By Nick Dear
Directed By Richard Eyre
£8 - £32
"Or must I be content with discontent
As larks and swallows are perhaps with wings?"
The Glory, Edward Thomas
Deep in the Hampshire countryside Edward Thomas scrapes a living; disaffected husband, exhausted father and tormented writer. Then in 1913 he meets American poet Robert Frost and everything changes. As their friendship blossoms Edward writes, emerging from his cocoon of self-doubt into one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century.
On the verge of success he makes the drastic decision to enlist, confounding his friends and family. The Dark Earth and the Light Sky delves into the life of this enigmatic and complex character in an era of change and destruction.
Nick Dear recently adapted the highly acclaimed Frankenstein at the National Theatre. His other plays include Power, Zenobia and The Art of Success. His screenplays include Byron, Eroica and Persuasion.
Award-winning director Richard Eyre’s most recent theatre credits include Private Lives in the West End and The Reporter at the National Theatre. For film and television he has directed amongst others, Notes on a Scandal, Iris and the forthcoming Henry IV Parts I and II for the BBC.
Previews Thu 8 - Wed 14 November
Press Night Thu 15 November (7pm)
Evening performances 7.30pm
Saturday matinees 2.30pm from 17 November
Wednesday matinees 2.30pm on 28 November and 9 January
This production contains occasional loud explosion effects
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERFORMANCES
There will be no performances on 24, 25, 26 or 31 December
SPECIAL EVENTS
Happy Mondays 12 November
Talkback Tue 11 December
(post performance with speech-to-text transcription)
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES
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Captioned Tue 11 December, 7.30pm |
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Audio-described Sat 15 December, 2.30pm (Touch Tour at 1pm) |
Edward Thomas
Theatre includes: Posh (Duke of York’s Theatre); The Cherry Orchard; The White Guard; Gethsemane; Never So Good; The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other; Present Laughter (National Theatre); Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre); Joseph K (Gate Theatre).
Television includes: Henry IV Parts I & II;Neverland; Christopher and His Kind; Lewis; John Adams; Party Animals.
Film includes: That Syncing Feeling; The Eagle; Robin Hood; The Devil’s Wedding.
Eleanor Farjeon
For the Almeida: The House of Bernarda Alba.
Theatre includes: After the Dance; Every Good Boy Deserves Favour; Some Trace of Her; Women of Troy (National Theatre); Sixty-Six Books; If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush Theatre); Kindertransport; The Kiss (Hampstead Theatre); Mariana Pineda (Arcola Theatre); Serious Money (Birmingham Repertory Theatre); Stephen and the Sexy Partridge (Trafalger Studios / Old Red Lion); Natural Selection (Theatre 503); You Might as Well Live (New End Theatre/Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh); Flanders Mare (Sound Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (Salisbury Playhouse); Design for Living; Fight for Barbara (Theatre Royal Bath); Julius Caesar (Cynergy Theatre Company at Wansworth Prison); Man of Mode (Northcott Theatre Exeter); The Country Wife (Sheffield Crucible).
Television includes: Mr Selfridge; Titanic; Doctors; Life Begins;Black Books; Coupling; Hotel Babylon; NY-LON; Watermelon; Comedy Lab: The Pooters; Extremely Dangerous; The Dark Room; Close Relations; The Peter Principle; Wycliffe; Casualty; In Your Dreams; The Bill; Tears Before Bedtime.
Film includes: I Give It a Year;Run, Fatboy, Run; A Bunch of Amateurs; Max; What Rats Won’t Do; Trouble Brewing (short); Checkout Girl (short).
Radio includes: The Happiness Foundation; Book at Bedtime: Summer Crossing; The Art of Deception.
Philip Thomas
Theatre includes: As You Like It; Blackthorn; Festen; History of Falling Things; Rape of the Fair Country; A Christmas Carol; Afore Night Come; King Lear; Twelfth Night; Macbeth; Under Milkwood; Songs of the Earth; Hard Times; Accidental Death of an Anarchist; Dance of Death (Clwyd Theatre Cmru); Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Tour); Desire Lines (Sherman Theatre); The Indian Queen (Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre); Memory (Clwyd Theatre Cmru / 59th St. Theatre, New York).
Television includes: Gavin and Stacey; Sherlock; Martha, Jac A Sianco; The Indian Doctor; Coma Girl; Stella; Alys; Rise of the Gargoyles; Holby City; Midsomer Murders; Stick or Twist; Con Passionate; Belonging; The Last Detective; Foyle’s War; In Deep; Hearts of Gold; Care; House; Heartburn Hotel; The Silent Twins; Gadael Lenin; The Bullion Boys; The Life and Death of Phillip Knight; Coming Up Roses; Butterfly; Pobol y Cwm; Drovers’ Gold; The Proposition; Mortimer’s Law.
Film includes: Seasons of Mist; Abraham’s Point; I Know You Know; Daddy’s Girl.
Ifan won the Welsh BAFTA for Best Actor for Martha, Jac A Sianco.
Robert Frost
Theatre includes: BLOK/EKO (The Wrestling School); Stovepipe (Hightide Festival); Summer Begins (Iceni Productions); The White Devil (Lyric Hammersmith); Making Noise Quietly (Oxford Stage Company); Kiss of the Spider Woman (Nottingham Playhouse); The Glass Menagerie (Palace Theatre, Watford); Brassed Off (Sheffield Theatres / National Theatre); Early Morning; The Arbor; Marat/Sade (National Theatre); United on a Wednesday Night (Sheffield Crucible).
Television includes: Misfits; Tatt; Benidorm; Great Expectations; The Borrowers; Postcode; Sugartown; Exile; Hustle; The Road to Coronation Street; The Accidental Farmer; South Riding; Moving On – Skies of Glass; Inspector George Gently; Five Days; Married. Single. Other…; Silent Witness; Harley Street; Apparitions; Midsomer Murders; An Accident Waiting to Happen; Mobile; Strictly Confidential; The Bill; Vital Signs; The Street; Heavenly Father; Rosemary and Thyme; Child of Mine; The Ghost Squad; Vincent; Holby City; New Tricks; Murphy’s Law; The Royal; Foyle’s War; POW; Eastenders; Shackletown; Warriors; Peak Practice; Coronation Street; Dalziel & Pascoe; The Grand.
Film includes: Offender;The Woman in Black; The Awakening; Junkhearts; Red Riding Triology; Kandahar Break; Salvage; The Appointment; Eden Lake; Mark of Cain; Pitch Perfect; Mathilde; Plain Jane; Groove on a Stanley Knife.
Shaun received the Royal Television Society North Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Mark of Cain.
Helen Thomas
Theatre includes: A Doll’s House (Young Vic); Plenty (Sheffield Crucible); The Real Thing (Old Vic); Three More Sleepless Nights; Time and the Conways; Some Trace of Her; The Seagull; Iphigenia at Aulis; Power (National Theatre); The Family Reunion (Donmar Warehouse); The City (Royal Court); Night of the Soul; Prisoner’s Dilemma; Hamlet; Love in a Wood (RSC); See How They Run (tour / ACT Productions); Twelfth Night (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Singer (Tricycle / Oxford Stage).
Television includes: Eternal Law; Lewis; Lark Rise to Candleford; Money; Outnumbered; Marple; Trial and Retribution; Bike Squad; Sense and Sensibility; Bodies; New Tricks; The Peacock Spring.
Film includes: The Visit; Summer in February; Having You; The Golden Compass; The Bank Job; Out of Time; Good Boy; Love Hate.
Bott / Major Lushington
Theatre includes: What You Will (Globe Theatre); Jerusalem (Royal Court); The Man Outside (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Permission to Play (Globe Theatre); Sweet Dumpling (Chichester Festival Theatre); Bear V Shark; Flat 1; With Gods (Forbidden TC); The Ofsted Inspector (Passion Fish Productions); When It's Ajar (Trouserpress Theatre); Hippo Roundabout; Stressed (Hen and Chickens Theatre); Pinocchio; Brokenville; The Moves; Poor Ted (ONO Theatre Co.); Epic (Epic Productions).
Television includes: Flat White; Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show; The Commuter.
Film includes: One Day Some Years Ago; Batman Begins; A Kind of Hush;Chronic; Unarmed and Dangerous; Money Trouble; Stan’s Slice of Life; Big Enough for 3; Carousel; Thanks for Nothing; Ed’s Bed.
Dan directed and produced the forthcoming documentary film Muse of Fire.
Writer
Nick has written for theatre, screen and radio. His adaptation of Frankenstein premiered at the National Theatre in 2011, directed by Danny Boyle.
For the Almeida: Siren Song (Almeida Opera); Food of Love (Complicite).
Theatre includes: Frankenstein; Lunch in Venice; Power; The Villains’ Opera; Summerfolk; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (National Theatre); In the Ruins (Bristol Old Vic); Zenobia; The Art of Success; Pure Science; Temptation; The Last Days of Don Juan (RSC); The Promise (Tricycle); A Family Affair (Cheek by Jowl).
Television includes: Persuasion;The Turn of the Screw; Cinderella; Byron; Eroica; Agatha Christie’s Poirot.
Film includes: The Gambler.
Opera includes: The Palace in the Sky (English National Opera / Hackney Empire).
Nick received a BAFTA in 1996 for his television adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and the Prix Italia for Eroica in 2003.
Director
Richard was Director of the National Theatre from 1988 – 1997. He has received numerous major awards; he was knighted in 1997 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2011.
For the Almeida: The Judas Kiss; The Novice; Hedda Gabler.
Theatre includes: Hamlet; Kafka’s Dick; Edmond(Royal Court); Comedians; Guys and Dolls; The Beggar’s Opera; The Government Inspector; The Voysey Inheritance; Racing Demon; Richard III; Night of the Iguana; White Chameleon; Skylight; Napoli Milionaria; Sweet Bird of Youth; The Absence of War; John Gabriel Borkman; Amy’s View; King Lear; The Invention of Love; Vincent in Brixton; The Reporter; The Observer; Welcome to Thebes (National Theatre); The Crucible (Broadway); Mary Poppins (West End / Broadway); Private Lives (West End / Broadway); A Flea in Her Ear (Old Vic); The Last of the Duchess (Hampstead Theatre).
Opera: La Traviata (RoH); Le Nozze di Figaro (Aix-en-Provence); Carmen (Metropolitan Opera).
Television includes: The Insurance Man; Country; Tumbledown; Suddenly Last Summer; Changing Stages; Henry IV Parts I and II.
Film includes: The Ploughman’s Lunch; Iris; Stage Beauty; Notes on a Scandal.
Richard is the author of Utopia and Other Places, a memoir; National Service, a journal of his time at the National Theatre, and Talking Theatre, conversations with theatre people
Design
Bob previously designed for the Almeida’s productions of The Iceman Cometh and Moonlight. He has designed more than twenty-five productions for the RSC including Les Liaisons Dangereuses and The Plantaganets winning him an Olivier Award. He is a recipient of the Royal Designer for Industry Award.
Other theatre includes: Into the Woods, Orpheus Descending (Donmar Warehouse); Don Carlos (MET); Pavane and Anastasia (Royal Ballet); La Traviata (Royal Opera House); The Magic Flute (English National Opera); The Cunning Little Vixen (Châtelet); The Coast of Utopia & Carousel (Lincoln Center Theatre); The Seagull (Public Theatre New York); The Capeman, The Sweet Smell of Success, Disney’s Aida, Disney’s Tarzan; Mary Poppins; The Year of Magical Thinking and Once (all on Broadway).
Lighting
For the Almeida: Parlour Song; Rosmersholm; Hedda Gabler; Cloud Nine; The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?; Earth and the Great Weather; The Storm; Venice Preserved; The Winter Guest; The School for Wives.
Theatre includes: Top Hat; Absent Friends; Much Ado about Nothing; The Lion in Winter; The Misanthrope; An Ideal Husband; Carousel; Fiddler on the Roof (West End); Jumpy; Our Private Life; Sucker Punch; Cock; The Seagull; Drunk Enough to Say I Love You (Royal Court); Betrayal (Sheffield Crucible); The Last of the Duchess (Hampstead Theatre);Heartbreak House (Chichester Festival Theatre); Pictures from an Exhibition (Young Vic); Scenes from an Execution; All’s Well That Ends Well; The Hothouse; Exiles (National Theatre).
Opera and dance includes: Bluebeard’s Castle; Madam Butterfly (English National Opera) Faster, E=MC² (Birmingham Royal Ballet); Pelleas and Melisande (Mariinsky); The Bartered Bride (Royal Opera House). He is currently directing/designing a concert version of The Ring Cycle for Opera North.
Peter received the 1995 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for The Glass Blew In (Siobahn Davies) and Fearful Symmetries (Royal Ballet), the 2003 Olivier Lighting Award for The Bacchai (National Theatre) and the Knight of Illumination Award in 2010 for Sucker Punch (Royal Court).
Sound / Music
For the Almeida: Filumena;Measure For Measure; Rope; Duet for One; Waste; The Homecoming; Big White Fog; Dying For It; Hedda Gabler; Macbeth; Brighton Rock; Whistling Psyche; Five Gold Rings; The Mercy Seat; I.D. and many others.
Recent theatre includes: Farewell To The Theatre; The Last Of The Duchess; Skåne; The Train Driver (Hampstead Theatre); The Lady From The Sea; The Snow Queen (Rose Theatre, Kingston); The Heresy Of Love (RSC); Grief; London Assurance; The Power of Yes; England People Very Nice; Much Ado About Nothing; The Enchantment (National Theatre); Calendar Girls; Carrie’s War; In Celebration; Kean; Donkey’s Years; Summer & Smoke; Glengarry Glen Ross (West End); Big Maggie; The Cripple Of Inishmaan (Druid Theatre, Galway / New York / tour); Small Craft Warning; Crazy Paola (Arcola Theatre); A Month In The Country (Salisbury Playhouse); Calendar Girls (Chichester / national tour); Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Druid Theatre, Galway / Dublin); Pure Gold (Soho Theatre); Translations (Princeton / Broadway); Leaves; Empress of India; The Druid Synge (Druid Theatre, Galway / Dublin/ Edinburgh / Minneapolis / New York).
Casting
Theatre includes: Chariots of Fire (West End second cast); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Judas Kiss; The Last of the Duchess (Hampstead Theatre).
Television includes: Big Bad World; Coma Girl; Stella; Vexed; A Touch of Frost; The Time of Your Life; The State Within; Beneath the Skin; Recovery.
Film includes: Forget Me Not; Gin and Dry; Dyatlov Pass Incident; Creation; The Nutcracker; The Secret of Moonacre; Mr Bean’s Holiday; Good.
Dialect
Jill was an adjunct professor at Yale University and ran the world’s first dialect summer school at Central School of Speech and Drama.
For the Almeida: A Delicate Balance; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Theatre includes: The Body Guard; The Sunshine Boys; In a Forest Dark and Deep; The Misanthrope; Betty Blue Eyes; Oliver; Sophie’s Choice; Phantom of the Opera; This is Our Youth; We Will Rock You; Les Miserables; A View from the Bridge; Three Tall Women; Three Days of Rain; On an Average Day; Sexual Perversity in Chicago; The Beautiful Game; (West End); Cause Celebre; Inherit the Wind (Old Vic); Boston Marriage (Donmar Warehouse); Hitchcock Blonde (Royal Court).
Film includes: Skyfall; Jack Ryan; About Time; Anna Karenina; The Iron Lady; A Dangerous Method; One Day; Jane Eyre; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Endgame; Children of Men; Young Victoria; Wanted; Junkhearts; Late Bloomers; Hanna; Five Days of War; Cemetery Junction; The Duchess; Ironclad; Fred Claus; Elizabeth: The Golden Age; The Mighty Celt; Sahara; Pride and Prejudice; The Other Boleyn Girl; The Letters; Vanity Fair; Penelope; Albatross; National Treasure; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; Sin City; Stardust; Heartlands; Stone of Destiny; King Arthur; The Phantom of the Opera; Flawless; Cinderella Man.
Voice
Musical Supervision includes: Kiss Me Kate (Chichester / Old Vic); Crazy For You (Open Air Theatre / Novello); End of the Rainbow (Trafalgar Studios);The King and I (Royal Albert Hall, RPO); Into the Woods (Open Air Theatre); Merrily We Roll Along; Company; Wicked; Porgy and Bess (West End); Acorn Antiques (West End / UK Tour); Aladdin (also Composer - Old Vic); Children Will Listen: The Words and Music of Stephen Sondheim (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane); Anything Goes (also dance arranger and musical director - Drury Lane / National Theatre);Tonight’s the Night (also dance arranger - Victoria Palace); My One and Only (Piccadilly Theatre).
As Musical Director: Kiss Me Kate; Camelot; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Miss Saigon; The Baker’s Wife; Cats; Cabaret; 42nd Street; Windy City (West End); Chicago (West End / Tour); Nine; Merrily We Roll Along; Damn Yankees; Company (Donmar Warehouse).
Gareth conducted Brynfest this year at the Royal Festival Hall with Bryn Terfel and WNO Orchestra. He was commissioned by ENB to write and conduct a ballet, Strictly Gershwin (2008), which was performed at the Albert Hall and Coliseum to great acclaim.
Assistant Director
Ed was Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio and Creative Associate at the Bush Theatre. He recently adapted for the stage and directed The Dolphin Crossing.
Theatre includes: Danger: Memory! (Jermyn Street Theatre); Hard Times (Tobacco Factory Theatre); The Well-Made Life (Arcola Theatre); Rum and Vodka (Brewery Theatre/Hull Truck/Manchester Royal Exchange); Script Factory (Ustinov Studio).
Ed trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
"…outstanding and deeply moving…exquisitely staged and acted."
Independent on Sunday
"Probing, intelligent… there is absolute clarity to Richard Eyre’s excellent production."
The Guardian
"Richard Eyre’s simple and beautiful production…searching and deeply felt."
Daily Telegraph
"…encapsulates everything that is cherishable about our world-envied subsidised theatre sector: a rich and layered piece of new writing."
Evening Standard
"Pip Carter is wonderful as Edward, a touchy yet oddly loveable depressive, as is Hattie Morahan as his fiery yet devoted wife."
Time Out
Running time is approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes including a 15 minute interval
Pip Carter
Pandora Colin
Ifan Huw Dafydd
Shaun Dooley
Hattie Morahan
Dan Poole
Writer Nick Dear
Director Richard Eyre
Design Bob Crowley
Lighting Peter Mumford
Sound and Music John Leonard
Casting Cara Beckinsale
Dialect Jill McCullough
Voice Gareth Valentine
Movement Scarlett Mackmin
Assistant Director Ed Viney