Press Information
The Finborough Theatre is fully heated and air conditioned
Luke Holbrookin association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents
The English premiere
SOMERSAULTS
byIain Finlay Macleod
Directed by Russell Bolam. Designed by Philip Lindley.
“If you were to go home tonight and the language that your mother spoke, the language whose sound you heard first when you came into this world, that ordered the world for you, if that language was dying. How would you feel? If all of it was obliterated. If it was all silence…”
Originally produced by the National Theatre of Scotland, the English premiere of Iain Finlay Macleod’sSomersaults opens at the Finborough Theatre on Wednesday, 2January 2013 (Press Night: Thursday, 3 January 2013 at 7.30pm) for a limited four-week season, directed by Russell Bolam.
James is a successful entrepreneur living the metropolitan life with a beautiful wife and a swanky London flat. But when the creditors move in and his wife moves out, James suddenly finds he’s left with nothing. Nothing but words.
James’ father is dying – his last connection to his childhood and the language of his birth, Scots Gaelic. With this link gone, James fears he will simply cease to exist. As the words start to slip away, he journeys home to confront his past and search for his true identity – as he desperately struggles to remember the language of his birth and the word for ‘somersault’.
A rich and complex new play exploring the role of language and how it defines who we are by the UK’s leading Scots Gaelic playwright Iain Finlay Macleod. Somersaults was originally produced by the National Theatre of Scotland, premiering at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in 2011, directed by National Theatre of Scotland Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone.
Playwright Iain Finlay Macleod made his English theatre debut at the Finborough Theatre in 2009 with I Was A Beautiful Day in a production which subsequently transferred to the Tron Theatre, Glasgow. His play Atman was also produced at the Finborough Theatre in 2011 starring Lucy Griffiths, following a staged reading as part of the Finborough Theatre’s Vibrant – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights with Jasper Britton and Alan Cox. Iain Finlayhas written many works for theatre, radio, film and television. Writing in both English and his native Scots Gaelic, Iain has also directed numerous documentaries on Celtic folklore and arts, and was series director of the BAFTA-winning show TACSI, which won Best Arts Series in the Scottish BAFTA's and Best Entertainment Programme at the Celtic Film and Television Festival. Television includes Machair which won a Writers' Guild Award for Best Foreign Language Serial Drama. His work for theatre includes Somersaults (National Theatre of Scotland and the Traverse Theatre), St Kilda (Gaelic Arts Agency), Broke, Homers, Alexander Salamander and Road from the Isles (Traverse Theatre), Salvage (Tosg Theatre Company) and Cliff Dancing (National Gaelic Youth Theatre). His work for BBC Radio 4 includes The Watergaw, The Gold Digger and an adaptation of Angela Carter's The Kitchen Child. Other radio includes Frozen and an adaptation of The Pearlfisher for BBC Radio Scotland. His film work includes The Inaccessible Pinnacle. He is also the author of several novels.
Director Russell Bolam returns to the Finborough Theatre where he has directed the sell-out production of John Antrobus’ Captain Oates' Left Sock (2009). Trained at MiddlesexUniversity and GITISAcademy of Theatre Arts, Moscow. Directing includes Shivered which was nominated for four OffWestEnd awards including Best Director (Southwark Playhouse), The Seagull(Southwark Playhouse),The Road to Mecca (Arcola Theatre) The Roman Bath (Arcola Theatre and Ivan Vazov National Theatre), Alfred (Vineyard Theatre, New York, as part of the T.S. Eliot Exchange), Lark Ascending (Theatre 503), Three More Sleepless Nights and Fourplay (Tristan Bates Theatre), Zygosity (King’s Head Theatre), Fairytaleheart (Old Red Lion Theatre) and The Physicists (The Aphra Studio, Canterbury). Assistant Directing includes The Winter's Tale, Pericles, Days of Significance (Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works Season and US Tour), An Inexplicable Act of Violence (Old Vic 24 Hour Plays), A Background Noise (Nottingham Playhouse), The Taming of the Shrew, Around the World in 80 Days, The Barber of Seville and The Seagull (Bristol Old Vic).
The Press on National Theatre Scotland’s production of Somersaults
“The rich and complex tapestry behind Iain Finlay Macleod’s new play…lets loose a tantalising meditation on the struggle to retain one’s language and identity in a modern world where majority rules.” Neil Cooper, The Herald, Scotland
“The message of Iain Finlay Macleod’s play about the loss of the words and the language of childhood speaks loudly…an important piece of drama.” ★★★★ Four Stars, Irene Brown, EdinburghGuide.com
“In a world of dying languages, this is not the first time this predicament has been aired but, in Vicky Featherstone’s fluid, carefully timed production, Somersaults gives it a wistful, human face.” ★★★★ Four Stars, Mark Fisher, The Guardian
“A powerful theatrical snapshot of the position of Gaelic in our society now, written in both Gaelic and English, and all the clearer – and more beautiful – for that.” ★★★★ Four Stars, The Scotsman
The Press on Director Russell Bolam
On Captain Oates' Left Sockat the Finborough Theatre
Time Out Show of the Week, and Time Out Critics' Choice.
Top Five TheatreThe Times
“Excellently directed by Russell Bolam.” ★★★★ Four Stars, WhatsOnStage
On Shivered
★★★★The Independent, The Telegraph, Time Out and WhatsOnStage
“Directed with clarity and flair by Russell Bolam.”The Stage
“Russell Bolam’s beautifully acted and designed production.” The Independent
"Russell Bolam’s richly absorbing revival" ★★★★ Four Stars, The Telegraph on The Road To Mecca
PRESS NIGHT: THURSDAY, 3JANUARY 2013 AT 7.30PM
PHOTOCALL: WEDNESDAY, 2JANUARY 2013 AT 1.00PM-1.30PM
Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652 Book online at
Wednesday, 2January – Saturday, 26January 2013
Tuesday to Saturday Evenings at 7.30pm. Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm. Saturday matinees at 3.00pm (from the second week of the run).
Prices for Weeks One and Two (2 January – 13January 2013) – Tickets £14, £10 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £10 all seats, and Saturday evenings £14 all seats. Previews (2 and3January) £9 all seats.
£6 tickets for under 30’s for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only.
£10 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on the first Saturday of the run only.
Prices for Weeks Three and Four (15January – 26January 2013) – Tickets £16, £12 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £12 all seats, and Saturday evenings £16 all seats.
Performance Length: Approximately two hours.
(Ticket prices may be subject to change)
For more information, interviews and images, please contact
Neil McPherson on e-mail or 07977 173135
Download press releases and images at
118 Finborough Road, LondonSW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439 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.