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Giant Stepsin association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents
ENDURING FREEDOM
The world premiere of a new play by Anders Lustgarten.
Directed by Roland Jaquarello.
Designed by Vanessa Hawkins. Lighting by Gabriel Phillips-Sanchez.Sound Design by David Sharrock.
Cast: Lisa Eichhorn. Fiz Marcus. Vincent Riotta. Charlie Roe. Anna Savva.
“I got a quarter-sized piece of my son in that box there and the question is why.”
When Tom and Susan, a New Jersey couple, lose their son in the attack on the twin towers, it begins to affect their marriage, friends and community…
As Tom’s grief forces him to begin to question the post 9/11 orthodoxy, he finds himself not only at odds with his wife, but also with the government itself. In contrast, Susan’s need for comfort and unity forces her to get involved in things she previously didn’t believe. As the neighbours take sides,shock jocks rant, conspiracy theories abound and politicians wave the flag, Tom and Susan are pushed to breaking point as one particular political clique appropriates a nation’s mourning.
More than just a story of one couple’s personal and political journey, Enduring Freedom is also a powerful portrayal of the Bush years and how a climate of repression and fear hijacked the democratic process, undermining the lives of ordinary people.
Playwright Anders Lustgarten’s first play The Insurgents, a comic drama about Kurdish immigration and political resistance to globalisation, was produced as part of a double bill A Letter To England at the Finborough Theatre in 2007, while Enduring Freedomreceived workshopsthrough the Finborough Theatre’s literary department in both March 2007 and April 2008. Anders is currently also under commission at the Soho Theatre. A British writer of American parentage, Anders has worked as a political activist during which he has found himself barred from British prisons and arrested by the Turkish secret police.
Director Roland Jaquarellohas beena Resident Director at the Abbey Theatre Dublin, and Artistic Director of the Lyric Theatre Belfast, the Redgrave Theatre Farnham, the Live Theatre Newcastle, and his own company Green Fields and Far Away which toured Irish work in the UK.He has also worked as a Senior Producer with Radio Drama BBC Northern Ireland.His many productions include After The Fall, All My Sons, The IcemanCometh, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,MrsWarren’s Profession (Lyric Belfast), The School forScandal ,Escurial, Fando and Lis and Picnic On The Battlefield(Abbey Theatre Dublin),Miss Julie, The Exception and The Rule, The Car Cemetery (Welsh Drama Co),A Touch Of The Poet, The Shadow Of A Gunman (Green Fields),George Dandin and The Playboy OfThe Western World with Conleth Hill (Redgrave Farnham), Slawomir Mrozek’s Police(Dublin), It’s A Two Foot Six Inches Above TheGround World (National
Tour),Androcles and The Lion with Bill Nighy and Julie Walters ( Everyman Liverpool), An Inspector Calls with Jeremy Irons (Peterborough), and Ernst Toller’s Hinkemann with Ray Winstone (Old Red Lion). He has also directed
many new plays including Hatchet by Heno Magee (Abbey Theatre Dublin and Half Moon Theatre London, with Colm Meaney), KingHerod Advises by Conor Cruise O’Brien (Abbey Theatre Dublin),Ah Well It Won’t Be Long Now! with Zoe Wanamaker (Olympia Dublin),The Ikon Maker by Desmond Hogan (Green Fields tour and Gate London), The Rise and Fall Of Barney Kerrigan by Frank Dunne with Liam Neeson, CultureVultures by Robin GlendinningandThe Butterfly Of Killybegs by Brian Foster (both Lyric Belfast). His work in broadcasting includes work by Brian Friel, Sebastian Barry and John Arden for Radio 3. For Radio 4, hismany productions include work by Colm McCann, Gary Mitchell, Kaite O’Reilly,John Arden, Larry Gelbart, Mark Lawson and J.M. Synge. William Trevor’s The Property OfColette Nerviwhich he produced was nominated for the Prix Italia Play Sectionin 1990, and An Enemy Of The People,for Radio 3, recently won an O.Z. Whitehead Award from the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild for Best Radio Script 2007.
The cast includes Lisa Eichhorn, Fiz Marcus, Vincent Riotta, Charlie Roe and Anna Savva. Nominated for a BAFTA and two Golden Globe Awards, Lisa Eichhorn’s credits include Shadowlands (Salisbury), Tobaccoland, The Misfits, Winding the Ball (Royal Exchange, Manchester),Woman of Lockerbie (Orange Tree Theatre), Golden Boy (National Theatre), The Speed of Darkness, The Common Pursuit (Off Broadway), Any Given Day (Broadway) and extensive Television and Film credits including King of the Hill, A Modern Affair, The Weather in the Streets, Cutter’s Way(Best Actress Deauville), The Europeans(BAFTA nomination), Yanks(2 Golden Globe nominations), Midsomer Murders, Spooks, Law and Order, Jericho and Inspector Morse; Fiz Marcus’s credits include Equus (UK National Tour), Star Quality (Apollo Theatre), A Man With Connections (Minerva Theatre Chichester and Finborough Theatre), A Kind of Alaska (Orange Tree Theatre), Private Lives (Basingstoke), Red Princess (Red Shift), A Small Family Business (Chichester);Vincent Riotta’s credits include Measure for Measure, Romeo and Juliet, Flashpoint (Young Vic), Salome (National Theatre),A Streetcar Named Desire, All My Sons (Leicester) andnumerous TV and Film credits include Revolver, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Under the Tuscan Sun, Heaven, Babylon 5, Monkand Alias;Charlie Roe has been seen inA Few Good Men (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Electra (Gate Theatre), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (English Touring Theatre), The Winter’s Tale (Young Vic), The Tempest (Cheek by Jowl), As You Like It (National Theatre), Philoctetes (Cheek by Jowl), Troilus and Cressida (Royal Shakespeare Company), Ting Tang Mine (National Theatre); Anna Savva was nominated for Best Actress by Time Out forher performance as Frida Kahlo inFrida and Diego (Red Shift Theatre). Her other credits include The Battle of Green Lanes (Theatre Royal Stratford East), and roles at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Theatr Clywd, Library Theatre, Manchester, Royal Exchange, Manchester, and the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester. Her extensive Television and Film credits include The Quiet Assassin, EastEnders, Silent Witness andLondon’s Burning.
Designer Vanessa Hawkins was nominated for Best Set Design in the Irish Times Theatre Awards for The Butterfly ofKillybegs, also directed by Roland Jaquarello, at the Lyric Theatre Belfast.
The Press on Roland Jaquarello
“Excellently directed by Roland Jaquarello.” Time Out on Hatchet.
“The playing in Roland Jaquarello’s production could hardly be better.” The Financial Times on Hatchet.
“Roland Jaquarello’s production has all the right spasms of violence, emotional, restraint and excess and he is served by a superlative cast.” The Guardian on Flashpoint.
“Roland Jaquarello’s excellent revival.”Time Out on Flashpoint.
“Roland Jaquarello’s production captures the drama’s considerable richness.” The Daily Telegraph on Naked.
“Roland Jaquarello’s direction is elegant with a nice touch of the abstract and intelligent performances.” The Times on Thirty Pieces of Silver.
“A splendid production, nicely paced and full of light and shade.” Time Out onThe Man with the Flower in his Mouth.
“Roland Jaquarello’s production strikes a fine and courageous equation between art and political engagement.”The Times on Culture Vultures.
“This fine production by Roland Jaquarello.” The Times on After the Fall.
“’Roland Jaquarello’s fine and steady production.’’ The Times on The Iceman Cometh
PRESS NIGHT: FRIDAY, 8 AUGUST 2008 AT 7.30PM
PHOTOCALL: WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2008 AT 1.00PM-1.30PM
Finborough Theatre, The Finborough, 118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652 Book online at
Wednesday, 6 August – Saturday, 30 August 2008
Tuesday to Saturday Evenings at 7.30pm. Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm
Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £9 all seats, and Saturday evenings £13 all seats.
Previews (6 and 7 August) £9 all seats.
Performance Length: Approximately 2 hours.
PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW BOX OFFICE NUMBER 0844 847 1652
For more information, interviews and images, please contact
Neil McPherson on e-mail or07977 173135
Press releases and images are available to download from
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118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9EDTelephone +44 (0)20 7244 7439 Fax +44 (0)20 7835 1853
e-mail Artistic Director Neil McPherson
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.