First full scale production to play new ‘Southwark Playhouse Elephant’

It’s eleven o’clock in the morning in a council flat on the Walworth Road in London. In two hours’ time, as is normal, three Irish men will have consumed six cans of Harp, fifteen crackers with spreadable cheese, ten pink biscuit wafers and one oven-cooked chicken with a strange blue sauce. In two hours’ time, as is normal, five people will have been killed.

In a little over two hours’ time, as is less normal, a further two will have met their maker.

Southwark Playhouse is delighted to announce the full cast for its first major production to run at its brand new space in Elephant and Castle. The new space – Southwark Playhouse Elephant, is welcoming a revival of Enda Walsh’s award winning The Walworth Farce as its debut full scale production, held in its 310-seat main auditorium.

The new venue, situated in Dante Place, is a literal stone’s throw from Walworth Road; making The Walworth Farce (set precisely in council accommodation on that street) a particularly apt choice. The work, fully produced by Southwark Playhouse – will run from February 17th – March 18^th, 2023 and is directed by Nicky Allpress with design by Anisha Field and lighting design by Lucía Sánchez Roldán.

The Walworth Farce is a remarkable play about what can happen when we become stuck in the stories we tell about our lives. Visceral and tender, the play combines hilarious moments with shocking realism. First performed in Galway, Cork and Dublin in 2006 it was revived at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in 2007 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won a Fringe First award. The play received its London premiere at the National Theatre in September 2008.

Set in a council flat on the Walworth Road in South London, fifty-year-old Dinny, exiled from his native city Cork, lives here with his two sons Blake (twenty-five) and Sean (twenty-four). Every day they perform a bizarre ritual which sees The Walworth Farce fracture into a play-within-a-play which depicts, in garbled form, their last day in Ireland. The play explores the psychological impact of exile and dependency on a mythologised version of the past – themes that recur frequently in Walsh’s work.

Cast in the role of patriarch Dinny – DAN SKINNER is an actor and comedian best known for his character ‘Angelos Epithemiou’ (Shooting Stars and various TV comedy shows) and recent credits include a guest spot on ‘The Crown’ and a recurring role in ‘Sex Education’.

Younger son Sean is played by EMMET BYRNE who’s theatre credits include The Long Christmas Dinner, (Abbey Theatre), ‘NW Trilogy’ (Kiln Theatre), ‘Blood Wedding’ (Wiltshire Creative), ‘Misfits’ (Dublin Theatre Festival) and ‘Cell Mates’ (Hampstead Theatre).

Blake, Dinny’s oldest is played by KILLIAN COYLE whose theatre credits include ‘All That We Found Here’ (The New Theatre, Dublin), ‘The Boys, Young Skings’ (Reality Check Productions), ‘The Spinning Heart’ (Verdant Productions), ‘Hamlet’ (AC Productions), ‘Hamlet’ (GSA Shakespeare) and’ Lockdown’ (New Theatre Productions).

Unintentional and unwilling interloper Hayley is played by RACHELLE DIEDERICKS. Her theatre credits include ‘The Crucible, Our Generation’ (National Theatre), ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ (Palace Theatre), ‘The Band’ (Theatre Royal Haymarket, UK Tour) and ‘Cymbeline’ (LIPA).

LISTINGS:

The Walworth Farce

Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Dante Place

80 Newington Butts

London SE11 4FL

17^th February – 18^th March 2023

https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/the-walworth-farce/

Post Show Event

Tuesday 28th February 2023

Post-show Q&A with members of the company.

Free with a ticket for that evening’s performance.