London's Bush Theatre to Offer U.K. Premiere of Annie Baker's The Aliens | Playbill

Related Articles
News London's Bush Theatre to Offer U.K. Premiere of Annie Baker's The Aliens London's Bush Theatre will launch its fall season with the U.K. premiere of Annie Baker's The Aliens, beginning performances Sept. 15 prior to an official opening Sept. 20, for a run through Oct. 16.

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/b701b9726c69215f374bd39c183d6bd7-anniebaker200.jpg
Annie Baker Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Veteran director and playwright Peter Gill will make his Bush Theatre directing debut to stage the play, which originally premiered at Off-Broadway's Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in April 2010. Baker's other plays include Circle Mirror Tansformation (seen at Playwrights Horizons in 2009) and Body Awareness (Atlantic Theater Company). In The Aliens, KJ and Jasper are professional dropouts and best friends. They spend their days outside the back of a small coffee shop in Vermont, talking music and Bukowski. Seventeen year old Evan is just getting ready for life, eking out his summer working at the café. KJ and Jasper draw him into their world of magic mushrooms, philosophical musings and great bands that never were.

Gill's directing career includes groundbreaking productions of plays by D.H. Lawrence and Joe Orton at the Royal Court during the 60’s. He founded the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith and the National Theatre Studio in the 70’s and 80’s. He is also an acclaimed playwright whose work includes The Sleepers Den (Royal Court), Over Gardens Out (Royal Court), Small Change (Royal Court), Kick for Touch (National Theatre), Cardiff East (National Theatre), Certain Young Men (Almeida), The York Realist (English Touring Theatre at the Royal Court) and Original Sin (Sheffield Theatres).

It will be followed by the London premiere of DC Jackson's My Romantic History, beginning performances Oct. 20 prior to an official opening Oct. 25, for a run through Nov. 20. Prior to London, it will premiere as part of the Edinburgh Fringe program at the Traverse Theatre, from Aug. 5-29, then tour to Birmingham Rep (Sept. 1-11) and Sheffield Theatres (Sept. 15--Oct. 2). Lyndsey Turner directs a cast that comprises Iain Robertson, Alison O'Donnell and Rosalind Sydney. According to press materials, "Office romances are tricky. One moment you’re colleagues, then a quick grope after Friday night drinks and suddenly you’re in a relationship. When Tom and Amy get together after an office social, they find themselves living in each other’s pockets. But it’s not their lack of chemistry the problem: it’s that neither of them can quite get over their childhood sweethearts."

The Bush will then stage two plays about the current British education system, under the umbrella title The School Season, which will run in rep with each other and be presented by an ensemble of ten actors. John Donnelly's The Knowledge, described as a shocking account of a failing school, begins performances Jan. 12, 2011, prior to an official opening Jan. 17, for a run through Feb. 19. Steve Waters' Little Platoons, which seeks to examine the motivation behind a group of parents starting their own free school in West London, will begin Jan. 19, prior to an official opening Jan. 24, for a run through Feb. 19. The plays are directed by Charlotte Gwinner and Nathan Curry, respectively.

Finally, Deirdre Kinahan's Moment will begin performances Feb. 25 prior to an official opening Feb. 28, for a run through March 28. On a seemingly ordinary evening an Irish family sit down to tea. The difference tonight is that Nial is home, back from prison having committed a dark crime many years earlier with some news to share and a conscience to clear. Presented by Tall Tales Theatre Company and Solstice Arts Centre, where the play premiered in November 2009, it is directed by David Horan. Kinahan is artistic director of Tall Tales and also one of Ireland's most prolific playwrights, whose plays include Hue & Cry, Melody, Attaboy Mr Synge, Rum & Raisin, Summer Fruits, Knocknashee, Passage and Bé Carna. To book tickets, contact the box office on 020 8743 5050, or visit www.bushtheatre.co.uk.

 
RELATED:
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!