A co-production by The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and The Old Vic
Creative Team and On-Sale dates announced for stage adaptation of Local Hero
- The stage production of Local Hero will be adapted by David Greig and Bill Forsyth, with new music by Mark Knopfler, drawing on his original1983 film score
- John Crowley will direct the World Premiere production with set and costume design by Scott Pask, lighting design by Paule Constable, sound design by Paul Arditti, video design by Luke Halls, Music Supervisionby Dave Milligan, Music Direction by Phil Bateman,and casting by Will Burton
- First release of public tickets on sale 10am, 1 May 2018 at The Lyceum
Advanced booking opens at 12pm on 5 June 2018 and general booking opens at 12pm26 June 2018 at The Old Vic
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburghand The Old Vic, London are delighted to announce thatJohn Crowleywilldirect the World Premiere of Local Hero, a stage adaptation of the 1983 film, co-written by David Greig and Bill Forsyth, with music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler.
Local Hero will open at The Lyceum on 23 March 2019, and The Old Vic run will open in June 2019.
John Crowley’s stage work includes The Present, Anton Chekhov’s Platonov adapted by Andrew Upton and starring Cate Blanchett; the London and Broadway runs of Martin McDonagh’s Tony-nominated The Pillowman starring David Tennant; McDonagh’s A Behanding in Spokane on Broadway starring Christopher Walken; the West End production of Love Song, starring Neve Campbell and Cillian Murphy, and the West End run of On An Average Day, starring Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan. He was Associate Director at the Donmar Warehouse.
Crowley’s film work includes Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winningBrooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, Film Four’s Boy A, starring Andrew Garfield and the upcoming film adaptation of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinchstarring Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson.
Crowley returns to The Lyceum having directed the 1993 production of The Master Builder starring Brian Cox.
The creative team further includes Tony Award-winning Set and Costume Designer Scott Pask,whose work includes The Pillowman, directed by John Crowley, The Coast of Utopia, The Book of Mormonand more recently Tina Fey’s Mean Girls and Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, starring Condola Rashad.
Lighting Designer Paule Constable is a National Theatre of Great Britain Associate who has won the Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design a record four times. Her work includes Follies, Angels in America, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and War Horse.
Tony and Olivier Award-winning Sound Designer Paul Arditti’s work includes Billy Elliot: The Musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Scottsboro Boys, King Charles IIIand Amadeus.
Video design will be by BAFTA-winning Luke Halls, whose work includes The Royal Opera House’s Don Giovanni, Metropolitan Opera’s Otello, and the National Theatre of Great Britain’s Ugly Lies The Bone, as well as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic closing ceremonies, and video designs for tours by Adele, Beyoncé, Pet Shop Boys, U2 and Rihanna.
Music Supervisor Dave Milligan isan acclaimed jazz pianist and leading figure in the diverse Scottish music scene, having co-founded Unusual Suspectsand worked extensively with Celtic Connections and Edinburgh Jazz Festival.Music Director Phil Bateman’s recent work includes Bob Marley musical One Love, Bugsy Malone, The Lorax, Billy Elliot: The Musical and Made in Dagenham, and he was Vocal Arranger on the films Kinky Boots and Cemetery Junction.
The stage adaptation is co-written by The Lyceum’s Artistic Director David Greigand multi-award winning director and writer Bill Forsyth, with music and lyrics by acclaimed composer and Glasgow-born producer Mark Knopfler – founder of internationally celebrated band Dire Straits, whose album Brothers in Arms is one of the top 20 highest selling albums in UK history – and who has previously composed music for films including The Princess Bride, Wag the Dogand Comfort and Joy.
The Lyceum’s Artistic Director David Greig says: ‘God, this is exciting! I’m thrilled The Lyceum will be working with a team of this calibre to make Local Hero. John Crowley is a director on top of his game. From The Pillowman to Brooklyn he has shown himself a master of complex emotional material.I was recently privileged to see his production of The Present on Broadway with Cate Blanchett and it was one of the defining experiences of my theatre-going life. Scott Pask is a visionary Stage Designer who is at home with an intimate play as he is with a huge Broadway musical. The Lyceum audience are in for a treat to see his work in our gorgeous theatre. Paul Arditti worked with me on the crazy, surreal soundscape of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and Paule Constable has lit some of the most beautiful shows in London’s West End in recent years. Together with Luke Halls’ video work having pushed boundaries at the Paralympics and in Royal Opera House, we have a world class creative team in whom to trust the legacy of Bill’s much loved film.’
The Old Vic’s Artistic Director Matthew Warchus says: ‘It’s very exciting to see Bill Forsyth’s masterpiece entrusted to such a classy line-up of international creative talent.’
Local Hero is due to open at The Lyceum in Spring 2019 before transferring to The Old Vic. This production is generously supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotlandand presented by special arrangement with Neal Street Productions and Patrick Daly of Caledonia Productions.
The first release of public tickets for Local Hero will go on sale at 10am on 1 May 2018 at The Lyceum. Advanced booking for Local Hero will open at 12pm on 5 June 2018and general booking will open at 12pm on 26 June 2018 at The Old Vic. Please see full listings below for further information.
ENDS
Full Listings information
Local Hero
Book by Bill Forsyth and David Greig
Music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler
Based on the screenplay of the original film, written and directed by Bill Forsyth
Original film produced by David Puttnam
Director: John Crowley
Set and Costume Designer: Scott Pask
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Sound Designer: Paul Arditti
Video Designer: Luke Halls
Music Supervisor: Dave Milligan
Music Director: Phil Bateman
Casting: Will Burton
23 March – 20 April 2019, The Lyceum
JuneTBC– 31 August 2019, The Old Vic
The Lyceum’s Principal Production Sponsor is The Famous Grouse. The run is further supported by the Culture and Business Fund.
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh
Address: The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Grindlay Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9AX
Box Office: 0131 248 4848 /
Group Bookings: 0131 248 4949
Website: lyceum.org.uk
The Old Vic
Address:The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB
Box Office: 0844 871 7628
Website:oldvictheatre.com
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube:@oldvictheatre
Notes to Editors
-The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company is a crucible of Scottish talent, developing Scotland’s considerable indigenous artists and presenting the best of international drama from its home in a magnificent, intimate Victorian building in Edinburgh’s West End.
Internationally celebrated playwright David Greig became the 8th Artistic Director of The Lyceum in 2016. As part of his premiere 2016/17 season, the company produced ten full productions, making it one of the biggest producing companies in the United Kingdom. The 2017/18 season, also comprising of ten productions including World and Scottish Premieres, is now reaching its end, with the 2018/19 season just announced.
In recent years, The Lyceum has staged co-productions with Told by an Idiot, Edinburgh International Festival, Actors Touring Company, Theatre Royal, Bath; The Bush Theatre, London; Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company; National Theatre of Scotland; Citizens Theatre; Dundee Rep; Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; Chichester Festival Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, and Bristol Old Vic.
In addition, The Lyceum also runs an award-winning, ambitious and acclaimed Creative Learning programme which engages with over 16,000 young people across Scotland annually.
For more information, please visit lyceum.org.uk
-The Old Vic is London’s independent not-for-profit theatre, creating world class entertainment on an international scale. Through our work on stage, whether it be a comedy or new musical, a dramatic work or a show for all the family; our projects with young people; our employability programmes; our social media channels; or our late night cocktail bar, we strive to remain at the centre of our community.
We are almost 200 years old, and today, as we enter our third century under the leadership of Artistic Director Matthew Warchus, our goal is to be full. Full of life, full of creativity, full of people, full of opportunity, full of fun, full of hope.
A collective passion, belief in the power of theatre, inclusion and sense of adventure are the long held values that still drive The Old Vic forward today. As we look to the future, we do so with optimism, courage and an irrepressible spirit. And a knowledge that the commodity that will be most prized tomorrow is creative imagination. It is what we make, share, trade in, uphold; and it is why The Old Vic is as vital today as it was in 1818 when it first opened its doors.
-Bill Forsyth is the pioneering figure of Scottish Cinema. He made his first feature film, That Sinking Feeling in 1979 with £2,000 and a co-operative of willing local film technicians and keen young performers from Glasgow Youth Theatre. It was the first indigenously produced feature film ever made in Scotland and entered the Guinness Book of Records as the cheapest feature film ever made anywhere. The film’s can-do spirit, both in its making and in its narrative, inspired subsequent generations of Scottish film makers, and within a decade Scottish film making was firmly on the map.
In the following two decades Forsyth wrote and directed a succession of eccentrically engaging personal films, mostly in his native Scotland, including Gregory’s Girl, Comfort and Joy, and Local Hero a film which struck a warm chord with audiences and critics alike, winning a Best Director BAFTA and featuring in the New York Times’ best ten movies of the year. The film also won Forsyth the NY Critic’s Circle award for best script.
-David Greig is a multi award-winning playwright who became the Artistic Director of The Lyceum in 2016. His first season included critically acclaimed works The Suppliant Women, adapted by David, which went on to Belfast International Festival and The Royal Exchange, before opening at the Young Vic in November; and the World Premiere of Glory On Earth, by Linda McLean, which marked David’s directorial debut at the theatre.
David’s most notable plays include The Events (Traverse and Young Vic), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (Tron, National Theatre of Scotland), Midsummer (Traverse, Soho and Tricycle), Dunsinane (RSC at Hampstead and National Theatre of Scotland), Damascus (Traverse, Scotland and Tricycle), Outlying Islands (Traverse and Royal Court), The American Pilot (RSC), Pyrenees (Paines Plough), The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union (Donmar Warehouse and Paines Plough), The Architect, and Europe (Traverse).
David wrote the book for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened in the West End in 2013 and later transferred to Broadway. His adaptation of Lanark opened at the Edinburgh International Festival in Summer 2015, and his adaptation of Dr Seuss’ The Lorax opened at The Old Vic for Christmas 2015.
-One of the most successful singer/songwriters worldwide, Mark Knopfler retreated from the spotlight as leader of Dire Straits to make his first solo record, Golden Heart, in 1996. Since then he has released seven further solo albums and toured extensively.
Over the years, Mark has written the music for several films, including Local Hero, Cal, The Princess Bride, Last Exit To Brooklyn and Wag The Dog and has played and recorded with a number of artists, including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Randy Newman and the late Chet Atkins.
-John Crowley is an internationally acclaimed director whose theatre credits include The Present (Sydney Theatre Company/Broadway); A Behanding in Spokane (Broadway); The Pillowman (National Theatre/Booth Theatre - nominated for the 2005 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play); Love Song (New Ambassadors); On An Average Day (Comedy Theatre); Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards (National Theatre); Shadows (Royal Shakespeare Company); The Same Deep Water as Me, Tales from Hollywood, The Maids, How I Learned to Drive, Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse); Juno & The Paycock (Donmar Warehouse/Gramercy Theatre); Macbeth, The Turn of the Screw (Welsh National Opera); John Hughdy/Tom John, The Blue Macushla (Druid Theatre Company); One for the Road, Phaedra (Gate Theatre, Dublin); True Lines, Double Helix (Bickerstaffe Theatre Company); The Crucible, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Abbey Theatre, Dublin). John’s film credits include the upcoming The Goldfinch, Brooklyn (BAFTA winner of Best British Film), Is Anyone There?,Boy A (BAFTA winner for Best Director), Celebration and Intermission.
-Scott Pask has designed over 50 Broadway productions, and has been awarded three Tony Awards for his designs of The Book of Mormon, The Coast of Utopia, and The Pillowman.
Selected credits include: The Bands Visit, Mean Girls, Oh Hello!, Saint Joan, The Little Foxes, , Blackbird, Waitress, The Father (MTC), Something Rotten, An Act of God, and Finding Neverland, The Father, Its Only a Play, The Visit - Drama Desk nominee, Airline Highway, Pippin - Tony Award Nominee, Nine, Casa Valentina, I’ll Eat You Last, with Bette Midler, A Steady Rain with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, A Behanding in Spokane, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Coast of Utopia - Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Hewes Award winner, Promises Promises, Hair, Pal Joey - Tony Nominee, Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Tony Nominee, Drama Desk Award winner, Speed-the-Plow, Take Me Out, Urinetown (Broadway); The Book of Mormon (Prince of Wales); The Same Deep Water As Me, Take Me Out, Tales from Hollywood (Donmar); The Pillowman (National Theatre); Finding Neverland (Leicester Curve); The Country Girl (Apollo); HAIR (Gielgud); Barnum(Chichester Festival Theatre/UK Tour); On An Average Day (Pinter); Albert Herring (Opera North); Bash (Almeida). He has received multiple Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Bessie, and Henry Hewes Awards
Additional productions include Peter Grimes (Metropolitan Opera); Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna (Worldwide, incl. Royal Albert Hall), Bottega Veneta’s Spring Summer 2018 collection show in New York, and for Netflix: John Mulaney’s Kid Gorgeous at Radio City Music Hall, and Oh Hello!
Scott’s work has been featured in numerous national and international publications and textbooks, and his work has been exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial, Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Leslie Lohman Museum in New York City, Gallery Met at the Metropolitan Opera, and is featured in the permanent collection of the McNay Art Museum in Texas. He has his bachelors of Architecture from the University of Arizona, His Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University, and Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Arizona.
-Paule Constable’s theatre credits include: The Moderate Soprano (West End); Norma (Met Opera); Nine Night, Angels in America, Pericles, Follies, Pinocchio, Mosquitoes, Common, The Red Barn, The Threepenny Opera, The Suicide, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, The Light Princess, Table, This House, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, A Comedy of Errors, Danton, The Power of Yes, Phédre, Death and the King’s Horseman, War Horse, Some Trace of Her, Women of Troy, Triple Bill, Saint Joan, Attempts on Her Life, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Waves, Southwark Fair, Paul, Coram Boy, Translations, The House of Bernarda Alba, His Dark Materials, Play Without Words, Three Sisters, Jumpers, Ivanov, Darker Face of the Earth, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (National Theatre of Great Britain/West End/Broadway/UK Tour/US Tour/Canada); Peter and Alice, Privates on Parade (Michael Grandage Company); Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle (Elliot & Harper Productions); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Love Never Dies, Oliver!, Evita (West End); Wolf Hall, As You Like It, The Prince of Homburg, The Seagull, Tales from Ovid, The Dispute, Uncle Vanya, Beckett’s Shorts, The Mysteries (RSC); How to Hold Your Breath, Clybourne Park, Posh, The City, Krapps Last Tape, Forty Winks, Boy Gets Girl, Night Songs, The Country, Dublin Carol, The Weir (Royal Court); Elegy, Teddy Ferrara, Luise Miller, Ivanov, The Chalk Garden, The Man Who Had All The Luck, Othello, Absurdia, The Cut, Proof, Little Foxes (Donmar); Happy Days, Feast, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Generations, Vernon God Little, The Jungle Book, As I Lay Dying, 12th Night, More Grimm Tales, Omma (Young Vic); Seventeen, Herons, Blasted, Three Sisters, The Servant, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist (Lyric Hammersmith); Moon for the Misbegotten, Dancing at Lughnasa, Amadeus, Playhouse Creatures (The Old Vic); The Street of Crocodiles, Out of a House Walked a Man, The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol, A Minute Too Late, Caucasian Chalk Circle (Complicité); Don Carlos (Sheffield Crucible/West End); Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Concert (London O2 Arena/Broadway/International); Phantom of the Opera (US Tour).