Press Information finboroughtheatre
Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre in association with Oystercatcher presents
A DAY BY THE SEA
Presented as a companion piece to Nicholas de Jongh’s sell-out success Plague Over England,
the first ever revival of 1953’s West End smash hit by ‘the English Chekhov’, N. C. Hunter
Directed by Tom Cooper. Designed by Mike Lees.
Cast: Juliet Aykroyd. David Barnaby. William Maxwell. Hayward Morse. Stephen Omer. Lucy Russell. Andrew P Stephen. Romy Tennant.
The Finborough Theatre presents the first ever revival of N. C. Hunter’s play A Day by the Sea, opening on 31 March for five Sunday and Monday performances. Presented as a companion piece to Nicholas de Jongh’s sell-out success Plague Over England which plays at the theatre from 27 February – 22 March 2008, A Day by the Sea is the play thatSir John Gielgud was performing in when he arrested in a Chelsea public lavatory, breaking the great taboo of public discussion of homosexuality.
N. C. Hunter has been called ‘the English Chekhov’, and this delicate, poetic, autumnal play captures a Chekhovian sense of loss, shattered ambitions and personal isolation, but amongst a distinctly English group of characters. Set in Dorset after the Second World War, A Day by the Sea is both gently comic and profoundly tragic – this precise and psychological play is a historical missing link between the well made plays of Rattigan and Coward and the theatrical revolution of 1956 with John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger.
The play was a hit at the Haymarket Theatre in 1953, directed by and starring Gielgud with Ralph Richardson, Irene Worth, Sybil Thorndike, and Lewis Casson. The Broadway production in 1955 was directed by Sir Cedric Hardwicke with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. It has also been produced for BBC Radio with Sir Michael Hordern, Richard Pasco, and Barbara Leigh Hunt.
N.C. Hunter (1908-1971) was one of the West End’s most successful playwrights during the 1950s with his work usually produced at the Theatre Royal Haymarket by Binkie Beaumont of H.M. Tennant with stellar casts. His plays include Waters of the Moon, A Picture of Autumn, A Day by the Sea, A Touch of the Sun which won Sir Michael Redgrave an Actor of the Year Award in 1958, and The Tulip Tree which starred Celia Johnson, John Clements and Lynn Redgrave in her West End début.
Director Tom Cooper returns to the Finborough Theatre following his sell-out European Premiere production of Adam Guettel’s song cycle Myths and Hymns. Other directing includes Brecht’s rarely performed The Visions of Simone Machard at Hackney Empire and on tour, Dead Woman’s Music by Michael Ayers at the Arcola Theatre, Judith by Howard Barker at the Pleasance Theatre, L’Antologia di Spoon River for the Rapallo Festival Italy and his own adaptation of The Trojan Women at the Edinburgh Festival.
The cast includes Juliet Aykroyd, David Barnaby, William Maxwell, Hayward Morse, Stephen Omer, Lucy Russell, Andrew P Stephen and Romy Tennant. Juliet Aykroyd’s credits include several productions with the Royal Shakespeare
Company and television includes Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads and Man Of Straw (BBC); David Barnaby’s credits include Plague Over England and The Confidential Clerk at the Finborough Theatre as well as Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Royal, Bath) and As You Like It (Rose at Kingston and US Tour), both for Sir Peter Hall, When Harry Met Sally (Theatre Royal, Haymarket) and The Marrying of Ann Leete (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond); William Maxwell’s credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company including the original cast of Nicholas Nickleby, West End, Royal Exchange, Manchester, Brookside) as well as Seed, and On Line and Paranoid in the Sentimental City at the Finborough Theatre; Hayward Morse was nominated for a Tony for his performance in the Broadway production of Simon Gray’s Butley, while his many stage credits include the first stage versions of both What The Butler Saw and The Rocky Horror Show – as well as Eden’s Empire and Weapons of Happiness at the Finborough Theatre. Stephen Omer’s credits include Neville’s Island (Hull Truck Theatre), and To Kill A Mockingbird (New Victoria Theatre), and his many television credits include Emmerdale, Heartbeat, The Bill, Hollyoaks and Grownups; Lucy Russell’s credits include The Cherry Orchard (Glasgow Citizens), Barnstorm(Union Theatre) and In The Name Of Science (King’s Head Theatre), film credits include Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus as well as Fred Claus, Cass, Out There, and Batman Begins, television includes Countdown to War (BBC), Forgiven (More 4) He Kills Coppers and Moving Wallpaper (ITV) and Clapham Junction (Channel 4); Andrew P Stephen appeared in The Mollusc at the Finborough Theatre, as well as Absurd Person Singular(Garrick Theatre), Elling (Trafalgar Studios), The Woman in Black (National Tour) and Life x 3 (Savoy Theatre); Romy Tennant’s credits include Love Song (West End),My Child (Royal Court Theatre), Festen (Almeida Theatre) and film includes Danny Boy and Cool Water.
The Press on Tom Cooper’s previous work
“The opportunity to seeMyths and Hymnshas to be seized...this is musical theatre that is challenging, compelling and compulsive... There is an astonishing intelligence and physicality to complement robust musical voices throughout. Bring yourself to it - as the fiercely committed cast of Tom Cooper's production do - and it isone of the most rewarding experiences you can have” Mark Shenton, The Stage on Myths and Hymns
“Beautiful, intelligent, moving… expertly nuanced performances… the kind of gem of a discovery that makes the Fringe a worthwhile experience” *****Five Stars Ian Shuttleworth, The Financial Times on The Trojan Women
PRESS NIGHT: MONDAY, 31 MARCH 2008 AT 7.30PM
PHOTOCALL: by arrangement. Please email
Finborough Theatre, The Finborough, 118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652 Book online at
Monday, 31 March; Sunday, 6 April and Monday, 7 April;
Sunday, 13 April and Monday 14 April 2008
All performances at 7.30pm. Tickets £13, £9 concessions. Performance Length: Approximately 2 hours.
For more information, interviews and images, please contact
Neil McPherson on e-mail or 07977 173135
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118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9EDTelephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439 Fax +44 (0)20 7835 1853
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The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.