager & The Agency.
Films includes Immortal Beloved, Waking Ned Devine, Nostradamus, She Creature, Conspiracy Of Silence, Gargoyles & Earthquake.
Most recently he appeared on stage as Macduff in Macbeth at The Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles,
in Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter at London’s The Royal Court Theatre (staged reading) and as Adolphus Grigson in Glasgow Citizens Theatre’s production of The Shadow Of A Gunman.
Fintan recently repeated his performance in The Dumb Waiter playing opposite Stephen Rea. He has also performed Conor Mc Pherson’s St.Nicholas. Both of the above were presented at the inaugural Flatlake Festival in Monaghan, Ireland and were directed by Matthew Burton
Melanie MacHugh Neasa
Melanie trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Her theatre credits include Ruth in Midden (Oldham Coliseum); Dorotea in The Dog in The Manger, Bathsheba in Tamar’s Revenge and Pedro, The Great Pretender all for the RSC Spanish Golden Age Season in Stratford, London and Spain; Dancing at Lughnasa (New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme); The Playboy of the Western World, Peer Gynt and Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre); The Art of Success (Arcola Theatre); Blood Wedding (Newcastle Playhouse); Playgirl, Rumplestiltskin (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); The Lament for Arthur Cleary (7:84 Scotland); The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, Summerhouse (Druid Theatre, Galway).
Film includes The House of Manannan, Double Heartbeat, The Guest. Radio includes various productions for RTE.
David Walshe Laurence
Born and bred in County Sligo, David trained at the RSAMD. Whilst at the school he played the title role in Hamlet under the direction of Hugh Hodgart at the Arches Theatre.
At the Edinburgh Fringe 2004 he performed hit one man show “A Mobile Thriller” which picked up a Herald Angel Award.
Theatre credits include: Big Baby (Visible Fictions) Dirty Dusting (Robert C Kelly UK Tour), Mother Courage and The Psychic Detective (Benchtours).
He provided the narration for Alice Nelson’s multi award winning documentary
“A Map with Gaps" which screened last year at MoMA in New York.
Film Credits Include: Korea; A Soldiers Song; Love and Rage (with Daniel Craig
and Greta Scacchi); The Chop ( BBC3 ); The Morbegs ( RTE). David is currently
developing "Clara" a new one man play with Scottish writer Wilma Stark, with
support from Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland.
Production Team
MICHAEL EMANS (Director)
Trained: Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama.
Previous Theatre Includes: Over the Mountain
(Creek Road Studio Theatre), Tom Jones (Lillian Bayliss Theatre), The Finishing School (Nuffield Theatre, Southampton)
For Rapture Theatre, Michael has directed: Death and the Maiden, The Dumb Waiter, Some Kind of Love Story, Shadowlands, Taking Sides, Clara, An Evening with Gary Lineker, Boys’ Life, Grace, Death of a Salesman, A Kind of Alaska, Habeas Corpus, Rat in the Skull, Oleanna, Macbeth, Perfect Days, Bold Girls, Shang a lang, Assassins, Betrayal, Mr.Peters’ Connections, Insignificance, Speed the Plow, Simpatico, Boy Gets Girl, Your Turn to Clean the Stair, The Old Neighborhood, The Sailmaker, Richard III, Double Top, Boston Marriage, Twisted, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Iune, Proof, Misery, Blue/Orange ,Damages, The Collection ,Frozen and Broken Glass
Michael assisted Mark Thomson at the Royal Lyceum Theatre on “Uncle Varick” and “Six Black Candles” .Michael has also directed at the Oran Mor the winner of the Orange Playwriting Award “Magnum Opus” and more recently the acclaimed “Burns on the Solway”
Michael recently directed acclaimed Scottish actors , John Stahl, Sandy Morton and Kenneth Bryans in the short film “God’s Favourite Son ?”
Photo : Eamon McGoldrick
Karen Tennent ( Designer)
Karen studied at Edinburgh college of Art . She has worked in Scotland as a theatre designer for many years.She has worked with companies devising ,touring ,creating site specific and in house projects . Her work has toured all over the world including Japan , Canada, Europe,New Zealand and the USA including Broadway in New York .
Her recent theatre credits include ;The Wizard of Oz for The Royal Lyceum ; Hansel and Gretel , Lion of Kabul , Cinderellas Sisters , Lifeboat , Cyrano and Martha for Catherine Wheels ;Flat Stanley for West Yorkshire Playhouse ; The Ugly Duckling and Paddington Bear for Polka Theatre ; The Little Mermaid for York Thaetre Royal ; The Memorandum, The Suicide , Playboy of the Western World , Portrait of a woman , Tall tales , Arabian Nights and Place with the Pigs (nominated best design TMA ) for Communicado ; The Twits , Bondagers , Marys Wedding and Comic Potential for The Byre ; The Happy Prince and Peter Pan for Macrobert Stirling Peer Gynt for Benchtours ; Playhouse Creatures , Flora the Red Menace and Hard Times for Dundee Rep ; Home East Lothian for NTS (best design 2006 CATS awards ) 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea for Walk the Plank . Moby Dick for the RSC
Dance credits include ; Wee Home from Home and Double Helix for Plan B ;The Ancient Mariner for Tabla Rasa
She also directed Lion of Kabul for Catherine Wheels .
Future projects include remounting Lion of Kabul with Catherine Wheels and a new co production with NTS Something Wicked this Way Comes .
And a new dance /theatre piece with Frank MCconnell and Plan B.
Wiliam Winter (Lighting Designer)
William has lit shows for many Scottish Theatre companies and was resident lighting designer for Cumbernauld Theatre company for over twenty years,
Rob Armstrong ( Production Manager)
Rob Graduated from ‘The Royals Scottish Academy of Music and Drama’ in 2005 Specializing in Stage Management. His credits include, ‘Lost Ones’ by Vanishing Point, ‘Beauty and the beast’ Take-two Productions, ‘The Hermit’ Two heads two Hearts, ‘Night time’ Traverse Theatre, ‘F.I.T’ QUN International and ‘One Night.Com’ Team Angelica.
Rob is looking forward to working with Rapture on their up and coming tour of ‘Shining City’.
The Play in Rehearsal
 
 
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