It will then continue to Bath's Theatre Royal (Sept. 27-Oct. 1), Malvern Theatre (Oct. 4-8), Brighton's Theatre Royal (Oct. 11-15), Richmond Theatre, Surrey (Oct. 25-29), Oxford's Playhouse (Nov. 1-5) and Cambridge's Arts Theatre (Nov. 8-12).
In press materials, the play is characterized as "a high octane and vertiginous roller-coaster ride, which spans from the late sixties to 2525, examining our all pervasive fear of the future and the guilty pleasure in the excesses of the present. It's Cabaret, we've got our heads down and we’re dancing and drinking as fast as we can. The enemy is on its way, but this time it doesn’t have guns and gas it has storms and earthquakes, fire and brimstone. Burlesque strip shows, bad dreams, social breakdown, population explosion, worldwide paranoia, Earthquakes in London is a fast and furious metropolitan crash of people, scenes and decades as three sisters attempt to navigate their dislocated lives and loves, while their dysfunctional father, a brilliant scientist, predicts global catastrophe."
Bartlett's other plays include Love Love Love for Paines Plough, Cock (which won the 2010 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre), Contractions and My Child at the Royal Court, and Artefacts at the Bush. He is currently Writer-in-Residence at the National Theatre.
Goold is artistic director of Headlong, for whom he previously directed Enron, winning the Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Director (Chichester, Royal Court and West End). Other credits include Macbeth, starring Patrick Stewart in the title role, for which Goold was named best director in both the Olivier and Critics' Circle Awards. He is also an associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he is currently directing The Merchant of Venice with Stewart as Shylock.
The production is designed by Miriam Buether with costumes by Katrina Lindsay, lighting by Howard Harrison, sound by Gregory Clarke and music by Alex Baranowski. Choreography is by Scott Ambler, and projection designs by Jon Driscoll. For further details, visit www.headlongtheatre.co.uk.