Klaff and Ryan to Star in World Premiere of Olivier-Winning Playwright Eilenberg's Shrunk at London's Cock Tavern

By Andrew Gans
24 Apr 2010

Amanda Ryan
Amanda Ryan

Jack Klaff and Amanda Ryan  will star in the previously announced world-premiere production of Shrunk, a darkly comic two-hander by Charlotte Eilenberg, which begins performances at London's Cock Tavern Theatre May 18, prior to an official opening May 21 for a run through June 12.

Shrunk is Eilenberg's second play; her 2003 debut The Lucky Ones, which premiered at Hampstead Theatre, won her both the Laurence Olivier and Critics' Circle Awards for Most Promising Playwright.

The production will be directed by Julian Birkett, designed by Kate Guinness, and produced by Mark Shenton.

The play revolves around a successful psychoanalyst Max Goldman (Klaff), who is enjoying a few moments of quiet reflection in his consulting room. He's at the top of his game and has much to feel pleased about - until, that is, his new patient, Celia (Ryan), turns his life upside down. According to press materials, "The play puts analysis on the couch, catapulting its two protagonists into a world of suppressed desires and unsuppressed hysteria."

Klaff, who plays Max, has played a wide range of classical and modern parts in the West End, at the Royal Shakespeare Company and in premier venues throughout Britain and abroad. His most recent stage role was Michael Mansfield, QC in Stockwell (Tricycle Theatre). Other theatre credits include Henry VI, School of Night, As You Like It (all Royal Shakespeare Company), Othello, Donkey’s Years, I’m Not Rappaport (all Bristol Old Vic), Map of the Heart (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Insignificance (Donmar Warehouse). Television credits include "Ivanhoe" (BBC), "Sherlock Holmes" (Granada) and "Vanity Fair." (BBC). Film credits include "Star Wars," "For Your Eyes Only" and "King David."

Ryan, who plays Celia, was most recently seen as Hermione in Simon Godwin’s production of The Winter’s Tale (Headlong Theatre Tour). Other theatre credits include Alice in Patrick Marber’s Closer (National Theatre Tour) and Cathy in Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep Tour). Television credits include Carrie Rogers in "Shameless" (Channel 4 - series 4, 5 and 6), Verity Wright in "Eastenders" (BBC) and Holly Forsythe in "The Forsythe Saga" (Granada – series 1 and 2). Film credits include Lettice Howard in Shekhar Kapur’s "Elizabeth" (Working Title) and Joanna in "Metroland" (Blue Horizon).

Birkett is a BBC TV producer and director, whose credits for television include "The Man Who Built Britain," with Hugh Bonneville as Christopher Wren, and "The Art of the Garden," with Miriam Margolyes as Gertrude Jekyll.

Shenton is Playbill.com's London correspondent as well as theatre critic of the Sunday Express and chairman of the Critics' Circle's drama section. This is his producing debut, though he previously originated the Divas at the Donmar season at the Donmar Warehouse in 1998.

The Cock Tavern was formed in January 2009 under the artistic leadership of Adam Spreadbury-Maher, and won the Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award in the 2009 Peter Brook Empty Space Awards. It is currently home to resident company OperaUpClose’s sell-out run of La Boheme, running through May 15.

Shrunk is supported by the Peter Wolff Theatre Trust.

To book tickets, contact the box office at 08444 771 000, or visit www.cocktaverntheatre.com for more details.